Barack Obama Reacts to Coup d’état in Honduras

HAVANA, Cuba, June 28, (acn).- Using an ambivalent speech, US President Barack Obama said he was “deeply concerned” at the arrest of President Manuel Zelaya by Honduran military and urged all sides to respect “democracy and the rule of law.”

“I am deeply concerned by reports coming out of Honduras regarding the detention and expulsion of President Manuel Zelaya,” Obama said in a brief statement a few hours after it was announced that Zelaya was arrested by Honduran military and forcibly taken to Costa Rica.

The text urges “all political and social actors in Honduras to respect democracy and the rule of law.”

The communiqué adds that “all disputes must be settled peacefully through negotiations that are free from outside interference,” in a clear reference to the Honduran links with other Latin American nations, which have been used by the local oligarchy in their confrontation with Zelaya.