SOLDIERS ousted the democratically elected president of Honduras yesterday and the country's Congress named a successor.
But Manuel Zelaya – a leftist ally of Venezuela's president, Hugo Chavez – denounced what he called an illegal coup and vowed to stay in power.
The first military takeover of a Central American government in 16 years drew widespread condemnation f
rom governments across the world, and Mr Chavez vowed to overthrow the country's apparent new leader.
Mr Zelaya was woken by gunfire and detained while still in his pyjamas, hours before an unpopular constitutional referendum was due to be held.
An air force plane flew him into forced exile in Costa Rica as armoured military vehicles with machine guns rolled through the streets of the Honduran capital and soldiers seized the national palace.
"I want to return to my country," Mr Zelaya said. "I am president of Honduras."
Congress voted to accept what it said was Mr Zelaya's letter of resignation, with even Mr Zelaya's former allies turning against him.
Congressional leader Roberto Micheletti was sworn in to serve until January, when Mr Zelaya's term of office was due to end. Mr Micheletti belongs to Mr Zelaya's Liberal Party but opposed the president in the referendum.
Mr Zelaya denied resigning and insisted he would serve out his term, even as the Supreme Court backed the military takeover and said it was a defence of democracy.
The coup was prompted by a referendum, which had been planned for yesterday, to determine whether Mr Zelaya should be allowed to change the constitution and stand for re-election. The referendum had been opposed by the military.
The country's Supreme Court declared the referendum illegal, but Mr Zelaya decided to go ahead regardless.
Mr Chavez said before Mr Micheletti was sworn in that if he was appointed president, "We will overthrow him". He added that Venezuela "is at battle" and put his military on alert.
In Havana, Cuba's foreign minister, Bruno Rodriguez, vowed to work with allies to push for Mr Zelaya's return to power. He said Cuban ambassador Juan Carlos Hernandez was held briefly in Honduras after he and other foreign diplomats tried unsuccessfully to prevent soldiers from taking away the country's foreign minister.
Mr Chavez said troops in Honduras temporarily detained the Venezuelan and Cuban ambassadors and beat them.
US President Barack Obama said he was "deeply concerned" and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Mr Zelaya's arrest should be condemned.
"I call on all political and social actors in Honduras to respect democratic norms, the rule of law and the tenets of the Inter-American Democratic Charter," Mr Obama said.
Coups were common in Central America for four decades reaching back to the 1950s, but yesterday saw the first
since military officials forced President Jorge Serrano of Guatemala to step down in 1993 after he tried to dissolve the country's Congress and suspend the constitution.
Mr Zelaya said he was awoken by gunshots and the shouts of his security guards, who he said resisted troops for at least 20 minutes.
He jumped out of bed and ducked behind an air conditioning unit to avoid the bullets, he said. He said eight to ten soldiers in masks escorted him on to an air force plane that took him to Costa Rica.
Mr Zelaya called on Honduran soldiers to back him, urged citizens to take to the streets in peaceful protests and asked Honduran police to protect demonstrators.
About 100 supporters congregated in front of locked gates outside the national palace, where they hurled stones at soldiers and shouted "Traitors! Traitors!"
