Cuba condemns Honduras coup as ‘criminal, brutal’

Cuba on Sunday condemned the military coup in Honduras as “criminal, brutal” and demanded the immediate return to office of deposed leftist President Manuel Zelaya.

The Honduran army ousted Zelaya and exiled him on Sunday in Central America’s first military coup since the Cold War, after he upset the military by proposing an extension of his four-year term in office.

“I denounce the criminal, brutal character of this coup,” Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez told a news conference in Havana.

Zelaya is viewed by Cuba’s communist leadership as a leftist ally and former Cuban leader Fidel Castro had expressed backing for his efforts to hold an unofficial public vote on Sunday to gauge support for his plan to hold a November referendum on allowing presidential re-election.

“This coup has removed a legitimate and constitutional government simply for wanting to carry out a consultation … in Honduras there is only one constitutional government, one constitutional president who should return immediately without conditions to the palace,” Rodriguez said.

Source: Reuter

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