TEGUCIGALPA (Reuters) – A man was shot dead in a clash between police and supporters of ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya, as international pressure mounted on the de facto government to allow the leftist back in power.
It was the first reported death in political violence since Zelaya, who was forced into exile by a June 28 coup, slipped back into Honduras this week and sought refuge in the Brazilian embassy.
The man, a Zelaya supporter aged 65, was killed in the poor Flor del Campo district of the capital on Tuesday night, a source at the coroner’s office said. Five other pro-Zelaya protesters were shot and wounded in another part of the city, a doctor at the Escuela hospital said.
Zelaya snuck back into Honduras on Monday, ending almost three months of exile after he was toppled in the coup and bringing the world’s attention to his cause again.
Hundreds of soldiers and riot police, some in ski masks and toting automatic weapons, have surrounded the Brazilian embassy where Zelaya is sheltering with his family and a group of about 40 supporters.
Brazil and Venezuela called at the United Nations for Zelaya, a former rancher and timber magnate who took office in 2006, to be returned to power.
Troops and police, some firing tear gas, cleared away pro-Zelaya demonstrators from around the embassy on Tuesday and security forces’ helicopters flew over the building throughout the night. Witnesses said soldiers blasted loud noise from speakers toward the embassy to try to keep Zelaya and his backers inside awake.
The government that has ruled Honduras since Zelaya’s overthrow relaxed a curfew that had been in effect day and night since Monday.
Large lines formed at stores in the capital as residents stocked up on water and basic foods. State-run television broadcast frequent messages from the de facto government warning that Zelaya would be responsible for any violent acts.
“We ask the whole population to maintain calm and keep order and peace throughout the country,” it said in a communique read out with the blue and white Honduran flag waving in the background.
Honduras is a major coffee producer but output has not been affected by the crisis.
De facto leader Roberto Micheletti said Zelaya could stay in the embassy “for 5 to 10 years” if he wanted, hinting that the pro-coup administration is getting ready for a long standoff. Electricity and water was briefly cut to the embassy on Tuesday but food was sent in, witnesses said.
The United States, the European Union and the Organization of American States have urged dialogue to bring Zelaya back to office in the Central American country.
