Yesterday morning I watched news of a military coup in Honduras unfold via Twitter.

President Manuel Zelaya Rosales was facing strong opposition to a non-binding constitutional referendum, opposed by the Supreme Court, the Armed Forces and the Honduran legislature, that would have allowed him to ask to run for another term. Instead of allowing the vote, army leaders arrested Zelaya and forced him into exile in Costa Rica, where he is no seeking asylum. Word is that one of the leaders of the coup is Romeo Vasquez, a graduate of the U.S. run “you too can lead a coup school” School of the Americas.

Venezuela, no stranger to coups, released this strongly worded statement and retelling of what went down:

President Manuel Zelaya Rosales was kidnapped, removed from his home by
force, rendered incommunicado for several hours, and violently expelled from
his country by a group of unpatriotic, coup-mongering soldiers. The hooded
soldiers kidnapped Chancellor Patricia Rodas and also arbitrarily detained
and beat the Ambassadors of Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela. These shameless
soldiers are responsible before national and international laws for the
crimes that they are committing and for the violation of the constitution
and its laws.

Not surprisingly there are rumors of the United States being involved. Certainly Zelaya was seen as a left-leaning president a la Chavez and Morales.

This situation is still unfolding. Zelaya has not renounced his presidency according to some. Others say he did and even signed a document to that effect. Some say the document is false. I say it doesn’t even matter because if you are forced to sign a document like that with a gun to your head, I’m pretty sure that’s not legal. The Honduran Congress voted to remove Zelaya as president and installed Roberto Micheletti, who had been president of the legislative body. New elections are allegedly scheduled for November.