This was the text message response I got on my phone a few minutes ago. I saw the news of the coup after church with my family on the TV at Jason's Deli. I immediately texted Ryan and Sergio to contact me as soon as possible. I know they were returning from Pueblo Nuevo where they had been working on the electrical grid there. They have been there since Wednesday. For all I knew, they may not even be aware yet.
Here is the story as I understand it:
Leftist president "Mel" Zelaya was awakened by gunfire in his home this morning as the Honduran Army took him and put him on a plane to Costa Rica, kicking him out of the country. Zelaya is a controversial president and had been seeking a referendum to change the constitution to allow him to run for another term of office. His term is up in January 2010.
The Honduran supreme court ruled the referendum illegal, and the top military commander, General Vasquez, told President Zelaya that he would not support this referendum. So Wednesday, Zelaya said he would fire Vasquez. It would seem that Vasquez did not accept this...
Questions:
What does this mean for our friends in Honduras and for our work there? Does Ryan need to leave the country right now? He planned to be there another month. What long-term effects might this have on us? Will the sources of funding we are seeking decide that Honduras is too unstable and pull the plug on us? Please share your thoughts.
1 comment:
As his dad, Ryan feels safe and really wants to continue for these next few weeks. We chatted with him yesterday and he plans to start the language program today. Thanks for all you do.
Post a Comment