---
category: Intelligence & Government
summary: Zelaya was ousted by a coup allegedly designed by General Daniel Lopez Carballo
  and Romeo Vásquez Velásquez, both friends of Jimmy Hughes.
tags:
- Person
- Politician
- Military
---

[Manuel Zelaya](/people/manuel-zelaya/) was the president of [Honduras](/places/honduras/). On June 28, 2009, he was rousted from his home in Tegucigalpa and exiled at gunpoint to [Costa Rica](/places/costa-rica/). He called the action a kidnapping and maintained he was still president. The [United States](/places/united-states/) and other countries condemned the coup.[^1]

Zelaya was ousted by a coup allegedly designed by [General Daniel Lopez Carballo](/people/general-daniel-lopez-carballo/) and [Romeo Vasquez Velasquez](/people/romeo-vasquez-velasquez/), both friends of [Jimmy Hughes](/people/jimmy-hughes/). The Honduran Supreme Court reportedly gave the order for the military to detain the president. The Honduran Congress formally removed Zelaya from the presidency and named congressional leader [Roberto Micheletti](/people/roberto-micheletti/) as his successor.[^1]

[General Daniel Lopez Carballo](/people/general-daniel-lopez-carballo/) justified the coup by stating that Venezuelan President [Hugo Chavez](/people/hugo-chavez/) would eventually be running [Honduras](/places/honduras/) by proxy if the military had not acted. Zelaya had been in the process of forming a friendship or alliance with [Hugo Chavez](/people/hugo-chavez/), which could have led to the [United States](/places/united-states/) losing its airbase in [Honduras](/places/honduras/) (Soto Cano Air Base), which [Oliver North](/people/oliver-north/) once used as a base of operations for the [Contras](/organizations/contras/).[^1]

[^1]: Seymour, Cheri. *The Last Circle: Danny Casolaro’s Investigation into the Octopus and the PROMIS Software Scandal*. First Edition. TrineDay, 2010.