Honduras coup leaders tighten curbs on media
Coup leaders in Honduras have tightened a media clampdown on support for the ousted president, Manuel Zelaya.
A law unveiled last week enabled the interim government to shut radio and TV stations which incited "social anarchy" or "national hatred"; last month masked soldiers helped close two pro-Zelaya networks. The authorities, stung by international condemnation, recently promised to revoke the emergency measures but have yet to do so.
Interior minister Oscar Matute told Reuters that the law "doesn't represent any kind of control of the media; no journalist, no media outlet, can act as an apologist for hatred and violence."
A military-led operation ousted Zelaya at gunpoint in June. The rancher-turned-president had veered leftwards and angered congress, the supreme court and his own party. Since slipping back into Honduras last month he has holed up in the Brazilian embassy in Tegucigalpa to try to reclaim power from the interim president, Roberto Micheletti. Soldiers and police surround the embassy.
Negotiators from both sides report substantial progress; however there appears to be no compromise on the key issue of whether Zelaya will return to office before presidential elections due next month.
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