Obama: Honduran Ouster Was "Not Legal"

[jefferson_dem]

Obama: Honduran Ouster Was "Not Legal"
Pledges U.S. To "Stand On The Side Of Democracy" But Honduras Undaunted By Global Condemnation

(CBS/ AP) President Barack Obama says the weekend ouster of Honduran leader Manuel Zelaya was a "not legal" coup and that he remains the country's president.

Obama spoke to reporters in the Oval Office on Monday after meetings with Colombian President Alvaro Uribe. Obama said he wanted to be very clear that President Zelaya is the democratically elected president.

Obama pledged the U.S. to "stand on the side of democracy" and to work with other nations and international entities to resolve the matter peacefully.

However, Honduras' newly appointed leader vowed Monday to resist pressure from across the Americas to reinstate the president ousted in a military coup, as protesters burned tires outside the occupied presidential palace.

Leaders from Hugo Chavez to Mr. Obama called for the reinstatement of Manuel Zelaya, who was arrested in his pajamas Sunday morning by soldiers who stormed his residence and flew him into exile.

Roberto Micheletti, appointed president by congress, insisted that Zelaya was legally removed by the courts and Congress for violating Honduras' constitution - allegedly to extend his rule.

The universal condemnation of the coup placed Mr. Obama "in an unusual agreement with … the governments of Cuba and Venezuela," said CBS News foreign affairs analyst Pamela Falk. "And with such overwhelming opposition to the removal of Zelaya, it will be hard for the new government of Honduras to make the case that this was in fact not a coup but the following of a constitutional procedure."

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http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/06/29/world/main5122602.shtml