Honduras Political Situation

I thought I should keep you updated on the dramatic turn of events in Honduran politics. Yesterday the ousted president of Honduras, Mel Zelaya of the Liberal party, returned early in the morning under threat of arrest. He is now staying at the Brazilian embassy as he tries to re-gain his former position. Micheletti, the current de facto president, upon learning of his return had all of the phone lines and TV stations shut down for a number of hours to avoid Mel supporters from overrunning the capitol, Tegucigalpa. In addition, Micheletti placed a curfew on the entire country announcing that everyone must stay in their homes from 4pm on Monday until 6pm today (Wednesday) or be arrested. The military and police are currently carrying out this mandate in the major cities though, as far as I can tell, not in the rural areas. All flights have been cancelled and the highways are shut down.

Here is an up-to-date news article

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8269073.stm

As for us, all is tranquilo in Divina Providencia. People are out and about and perhaps for the only day there are no buses honking. We were recently introduced at the community mass and at a community meeting so people now know us and say hello. Santiago is doing great, just recovered from his first cold, and Elizabeth is beginning to make some friends. I got my butt kicked on the soccer field last night for being out of shape and work is going really well. The political situation really does not affect our family and unless things get really really bad, we will continue on our merry way. Plus, as a Fulbrighter, we have the support of the U.S. state department and embassy.

Let us hope that this situation is resolved in the best way possible for Honduras.