Honduras' de facto government on Monday sent troops to shut down two local media stations loyal to ousted President Manuel Zelaya as it dug in to resist international pressure to return him to power. Zelaya was overthrown in a military coup on June 28, but he secretly returned from exile and sought refuge in the Brazilian embassy last Monday, sparking a tense stand-off with the de facto civilian government that has promised to arrest him.
Hundreds of soldiers and riot police have surrounded the embassy for the past week, while Zelaya urges his followers to take to the streets to demand he be restored to power in the coffee- and textile-producing country. Representatives of the Organisation of American States will hold an extraordinary session on Monday to discuss the Honduran face-off. Honduras denied entry on Sunday to an OAS delegation seeking to broker a solution to the crisis.
The raids on Radio Globo and Cholusat Sur television - both critical of the de facto government - came early on Monday, said Radio Globo director David Romero, and followed a decree allowing suspension of some civil rights and media. Both stations have been taken off air several times since the coup. "Troops assaulted the radio, took over the station and took it off the air," Romero said. Reuters reporters at the site said police and troops had cordoned off the building and the offices of Cholusat Sur, which has been off the air since late Sunday.
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