Honduran President Manuel Zelaya was detained by military forces in the early hours of June 28, transported to a military base just outside Tegucigalpa and flown to Costa Rica on a military aircraft. In a media interview from Costa Rica, where he is reportedly seeking asylum, Zelaya called his ouster a "kidnapping" and called on his supporters to resist the action peacefully. Zelaya supporters burned tires in front of the presidential palace to protest his ouster, and there were reports of security forces using tear gas to dispel protesters. In a brief radio announcement, the Honduran Supreme Court said it ordered the army to remove the president to "defend the rule of law." The Honduran Congress is expected to approve the president of Congress, Roberto Micheletti, to serve as interim president, and presidential elections slated for Nov. 29 will proceed on schedule, according to the country's electoral court. The details of Zelaya's expulsion to Costa Rica are unclear, but Zelaya's comments and his transportation on a military aircraft suggest he was forced to go there. It isn't clear if the terms of his expulsion require him to stay in Costa Rica and not seek refuge with allies in Nicaragua, El Salvador or Venezuela. In response to the military action, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez announced he would take steps to "defeat" the coup against Zelaya, while the government of Ecuador announced it would not recognize the interim government of Honduras. Zelaya's ouster is not, in and of itself, necessarily a significant event. While there hasn't been a coup in Latin America for some time, such an event is not exactly unheard of. There have been initial protests, and the next several days should show the extent to which Zelaya is supported by the populace. There could be marches and unrest among his supporters, particularly rural laborers and unions. One early flash point could be the military's seizing materials for a referendum on possible constitutional reforms scheduled for June 28 — it was this referendum that triggered the army's move against Zelaya, after the Supreme Court declared the reforms unconstitutional. The question is whether Venezuela or other allies of the left-leaning Zelaya act on their pledges to resist the coup, and how those actions manifest themselves. While there were rumors (from possibly biased sources) of the movement of Venezuelans and Nicaraguans into Honduras in recent days, at the moment there does not appear to be any physical action being taken by Zelaya's allies. This situation, however, will need to be closely monitored in the coming days and weeks.