Exiled Honduran President Vows Return on Sunday

Jose Miguel Insulza, Secretary General the Organization of American States, OAS, right, meets with...

Jose Miguel Insulza, Secretary General the Organization of American States, OAS, right, meets with the Mayor of Tegucigalpa, Ricardo Alvarez, left, and Porfirio Lobo Sosa, presidential candidate for the National Party, main opposition party to ousted president Manuel Zelaya, at a hotel in Tegucigalpa, Friday July 3, 2009. Honduras' Supreme Court rebuffed a personal appeal from Insulza on Friday, refusing to restore ousted President Manuel Zelaya before a Saturday deadline. (AP Photo/Fernando Antonio)

(AP)

The populist son of a wealthy rancher who adopted an increasingly fiery leftist tone in recent months, Zelaya has been traveling throughout Central America since his ouster building support.

He promised to return to Honduras to retake the presidency as the international community — everyone from the United Nations and U.S. President Barack Obama to Venezuela's Hugo Chavez and Cuba's Fidel Castro — lined up to support him and condemn the military uprising.

OAS suspension would likely mean economic sanctions and active diplomatic encouragement to other organizations around the hemisphere to halt aid and loans to Honduras, which could further destabilize an already volatile and desperately poor nation plagued by drug and gang violence.

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"The coup government doesn't care what the world says," said Luis Sosa, a leader of the leftist Bloque Popular. "The economic consequences are going to be tough, given that the international community is going to suspend its aid and financing."

Micheletti insisted the government's withdrawal from the OAS means economic sanctions will not apply, but many here aren't so sure.

"They totally screwed us. We are all going to have to start working as farmers and grow our own food, just so we'll have something to eat," said Santos Antonio Ortiz, a 20-year-old mechanic. "They have ensured that those who will really suffer are us poor people."

The new government bristles at descriptions of Zelaya's ouster as a coup, saying it followed the law and removed a president who was attempting to hold an illegal referendum.

Billboards proclaiming Micheletti the "legitimate and constitutional" president have begun to pop up, as have bumper stickers proclaiming "I love Honduras. I defend the constitution." The interim government has also taken to the radio and television airwaves with jingles, part of a campaign to win over those who have yet to choose sides.