The 2009 Honduran constitutional crisis was a political dispute over plans to either rewrite the Constitution of Honduras or write a new one.
Honduran President Manuel Zelaya planned to hold a poll on a referendum on a constituent assembly to change the constitution. A majority of the government, including the Supreme Court and prominent members of Zelaya's own party, saw these plans as unconstitutional as they could lead to presidential reelection, which is permanently outlawed by the Honduran constitution. The Honduran Supreme Court upheld a lower court injunction against a 28 June poll. However, the constitutional process for dealing with this situation was unclear; there were no clear procedures for removing or prosecuting a sitting president. The crisis culminated in the removal and exile of Honduran president Manuel Zelaya by the Honduran military in a coup d’état.
On the morning of 28 June 2009, approximately 100 soldiers stormed the president's residence in Tegucigalpa and put him on a plane to San José, Costa Rica. Zelaya immediately called this a "coup" upon his arrival.
Later that day, the National Congress voted to remove Zelaya from office, having read without objection a purported letter of resignation. Zelaya said the letter was forged. Roberto Micheletti, the President of Congress and next in the presidential line of succession, was sworn in as interim president and declared a "state of exception" suspending civil liberties on 1 July and various curfews were imposed, some nationwide.
2010Jan, 27
The 2009 Honduran constitutional crisis ends when Porfirio Lobo Sosa becomes the new President of Honduras.
Choose Another Date
Events on 2010
- 4Jan
Burj Khalifa
The Burj Khalifa, the current tallest building in the world, officially opens in Dubai - 11Mar
2010 Pichilemu earthquake
Economist and businessman Sebastián Piñera is sworn in as President of Chile, while three earthquakes, the strongest measuring magnitude 6.9 and all centered next to Pichilemu, capital of Cardenal Caro province, hit central Chile during the ceremony. - 3Apr
IPad (1st generation)
Apple Inc. released the first generation iPad, a tablet computer. - 20Apr
Deepwater Horizon explosion
The Deepwater Horizon drilling rig explodes in the Gulf of Mexico, killing eleven workers and beginning an oil spill that would last six months. - 31May
Gaza flotilla raid
Israeli Shayetet 13 commandos boarded the Gaza Freedom Flotilla while still in international waters trying to break the ongoing blockade of the Gaza Strip; nine Turkish civilians on the flotilla were killed in the ensuing violent affray.