Rising tensions in Honduras as fresh protests planned (News Feature)

By Sandra Parra Jul 6, 2009, 19:35 GMT

Tegucigalpa - New protests planned Monday were increasing tensions in Honduras, where clashes over the weekend between police and supporters of ousted President Manuel Zelaya left two people dead and about ten wounded.

The government set up after the June 28 coup prevented Zelaya's return to the Central American country Sunday.

On Monday, both Zelaya's supporters and those who backed the interim government led by former Congress speaker Roberto Micheletti were planning demonstrations.

The interim government was the target of strong criticism over censorship of the media, as international television channels and radio stations were cut off whenever they featured comments by Zelaya or anyone else opposing the coup.

Sunday's violence around Toncontin airport in Tegucigalpa led Honduran authorities to extend the curfew, while classes were suspended in schools and universities. Tegucigalpa's streets were deserted Monday, with shuttered shops and closed public buildings.

'The people are going to keep fighting in the streets because that is a right that the constitution grants them,' said one Zelaya supporter.

When Zelaya arrived in El Salvador on Sunday, after a failed attempt to return to Tegucigalpa, he addressed his country's security forces and asked them not to 'point their rifles or kill their Honduran brothers.'

'I order you, in the name of God, that repression against the Honduran people ends,' he said.

Jose Miguel Insulza, the secretary-general of the Organization of American States, and presidents Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner of Argentina, Rafael Correa of Ecuador and Fernando Lugo of Paraguay met with Zelaya in El Salvador. Zelaya vowed to return to his country soon.

Meanwhile, in Honduras, local media were starting to talk about the possibility of holding elections earlier than the scheduled date of late November.