Whose Flying in Honduras?

Well, Zelaya can’t get in and we can’t get out, so no one we know.

Lucy, not happy to be waiting in line at 6 AM.

This morning at 5:15 AM we showed up at the San Pedro Sula airport to find out that our airline, TACA, had canceled all their flights for the day.  So we and hundreds of our new best friends waited for hours trying to get out of Honduras.  The reason for the cancellation?  The former President of Honduras, Mel Zelaya, was trying to fly into the country.  A warrant is out for his arrest, the new government says that if he sets foot in the country he will be arrested, and yet for days he has been promising to return today (Sunday).  Ironically, although TACA knew this, they told us the flights would go on as scheduled and didn’t make any effort to contact us once they were canceled.

We tried to get to Mexico, our vacation destination, on another airline, but to no avail.  They couldn’t even guarantee us tickets for tomorrow, so we cut our losses, bought a bus ticket, and arrived back in La Ceiba this afternoon.  Mexico just wasn’t in the plan for us this time, but with ticket vouchers good for up to a year, I am sure we’ll make it there.

A jet with Honduras' ousted President Manuel Zelaya on board departs from Dulles International Airport. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Of course once we got home, the excitement didn’t end.  This afternoon, Zelaya took off from Washington, DC, for Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras.  Ignoring all the warnings, he called on his supporters to show up at the airport to welcome him home.  Although he naively asked them to be peaceful, there were protest and the military was called in.  As the plane approached, the military was dispatched to all four of the international airports in Honduras (Tegucigalpa, San Pedro Sula, La Ceiba, Roatan) with orders to arrest Zelaya.

As we dined on our deep-dish, Hot Cheese crust, gigante, supreme Pizza Hut pizza, we watched on television as Zelaya’s plane (on loan from Venezuela) circled the airport in Tegucigalpa, looking for a spot to land.  The military was covering the runway, so eventually the president gave up and headed for Nicaragua (UPDATE: El Salvador).

As are watching the news now at 7 PM here in Honduras, we still have no idea what is coming next.  Zelaya is close by in El Slavador, and he has said he will find another way into the country.  We are still very safe out here in Honduras, but we’re eager to see how it all plans out.  And now, with our new-found vacation time, we might just head up the river again:

Elli and Lucy taking a break and having a snack on the beach of Rio Congrejal