Congress voted Mr Micheletti (left) in as the country's new leader just hours after Mr Zelaya had arrived in Costa Rica insisting he was still president of the Central American nation. -- PHOTO: AP
TEGUCIGALPA - PARLIAMENTARY speaker Roberto Micheletti, sworn in as new Honduran president, imposed a nationwide 48-hour curfew after the army ousted elected President Manuel Zelaya and sent him into exile.
Congress voted Mr Micheletti in as the country's new leader just hours after Mr Zelaya had arrived in Costa Rica insisting he was still president of the Central American nation.
Later, Mr Zelaya travelled to Managua to take part in the summit of the Venezuela-led Bolivarian Alliance of the Americas. He told reporters he was determined to return to Honduras and 'reclaim his post.'
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, also in the Nicaraguan capital, vowed to do 'everything that is necessary in political, diplomatic, social and moral aspects to restore the government of Manuel Zelaya.' In Honduras however, Mr Micheletti brushed off worldwide condemnation of the takeover.
The curfew, which began on Sunday would end on Tuesday, he added.
In the Honduran capital shots were heard near the presidential palace late on Sunday, but their cause was not immediately clear.
As planes and helicopters overflew the capital, several hundred Zelaya supporters ignored warnings to stay home and took to the streets of Tegucigalpa shouting out, 'We want Mel,' the president's nickname.
His overthrow was triggered by a tense political standoff between Mr Zelaya and the country's military and legal institutions over his bid to secure a second term. Congress said it had voted unanimously to remove the president from office for his 'apparent misconduct' and for 'repeated violations of the constitution and the law and disregard of orders and judgments of the institutions.'
Mr Micheletti was appointed to serve out the rest of the term, which ends in January. New general elections are planned for November 29.
Mr Zelaya, elected to a non-renewable four-year term in 2005, had planned a vote on Sunday asking Hondurans to sanction a future referendum to allow him to run for re-election in the November polls. -- AFP
