Supporters of ousted Honduran president Manuel Zelaya planned mass protests to mark the 90th day since his ouster yesterday, as hopes sunk of a rapid solution to the crisis.
The deposed president remained holed up in the Brazilian embassy, along with around 60 people including supporters, journalists and diplomats, in increasingly uncomfortable conditions and surrounded by soldiers.
The UN Security Council on Friday warned the rebel authorities not to harass the embassy, as Zelaya claimed toxic gases had been pumped inside, causing people to vomit.
PHOTO: EPA
Chances for either side to change their positions looked increasingly slim.
Tensions rose after former rancher Zelaya made a surprise return on Monday, almost three months after soldiers sent him away at gunpoint amid a dispute over his plans to change the Constitution.
About 6,000 frustrated Zelaya supporters spilled onto the streets on Friday, passing by rows of soldiers in front of the Brazilian embassy, ahead of larger demonstrations planned yesterday.
“Thanks, Brazil!” shouted some of the red-clad protesters.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Friday, speaking at the G20 summit in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, that Zelaya “could stay as long as necessary for his safety in the Brazilian embassy in Tegucigalpa.”
Zelaya claimed on Friday that noxious gases were being pumped into the embassy and called on the Red Cross for assistance.
“We have here some 60 people who are trying to breathe in the courtyard. There are people who are vomiting blood. A toxic gas has been disseminated,” he said in a telephone interview.
A police spokesman categorically denied the use of gas.
In New York, the UN Security Council called for the protection of the Brazilian embassy at an emergency meeting.
Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim said the embassy was “virtually under siege.”
The de facto Honduran leaders have insisted the compound will not be taken by force and denied they were responsible for initial power and water cuts.
They also underlined on Friday that they were not ready to meet with a delegation of diplomats hoping to help mediate the crisis.
“Honduran politics are not a threat to international peace and security, and, as a consequence, there should be a Honduran solution” to the stalemate, the foreign ministry said in a statement.
The previous day they said they would accept a visit by Costa Rican President Oscar Arias and Panama’s Vice President Juan Carlos Varela as part of a mediation effort.
But Arias told Costa Rican radio on Friday that he was not planning “for the moment” to go to Honduras.
“The preliminary work needs to be done by the [foreign] ministers” of regional countries and representatives of the Organization of American States (OAS), Arias said.
Archeologists in Peru on Thursday said they found the 5,000-year-old remains of a noblewoman at the sacred city of Caral, revealing the important role played by women in the oldest center of civilization in the Americas. “What has been discovered corresponds to a woman who apparently had elevated status, an elite woman,” archeologist David Palomino said. The mummy was found in Aspero, a sacred site within the city of Caral that was a garbage dump for more than 30 years until becoming an archeological site in the 1990s. Palomino said the carefully preserved remains, dating to 3,000BC, contained skin, part of the
‘WATER WARFARE’: A Pakistani official called India’s suspension of a 65-year-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus River ‘a cowardly, illegal move’ Pakistan yesterday canceled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of a deadly attack by shooters in Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The rare attack on civilians shocked and outraged India and prompted calls for action against their country’s archenemy, Pakistan. New Delhi did not publicly produce evidence connecting the attack to its neighbor, but said it had “cross-border” links to Pakistan. Pakistan denied any connection to
TRUMP EFFECT: The win capped one of the most dramatic turnarounds in Canadian political history after the Conservatives had led the Liberals by more than 20 points Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday pledged to win US President Donald Trump’s trade war after winning Canada’s election and leading his Liberal Party to another term in power. Following a campaign dominated by Trump’s tariffs and annexation threats, Carney promised to chart “a new path forward” in a world “fundamentally changed” by a US that is newly hostile to free trade. “We are over the shock of the American betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons,” said Carney, who led the central banks of Canada and the UK before entering politics earlier this year. “We will win this trade war and
Armed with 4,000 eggs and a truckload of sugar and cream, French pastry chefs on Wednesday completed a 121.8m-long strawberry cake that they have claimed is the world’s longest ever made. Youssef El Gatou brought together 20 chefs to make the 1.2 tonne masterpiece that took a week to complete and was set out on tables in an ice rink in the Paris suburb town of Argenteuil for residents to inspect. The effort overtook a 100.48m-long strawberry cake made in the Italian town of San Mauro Torinese in 2019. El Gatou’s cake also used 350kg of strawberries, 150kg of sugar and 415kg of