By Lake Coreth, News Editor -

On June 28, 2009, in the first coup in Central America since the cold war, the Honduran military supplanted the elected President Manuel Zelaya. Zelaya had attempted to amend the Honduras Constitution, established in 1982, in order to run for a second-term in office and was met with great opposition. After Zelaya was removed from office and exiled from the coun­try, the Honduran Congress and Su­preme Court authorized the military to transfer power to a de facto govern­ment head by Roberto Micheletti, the president of the Congress.

Despite demands from the United States that the ousted Zelaya be rein­stated, the de facto government has contested the former president’s re­turn. Hiring U.S. lobbyists in order to argue in favor of maintaining the interim government, the controversy over the coup remains problematic. The battle for power is viewed as a paradigm of the struggle between de­mocracy and populism currently taken place throughout Latin America, and many politicians are critical of Presi­dent Obama’s support of the exiled president.

Zelaya, currently residing in the Brazilian Embassy, issued an ultima­tum demanding he be restored to pow­er but Micheletti has refused to comply, reiterating that he will transfer power to the newly elected president who as­sumes office this January. Arguing that election results would be invalid, Ze­laya continues to pursue his agenda. The interim government remains open to negotiation, but for the time being, the issue remains unresolved.