Back Manuel Zelaya Afrikaans مانويل زيلايا Arabic مانويل زيلايا ARZ Manuel Zelaya AST Manuel Zelaya BCL Manuel Zelaya Catalan Manuel Zelaya Czech Manuel Zelaya Danish Manuel Zelaya German Μανουέλ Σελάγια Greek
Manuel Zelaya | |
|---|---|
 Zelaya at his wife's presidential inauguration in 2022. | |
| 35th President of Honduras | |
| In office 27 January 2006 – 28 June 2009 | |
| Vice President |
|
| Preceded by | Ricardo Maduro |
| Succeeded by | Roberto Micheletti (interim)[a] |
| First Gentleman of Honduras | |
| Assumed role 27 January 2022 | |
| President | Xiomara Castro |
| Preceded by | Ana García Carías (as First Lady) |
| Leader of Libre | |
| Assumed office 26 June 2011 | |
| Preceded by | Party established |
| Deputy of the Olancho Department | |
| In office 25 January 2014 – 25 January 2018 | |
| In office 25 January 1986 – 25 January 1998 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | José Manuel Zelaya Rosales 20 September 1952 Catacamas, Olancho, Honduras |
| Political party | Liberal Party (1970–2011) LIBRE (2011–present) |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 4 (including Xiomara) |
| Alma mater | National Autonomous University of Honduras (Incomplete)[1] |
José Manuel Zelaya Rosales (born 20 September 1952)[2] is a Honduran politician who served as the 35th president of Honduras from 2006 until his forcible removal in the 2009 coup d'état; since January 2022, he has served as the inaugural first gentleman of Honduras. He is the eldest son of a wealthy businessman, and inherited his father's nickname "Mel". Before entering politics he was involved in his family's logging and timber businesses.
Elected as a liberal, Zelaya shifted to the political left during his presidency, forging an alliance with the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas known as ALBA.[3] On 28 June 2009, during the 2009 Honduran constitutional crisis,[4] he was seized by the military and sent to Costa Rica in a coup d'état.[2][5]
On 21 September 2009, he returned to Honduras clandestinely and resurfaced in the Brazilian embassy in Tegucigalpa.[6] In 2010, he left Honduras for the Dominican Republic, an exile that lasted more than a year.[7]
He now represents Honduras as a deputy of the Central American Parliament.[8] Since January 1976 Zelaya has been married to Xiomara Castro, the current President of Honduras, elected in the 2021 general election.[9][10] Upon his wife's inauguration, Zelaya became the first "First Gentleman" in Honduran history.
Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
abc.eswas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ a b Encyclopædia Britannica, Manuel Zelaya Archived 26 March 2015 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Gott, Richard (29 June 2009). "Honduras: Back to the bad old days?". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 20 April 2016. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
- ^ "Timeline: The Honduran Crisis". AS/COA Online. 12 November 2009. Archived from the original on 15 January 2011. Retrieved 22 January 2010.
- ^ "Americas group suspends Honduras". BBC. 5 July 2009. Archived from the original on 5 July 2009. Retrieved 5 July 2009.
- ^ "Ousted leader returns to Honduras". BBC News. 21 September 2009. Archived from the original on 9 November 2020. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
- ^ "Zelaya goes into exile in Dominican Republic". Los Angeles Times. 28 January 2010. Archived from the original on 31 May 2016. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
- ^ "Media-Newswire.com - Press Release Distribution - PR Agency". Archived from the original on 13 March 2016. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
- ^ "Xiomara Castro poised to become first female president of Honduras". the Guardian. 29 November 2021. Archived from the original on 5 October 2022. Retrieved 30 November 2021.
- ^ "Honduras set for first female president as Castro holds wide lead". www.aljazeera.com. Archived from the original on 4 October 2022. Retrieved 30 November 2021.