(L-R) Bolivian President Evo Morales, Honduran ousted President Manuel Zelaya, Nicaragua's Daniel Ortega, Venezuela's Hugo Chavez and Ecuador's Rafael Correa pose for a picture during an emergency meeting of Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA) in Managua, capital of Nicaragua on June 29, 2009. The ALBA presidents met here on Monday to discuss the Sunday coup in Honduras. During the meeting, they ordered the withdrawal of their ambassadors from Honduras until ousted President Manuel Zelaya is returned to office in the nation. (Xinhua/Cesar Perez))TEGUCIGALPA, June 29 - The interim Honduran government rising from a military coup has been caught in fierce protests at home and mounting international pressure.
On Monday, at least two people died and 60 others were injured as protesters clashed with military troops outside the Palace of Government in Tegucigalpa.
VIOLENCE AT HOME
Soldiers used tear gas and opened gun fire to disperse demonstrators who were in defiance of a martial law imposed by Roberto Micheletti, the interim president appointed by the Congress after President Manuel Zelaya was toppled.
A man died from his injuries in protest against the change of leadership at the state-run Honduras Telecommunications Corp, ordered by Micheletti on Monday.
This has been the second death arising from the protests against the coup-installed new government led by Micheletti, who was appointed president hours after Zelaya was seized at his residence by hooded and heavily armed troops and whisked to Costa Rica.
Sixty people were injured and one died in clashes between Honduran troops and Zelaya's supporters outside the Palace of Government, local television channel Canal 51 reported earlier.
Hundreds of protesters, their faces covered in red masks, blocked the roads around the presidential residency with iron boards and stones. They waved the national flag, chanting slogans calling the army "betrayers that have toppled the nation."
A Union leader told Xinhua by telephone that he saw several people with bullet wounds, adding that two ambulances have been sent around.
The interim government has tightened control over foreign reporters, and several of them have been arrested.
MOUNTING PRESSURES
The coup was widely condemned by Honduras' neighbors and regional groups in Latin America.
El Salvador, Guatemala and Nicaragua have decided to halt cross-border trade with the country for 48 hours as part of a broader effort by the Central American Integration System (SICA) to help Zelaya return to office.
The SICA also suspended financing to Honduras by the Central American Bank for Economic Integration.
SICA leaders were joined by their counterparts from the Group of Rio on Monday in a meeting held to discuss the Honduran coup. They urged Honduras' Supreme Court to restore Zelaya to power immediately, saying that they would not recognize anyone or any government rising from the coup.
Meanwhile, the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas (ALBA), a trade group led by Venezuela that Honduras joined last month, issued the strongest statement defending Zelaya.
Ecuador, Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba formally withdrew their ambassadors and issued a statement saying "the only diplomatic representation in our nations is staff appointed by Zelaya."
Mexico used its consular services in Honduras to provide safe passage for Zelaya's Foreign Minister Patricia Rodas to travel to Managua where she represented her nation at the regional summits.
Meanwhile, the United Nations invited Zelaya to address its General Assembly and U.S. President Barack Obama called the coup "not legal" at a press conference.
Micheletti was appointed president in a legislative session that began with the reading of a resignation letter, which was alleged to be from Zelaya but denounced as fake by the president himself.
Micheletti said the country will go ahead with plans for November presidential elections.
Sunday's coup began just hours before Honduras was set to start a non-binding referendum on whether to appoint a constituent assembly to write a new constitution promoted by Zelaya.
Zelaya said a new constitution was essential to mend some "historical wrongs" in the nation, but opponents said he was only using the process to seek a second term which is not allowed under the current constitution.
(courtesy : Xinhua)
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