Troops shut TV stations backing Honduras president

Published on Monday 28 September 2009 22:38

TROOPS working for Honduras' de facto government shut down television stations that were loyal to ousted president Manuel Zelaya yesterday.

Radio Globo and the Cholusat Sur television station – both critical of the government that came to power through a coup on 28 June – were taken off the air and their offices were cordoned off.

The crackdown came hours before Zelaya followers planned a march in the capital city of Tegucigalpa, in what the deposed leader called the "final offensive."

Mr Zelaya has been hiding in the Brazilian embassy since he returned from exile last Monday, with hundreds of soldiers and riot police surrounding the building as he urges his followers to take to the streets to demand he be restored to power.

The Organisation of American States (OAS) held an extraordinary session in Washington yesterday to discuss the face-off. Honduras denied entry on Sunday to an OAS delegation seeking to broker a settlement.