SOUTH AMERICAN COUNTRY JOINS SC IN LAUNCHING COUP D’ETAT

It appears South Carolina isn’t the only place in the world with a coup d’etat afoot.

For the first time since the Cold War, a South American nation has ousted a Democratically-elected leader, as the Honduran military forced President Manuel Zelaya into exile in Costa Rica.

Around dawn Sunday, soldiers stormed the presidential palace in the Honduran capital of Tegucigalpa and removed Zelaya from power. After a mostly peaceful coup, he was replaced by National Congress leader Roberto Micheletti.

Zelaya had been criticized for creating a ballot referendum to allow leaders to rewrite the county’s constitution. His detractors said he would use the opportunity to expand his power and extend his term in office.

President Obama was quick to join other leaders in the region in calling for Zelaya’s peaceful return to office. That could have something to do with the fact that Zelaya is a leftist ally of Venezuelan Dictator Hugo Chávez.

Photo: Reuters