Zelaya to meet with Clinton

WASHINGTON – The United States boosted ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya yesterday when President Barack Obama called for his reinstatement even though he had opposed US policies.

Zelaya, a leftist toppled in a June 28 coup that has isolated the Central American state, was to meet US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Washington.It will signal the Obama administration’s support for Zelaya, who was ousted in a dispute over presidential term limits.Underlining this, Obama said, ”America supports now the restoration of the democratically elected president of Honduras, even though he has strongly opposed American policies.’In a speech in Russia, Obama added: ‘We do so not because we agree with him. We do so because we respect the universal principle that people should choose their own leaders, whether they are leaders we agree with or not.’The United States had already condemned the coup in the impoverished coffee and textile exporting country. But Washington had until now let the Organisation of American States take the lead in seeking a solution.Zelaya’s leftist allies in the region led by Venezuelan socialist President Hugo Chavez, a longtime US adversary, have been the most vocal in demanding his return.Defying international pressure, caretaker President Roberto Micheletti, appointed by Honduran lawmakers after the coup, insisted the ousted leader was legally removed.The interim government thwarted Zelaya’s attempt to return on Sunday by blocking his plane from landing. It said the ouster was a constitutional transition carried out by the army and supported by the Supreme Court because Zelaya had illegally tried to organise a vote on changing presidential term limits.- Nampa-Reuters