Roberto Micheletti

Roberto Micheletti Baín (born 13 August 1941) is a Honduran politician who served as the interim president of Honduras from 28 June 2009 to 27 January 2010 as a result of the 2009 Honduran coup d'état.

The Honduran military ousted the President, and the National Congress read a letter of resignation, which was refuted two minutes later by Manuel Zelaya in conversation with CNN en Español; days later, the coup-plotters claimed that the Supreme Court had ordered to forcefully detain President Manuel Zelaya because "he was violating the Honduran constitution"; Zelaya was exiled rather than arrested.

Micheletti, constitutionally next in line for the presidency, was sworn in as president by the National Congress a few hours after Zelaya was sent into exile by the Honduran military.

He was not acknowledged as de jure president by any government or international organization.

In 1963, Micheletti was a member of the honor guard of President Ramón Villeda, who was toppled by the military; Micheletti was arrested and jailed on 3 October and jailed for 27 days.

In 1973 he moved to the United States, living in Tampa, Florida, then in New Orleans, Louisiana, for two years before returning to Honduras in 1976.

While living in the USA he finished high school and started his own business.

A deputy in Congress since 1982, Micheletti is currently a member of the Liberal Party of Honduras.

Born in El Progreso, Yoro Department, Micheletti was the eighth of nine siblings (6 boys, 3 girls).

Micheletti's father was Umberto Micheletti, who immigrated from the Bergamo province of Lombardy, Italy.

His mother was Donatella Bain Moya, also born in El Progreso.

He is married to Siomara Girón and they have 3 children.

Micheletti won a Congressional seat in 1982 which he has held till June 2009, except for a brief period when he ran Hondutel, Honduras' state-owned national telephone company.

In 1985 Micheletti was part of a group of deputies who signed a motion calling for the National Congress to reseat itself as a National Constituent Assembly.

A Venezuelan government webpage claims that the proposal was aimed at enabling then-President Roberto Suazo to run for re-election in the 1985 Honduras presidential election.

Ultimately the proposal was dropped when most congressmen refused to support the motion.

Micheletti presided over the National Congress of Honduras from 25 January 2006 until 28 June 2009.

Although he was a member of the same party as Manuel Zelaya, there had been conflict between the two politicians before the constitutional crisis.

The Ministerio Publico's office charged Manuel Zelaya with violations of the constitution, laws and court orders.

The Supreme Court issued an arrest warrant.

He has twice sought his party's nomination to run for president, both times failing to win the internal election for the nomination of his party, the latter occasion in 2008 to former Vice President Elvin Santos, who won the Liberal nomination for the November 2009 presidential election.

The Honduran constitution mandated that the head of Congress, Roberto Micheletti, act as the provisional head of state since Vice President Elvin Ernesto Santos had resigned in December 2008 to run for president.

Micheletti's term in office saw demonstrations for and against him, although the demonstrations for him encountered none of the violent repression from the police.

Domestically his government was supported by organizations such as Unión Cívica Democrática and opposed by the "Resistance".

International support for the Micheletti government was scant.

Official reactions from many international leaders condemned the ousting of President Zelaya, many of them calling for his reinstatement.

The Organization of American States (OAS) said it would not recognize any government other than that of Manuel Zelaya.

The United States rejected the overthrow of Zelaya in statements by President Barack Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Ambassador to Honduras Hugo Llorens.

The European Union also condemned the ousting of Zelaya.

Cuban president Raúl Castro asked for the return of democracy in Honduras.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez stated that he had put his nation's armed forces on alert, and vowed to take military action if Venezuela's embassy or envoy to Honduras were harmed.

The 2009 general election took place as planned in November and elected Porfirio Lobo Sosa to succeed Micheletti.

Before serving as president, Micheletti was the president of Honduras' National Congress.

On the morning of June 28, 2009, the military arrested President Zelaya and deported him to Costa Rica.

After a resignation letter from President Manuel Zelaya was read to the National Congress of Honduras, which Zelaya later denied writing, Zelaya was dismissed as president, by a show of hands in the National Congress, on 28 June.

Congress, under Articles 1, 2, 3, 4, 205, 220, subsections 20, 218, 242, 321, 322 and 323 of the Constitution of the Republic, unanimously agreed to:

Micheletti's 25-year-old nephew Enzo Micheletti was abducted and found murdered in late October 2009 though no evidence linking this crime to the political events going on was discovered.

Deaths that have been allegedly linked to the violence in the aftermath of the coup include 19-year-old Isis Obed Murillo Mencías, shot in the head on 5 July when Zelaya's plane was trying to land at Toncontin Airport; 40-year-old campesino leader and Democratic Unification Party member Ramón García on 12 July, after he was forced by unknown people to get off a bus; 23-year-old Pedro Magdiel Muñoz Salvador, allegedly detained by police during anti-coup protests and taken to an El Paraíso police station on 24 July, allegedly found at 6:30 am the following morning with 42 stab wounds and 38-year-old high school teacher Roger Abraham Vallejo Soriano, shot in the head allegedly by security forces during protests on 31 July, dying on 1 August.

Costa Rican President Óscar Arias acted as a mediator in the talks between the Honduran government and Manuel Zelaya to try to find a political solution.

He presented a seven-point agreement, which called for a unity government.