One Country, Two Presidents

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras, July 1, 2009 — -- Roberto Micheletti sat down in a chair in front of the blue and white Honduran flag in the Presidential Palace on Tuesday and insisted he is the rightful occupant of the President's office.

In an exclusive interview with ABC News -- Micheletti's first with an American Network -- he said he'd like to be called "Mr. President."

"You have to because I am the President," he said, then added playfully, "or you can call me Roberto if you want."

Micheletti may think he's the president of Honduras, but the world isn't prepared to call him that and nor are a lot of Hondurans.

That's because Micheletti became President on Sunday after masked Honduran army soldiers stormed the home of the country's elected president, Manuel "Mel" Zelaya, while he was sleeping. Still in his pajamas, he was forced onto a plane and taken to San Jose, Costa Rica, where he was left at the airport. Hours later the Honduran Congress proclaimed Micheletti the new president.

For decades Latin American countries were plagued by political coups. Those coups ended almost 20 years ago as democracy spread across the hemisphere and dictatorships tumbled.

In the eyes of the world this was a coup.

Not so says Micheletti.

"No, no, it is not a coup," he told ABC News, "this is called a constitutional succession."

Micheletti insists the army was acting with permission from the Supreme Court, which had determined that Zelaya was acting beyond his powers in trying to amend the constitution so he could run for a second term in November's elections.

"The problem is simple -- he did not respect the orders of the judges. The judges told him not to do it, and he could care less. He just did what he was planning to do…. Then, can you tell me who is breaking the constitutional order, him or ourselves?"

When it was pointed out that the left-wing President of Venezuela and the right-wing President of Colombia pushed through similar amendments to term limits, Micheletti was unimpressed.