SC senator defends ouster of president of Honduras, calls him a ‘Chavez-style dictator’

October 5th, 2009 More GOP lawmakers meet with MichelettiMIAMI — Three South Florida U.S. Representatives who supported the ouster of Honduran President Manuel Zelaya traveled there Monday to meet with the interim government and to pressure the Obama administration to support the Central American country's upcoming elections.

October 5th, 2009 Fla. GOP lawmakers to visit new Honduras presidentMIAMI — Three U.S. representatives from South Florida who supported the ouster of Honduras' president traveled there Monday to meet with the interim government and to pressure President Barack Obama to sanction the upcoming Honduran elections.

October 2nd, 2009 US lawmakers to meet interim Honduras leaderTEGUCIGALPA, Honduras — A U.S. senator and three congressmen plan to meet Friday with Honduras' interim leader in defiance of official Washington policy barring contact with the architects of the military coup that ousted the nation's president.

September 23rd, 2009 Chavez: military helped Zelaya return to HondurasNEW YORK — Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez says the ousted Honduran president sneaked back to his country with the help of Honduran military personnel. Chavez says ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya traveled by plane, in the trunk of a car and in tractors from Nicaragua to Honduras in a secret operation aided by supporters in the military.

September 21st, 2009 Ousted President Zelaya says he's back in HondurasTEGUCIGALPA, Honduras — Deposed President Manuel Zelaya says he has come home to Honduras to reclaim his presidency, appearing on local television to rally supporters. Zelaya tells local TV Channel 36 he cannot give details of his return, "but I'm here," Zelaya was forced out of the country at gunpoint on June 28.

September 12th, 2009 Honduras' interim president: US revoked my visaTEGUCIGALPA, Honduras — Honduras' interim president says the United States has taken away his diplomatic and tourist visas to protest the June 28 coup. Roberto Micheletti says he was expecting the action and called it "a sign of the pressure that the U.S.

September 4th, 2009 Multi-city protests call for 'No More Chavez'BOGOTA — Opponents of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez held protests Friday against the leftist leader in cities across Latin America, in an effort coordinated through Twitter, Facebook and a Web site titled "No More Chavez!" They grasped banners and signs with images of Chavez in a straitjacket and wearing a red clown nose. "Chavez, the shame of Bolivia," read a banner in the Bolivian capital of La Paz.

September 4th, 2009 Critics march against Chavez across Latin AmericaBOGOTA — Thousands of opponents of Hugo Chavez marched against the Venezuelan president across Latin America on Friday, accusing him of everything from authoritarianism to international meddling. The protests, coordinated through Twitter and Facebook, drew more than 5,000 people in Bogota, and thousands more in the capitals of Venezuela and Honduras.

September 4th, 2009 Chavez welcomes US decision to cut aid to HondurasCARACAS, Venezuela — Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is welcoming the United States' decision to cut millions of dollars in aid to Honduras. Chavez says "it's about time" Washington took action against the government that has been in charge in Honduras since a June 28 coup ousted his ally, President Manuel Zelaya.

September 3rd, 2009 Gov't Officials: US to cut aid to HondurasWASHINGTON — U.S. officials say the Obama administration is cutting all non-humanitarian aid to Honduras over the ouster of President Manuel Zelaya.

September 3rd, 2009 US cuts aid to HondurasWASHINGTON — The Obama administration on Thursday cut all non-humanitarian aid to Honduras over the ouster of President Manuel Zelaya, making permanent a temporary suspension of U.S. aid imposed after he was deposed in June.

July 22nd, 2009 Zelaya supporters rethink Honduras sanctionsTEGUCIGALPA, Honduras — Supporters of ousted President Manuel Zelaya are advocating targeted economic sanctions to pressure the interim government to allow his return rather than broader measures that might harm the Central American country's poorest citizens. U.S. officials are considering sanctions on one of the hemisphere's poorest countries if mediation efforts by Costa Rican President Oscar Arias fail to resolve the crisis.

July 21st, 2009 TEGUCIGALPA - The Honduran de-facto regime Tuesday broke off diplomatic relations with Venezuela, whose president Hugo Chavez has stood by President Manuel Zelaya since his unceremonious ouster and expulsion in late June. The move represented an escalation in the crisis.

July 17th, 2009 MOSCOW - Former Cuban president Fidel Castro has called on the US to withdraw its troops from Honduras to ease the situation after the recent coup in the Central American state. The Honduran military ousted President Manuel Zelaya from office and flew him to Costa Rica June 28, the day polls were due to open for a non-binding referendum on extending the president's non-renewable four-year term of office.

July 9th, 2009 US Latin Americans build support for Honduran coupMIAMI — Leaders of Cuban and Venezuelan communities across the U.S. have become among the loudest supporters of the military ouster of Honduras' president because they see it as a strike against socialist influence in Latin America.