2009 Honduran political crisis

The 2009 Honduran constitutional crisis was a political dispute over plans to rewrite the Constitution of Honduras. It began when Honduran President Manuel Zelaya planned to hold a poll on a referendum on a constituent assembly to change the constitution. A majority of the government, including the Supreme Court and prominent members of his own party, saw such plans as unconstitutional, as they could lead to presidential re-election, which is permanently outlawed by the Honduran constitution. The Honduran Supreme Court had upheld a lower court injunction against the 28 June poll. However, the constitutional process for dealing with this situation was unclear; there were no clear procedures for removing or prosecuting a sitting president. The crisis culminated in the removal and exile of Honduran President Manuel Zelaya by the Honduran military in a coup d'état.

On the morning of 28 June 2009, approximately 100 soldiers stormed the president's residence in Tegucigalpa and flew him to San José, Costa Rica, actions which he immediately called a "coup" upon his arrival there. Later that day, the National Congress voted to remove Zelaya, having read without objection a letter of resignation that Zelaya says was forged.Roberto Micheletti, the President of Congress and next in the presidential line of succession, was sworn in as Interim President. A "state of exception" suspending civil liberties was declared on 1 July by Micheletti's government and various curfews were imposed, some nationwide.

On 21 September 2009, Zelaya returned in secret to Honduras, after several attempts to return had been rebuffed. It was announced that he was in the Brazilian embassy in Tegucigalpa. The following day, the Honduras government suspended five constitutional rights for 45 days, specifically: the personal liberty (Article 69), freedom of expression (Article 72), freedom of movement (Article 81), habeas corpus (Article 84) and freedom of association and assembly. The decree suspending human rights was officially revoked on 19 October 2009 in La Gaceta.

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