Epilogue

Abstract

On June 28, 2009, when this book had just gone into production, the world was astonished by the breaking news that Honduran President Manuel Zelaya had been deposed and sent into exile. At about 5 am that morning, the military burst into the Honduran presidential palace, seized President Zelaya in his pajamas, bundled him onto a plane and flew him to Costa Rica. According to official communications from the Honduran Supreme Court,¹ the military were acting on orders of the court for contentious administrative proceedings (Juzgado de Letras de lo Contencioso Administrativo, JLCA). Later on the same day the military’s actions received the legislature’s consent. The legislature approved what may be a forged letter of resignation (Zelaya publicly denied having signed any such letter), and the line of succession provided for in the constitution was then activated. Because Zelaya’s original vice president, Elvin Santos, had already resigned to run for the presidency in the elections scheduled for November 28, 2009, the president of Congress, Roberto Micheletti, was sworn in as president to serve out the remainder of Zelaya’s term until January 2010.