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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Zelaya leaves as official term ends in Honduras

The plane carrying Honduras’ ousted President Manuel Zelaya takes off Wednesday for the Dominican Republic from Tegucigalpa.  (Associated Press)
Ken Ellingwood And Alex Renderos Los Angeles Times

MEXICO CITY – As a new Honduran president took office, former leader Manuel Zelaya flew into exile in the Dominican Republic on Wednesday under a deal that ends months of turmoil since his ouster by the military last summer.

Zelaya, accompanied by his wife, two children and President Leonel Fernandez of the Dominican Republic, left Honduras just hours after Porfirio Lobo was sworn in as president.

Under an arrangement brokered by Fernandez last week, Zelaya agreed to abandon the Brazilian Embassy in Tegucigalpa, where he had holed up in September, and to leave the country once his term officially ended.

“We’ll be back,” Zelaya shouted before boarding the plane.

Lobo, a conservative rancher elected in November, said his government would work for reconciliation at home, and he reached out to the many nations that had condemned Zelaya’s ouster.

“We leave the past behind now and look toward the future,” Lobo said after being sworn in. “But you cannot advance to the future without healing the wounds of the past.”

Zelaya’s departure and Lobo’s inauguration allow Honduras to try to move past a crisis that laid bare deep political polarization and saw the first military coup in Central America in more than a decade.

Lobo’s first act as president was to sign a decree granting political amnesty for Zelaya and the military.

In addition, the Supreme Court exonerated six top officers, including the military chief of staff, ruling that they did not act with malice when they rounded up Zelaya on June 28 and flew him to Costa Rica. Zelaya later sneaked back into Honduras in a bid to reclaim his office.

The Supreme Court had ordered Zelaya’s arrest for abuse of power, treason and other charges after he refused to drop plans for a referendum that had been ruled illegal and that foes said was aimed at helping him stay in power beyond the one-term limit.

Coup supporters refused to reinstate Zelaya despite international outrage. The United States cut off some aid and yanked the visas of some officials working in the interim government, led by Roberto Micheletti.

But pressure waned even before Lobo won the election.