HONDURAS COUP (BBC News Report)

Deposed Honduran leader Manuel Zelaya is expected to travel to Washington for a meeting on Tuesday with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.  The meeting follows an unsuccessful attempt to return to his country.

The US has sharply criticised the use of violence by troops loyal to the interim authorities, which saw at least one Zelaya supporter killed on Sunday.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon has called on the Organisation of American States to lead efforts to restore Mr Zelaya to power.

The OAS has condemned the transfer of power in Honduras as a "military coup" and has suspended Honduras from membership.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told a Geneva news conference on Monday that the OAS must find a peaceful solution to the crisis.

In Honduras, supporters of Mr Zelaya have vowed to widen protests and block trade.  Some 2,000 of them rallied peacefully near the presidential palace on Monday, eight days after Mr Zelaya was overthrown.

His talks with Mrs Clinton will be the Obama administration's highest-level contact with the elected leader of Honduras since his removal from office.

The BBC's Stephen Gibbs, in the Honduran capital Tegucigalpa, says Mr Zelaya is expected to urge Mrs Clinton to impose economic sanctions on the government of interim leader Roberto Micheletti.  However, despite near-universal support internationally, Mr Zelaya faces some major challenges if he is to be reinstated, he adds.

On Sunday, Mr Zelaya failed in an attempt to fly back to Honduras.  His plane circled the airport at Tegucigalpa, but could not land because authorities had blocked the runway with military vehicles, our correspondent says.  However, Mr Zelaya has pledged to try again to enter Honduras.

He had departed for Honduras from Washington, defying warnings from the self-declared interim government in Honduras that he would not be allowed to land.  The deposed Honduran leader later went on to neighbouring El Salvador.  At a news conference late on Sunday, flanked by the presidents of El Salvador, Argentina, Paraguay and Ecuador, and the Secretary-General of the OAS, Jose Miguel Insulza, Mr Zelaya said: "I call on the armed forces of Honduras to lower their rifles. I am risking myself personally to resolve the problems without violence."

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva - speaking to the BBC during a visit to Paris - implied Mr Zelaya had made a mistake in trying to return to Honduras so soon after the country had been suspended by the OAS.  The Brazilian leader said it was "predictable" that the Honduran authorities would not let Mr Zelaya return.  He also called on the interim government to avoid any further use of violence against supporters of the country's deposed president.

The new government in Honduras, which says it came to power through due legal process, is offering to negotiate with the international community. But it says the return of Mr Zelaya to the presidency is not possible.

The military - backed by Congress and the courts - forced Mr Zelaya out of Honduras on 28 June over his plans to hold a vote on possible constitutional change.  Mr Zelaya is a supporter of left-wing Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.  His opponents, which include the Supreme Court and a majority in parliament, accuse him of seeking to prolong his rule.  Mr Zelaya had wanted to hold a popular vote on convening a constitutional convention - a move that could have removed the current one-term limit for presidents.

The BBC's correspondent in Honduras says there is no evidence of disunity in the military, and a substantial proportion of the Honduran population do not want Mr Zelaya to return.



GUATEMALA VIOLENCE INCREASES

Reports of another increase in the level of violence in Guatemala is creating an environment of fear among ordinary Guatemalans. The following news report come from UPI news:

GUATEMALA CITY, March 7 (UPI) -- Guatemala is ensnared in a web of violence that leaves an average of 17 people dead every day, authorities say.

Police said Saturday at least 13 people had died in the previous 24 hours, the Latin American Herald Tribune reported. The latest victims included three teens -- ages 16, 18 and 19 -- suspected of being gang members, who were shot to death early Saturday in Guatemala City, the newspaper reported.

Also killed in the previous 24 hours were two national police officers and a suspected criminal killed in a shootout in a southwest neighbourhood of the capital.

Rescue teams reported finding the bodies of three men shot to death in San Cristobal.

Two public transportation workers, a young woman and a 23-year-old man leaving his house, were also among the victims, the newspaper said.

The Herald Tribune said official figures reveal 36 public transportation workers, as well as 77 women and more than 40 youths, have been slain this year.


STREET CHILDREN PROJECT CLOSES

Casa Alianza, the longest serving and largest organisation helping street children in Guatemala has now closed due to lack of regular funding.  

Over the last 17 years Duncan has seen a slow decline in the number of children living on the streets as well as those suffering from violent abuse and attacks.  With fewer organisations now helping the street children we are very concerned that the lack of regular contact from these agencies could lead to an increase in the number of children on the streets.

We are in contact with the Guatemalan Ambassador in London about the situation as well as the new British Ambassador in Guatemala.

NEWS UPDATE

JULY 2009