Honduras showdown builds

The United Nations on Tuesday marshaled an unusually broad effort to condemn the military seizure of power in Honduras, turning over the General Assembly podium to its ousted president and quickly passing a resolution sponsored by countries often at loggerheads, including the United States and Venezuela.

The deposed president, Manuel Zelaya, said the "brutal" coup, including what he called a threat by soldiers to shoot him dead if he did not stop talking on his cellphone, was a blow against democracy.

"When these threats are issued behind rifles or bayonets, then here, in the 21st century, that means that we have still not progressed enough," he said.

The showdown was building to a climax as Argentina President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner and Ecuador President Rafael Correa signed on to accompany Zelaya and other figures on a flight to Honduras on Thursday. Attorney General Luis Alberto Rubi said Zelaya would be seized "as soon as he sets foot on Honduran soil" and face 20 years in prison.

With no international support but a significant following at home, the new Honduran leadership called thousands of flag-waving people into a downtown plaza in the capital, Tegucigalpa. Soldiers fenced off the area around the presidential palace, where security forces used tear gas and water cannons Monday against Zelaya supporters, injuring and arresting dozens.

A pro-Zelaya crowd marched toward the palace Tuesday but dispersed, with no reports of violence, as rain fell in the late afternoon.

The interim leader installed by Congress, Roberto Micheletti, warned only an armed invasion could restore Zelaya.

"He has already committed crimes against the constitution and the law," Micheletti said. "He can no longer return to the presidency of the republic unless a president from another Latin American country comes and imposes him using guns."

Rumors persist that Venezuela is preparing for such an invasion (Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez said further aggression toward Zelaya should prompt a U.N. military intervention). Micheletti cautioned the world that his army was prepared to defend the country.

"Our army also consists of 7.5 million people prepared to defend freedom and liberty," he said.

The Organization of American States — whose Secretary-General Jose Miguel Insulza also agreed to accompany Zelaya back to Honduras — held an emergency meeting in Washington on Tuesday.

Some members want to suspend Honduras under an agreement meant to prevent military coups; others say it would be interventionist.

Mexico and Colombia's conservative governments joined the region's leftist leaders in condemning the coup. Blocked trucks began lining up along Honduras' borders as neighboring countries imposed a trade ban.

Zelaya, who received sustained applause at the U.N. and was seated in the Honduran seat on the assembly floor, said the resolution supporting him "expresses the indignation of the people of Honduras and of people worldwide."

The one-page resolution, passed by acclamation in the 192-member body, condemned the removal of Zelaya as a coup and demanded his "immediate and unconditional restoration" as president.

His ouster Sunday was the culmination of a battle that had been simmering for weeks over a referendum, to have taken place that day, that Zelaya hoped would lead to a revision of the constitution. Critics said the vote was part of an illegal attempt by Zelaya to defy the constitution's limit of a single four-year term for the president.

Soldiers stormed the presidential palace early Sunday, disarming the presidential guard, waking Zelaya and putting him on a plane to Costa Rica. The Honduran Congress voted him out of office later Sunday, replacing him with Micheletti, president of Congress.

In a news conference after the U.N. resolution was passed, Zelaya insisted he would fulfill his four-year term but said he would step down after that. "I am going to return to civilian life, not to political life."

Zelaya also dispelled suspicions that Western nations such as the U.S. may have instigated or tacitly approved of his ouster, an allegation repeatedly put forward by Chávez. "The United States has changed a great deal," Zelaya said.

The Obama administration continued to stand by Zelaya. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said the U.S. did not see any acceptable solution other than Zelaya's returning to power.

The Washington Post contributed to this report.