> Ousted Honduran president Manuel Zelaya has struggled to recover power for three months since the military and opposition forced him into exile in a coup on June 28. On Monday, after one week since Zelaya returned to Honduras by surprise and has been holed up in the Brazilian embassy, the de facto leaders are seeking to arrest Zelaya on charges of treason and abuse of authority. The following is a chronology of the events leading up to the coup and the crisis: The conflict began on March 24, when Zelaya announced a plan to hold what he called a non-binding referendum on June 28 to ask voters if they would like to hold another referendum alongside November's presidential elections on whether to revise the constitution to allow a president to run for a second term. On May 20, the leader of Congress said the referendum was a stunt to allow Zelaya to seek re-election. This was banned by Honduras' current constitution. On June 24, Zelaya dismissed the country's army chief Romeo Vazquez as he refused to mobilize armed forces to help distribute referendum ballot boxes, a task usually done by the army during elections. On June 25, the supreme court ordered the reinstatement of Vazquez, arguing that there was no valid reason for his dismissal. However, Zelaya refused to do so. On June 28, the day of the planned referendum, Zelaya was seized in the presidential palace by a group of soldiers and forced onto a plane bound for Costa Rica. Congress then assigned former legislature leader Roberto Micheletti to be acting president after a letter was read to Congress saying that Zelaya had resigned due to health problems. But Zelaya denied having signed the letter. Countries and international organizations immediately condemned the coup, and a series of street protests broke out in Honduras. On June 29, Bolivia, Ecuador, Mexico, Nicaragua and Venezuela all withdrew their ambassadors from Honduras. On June 30, the UN General Assembly approved a resolution asking all its 192 members only to recognize Zelaya's government. On July 1, the Organization of American States (OAS) gave the post-coup government 72 hours to return to democracy or face expulsion. Micheletti rejected the call and said that Zelaya would be arrested if he tried to return. The European Union and its 27 member nations pulled their ambassadors out of Honduras. On July 2, OAS Secretary General Jose Miguel Insulza arrived in Honduras for a two-day fact-finding visit. On July 4, the OAS expelled Honduras because Micheletti refused Zelaya's instatement. The action automatically suspended disbursements of new loans from the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank to Honduras. On July 5, Zelaya made an attempt to return to Honduras from Washington, D.C., in a private plane, accompanied by the presidents of Argentina, Ecuador, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Paraguay. However, the de facto government denied landing permission. The aircraft landed in El Salvador instead. On July 8, the United States warned Micheletti that it would cancel up to 180 million U.S. dollars in military and development aid to Honduras if Zelaya was not restored soon. On July 12, the de facto government lifted the curfew in Honduras, which had been in effect since the coup. Micheletti said that if Zelaya returned, he would be tried for treason, abuse of power and corruption. On July 18, talks resumed in San Jose, where Costa Rican President Oscar Arias, trying to mediate a settlement, made a seven-point proposal to end the crisis. The proposal included Zelaya's return to power, a point that was rejected by Micheletti's team. On July 20, the EU suspended all aid to Honduras. Micheletti restated his government's position that it would not accept Zelaya. On July 24, Zelaya briefly crossed into Honduras for a couple of hours, hoping to meet with his family and asking to speak with senior military officers. He retreated to the Nicaraguan town of Ocotal after his demand was refused. On July 28, Zelaya visited his followers' camps in Nicaragua to organize the "pacific resistance" against the coup government. On Aug. 4, Zelaya began a tour to some Latin American countries including Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Ecuador and Venezuela. On Aug. 13, the Honduran interim government announced that it had sent a delegation to Washington to "agree the composition of the foreign ministers' mission" to be sent by the Organization of American States (OAS) to Honduras. On Aug. 18, the de facto Honduran government ordered the withdrawal of its Argentine diplomatic staff and restricted the level of its ties with Argentina. On Aug. 24, the OAS' mission of foreign ministers from Costa Rica, Panama, Mexico, Argentina, Jamaica and the Dominican Republic, as well as OAS Secretary General Miguel Insulza as observer, arrived in Tegucigalpa to try to solve the political crisis in Honduras. On Aug. 31, Zelaya urged his fellows not to participate in the electoral campaign for the general elections to be held on Nov. 29. On Sept. 4, Micheletti led a march against ousted Zelaya and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. On Sep. 21, Zelaya surprised the world when entering Honduras without advice and staying in the Brazilian embassy in Tegucigalpa. Since that day, Zelaya started meetings with Catholic clerks, syndicate leaders and presidential candidates to negotiate a solution to the conflict. Zelaya also denounced the de facto government's attack on the Brazilian embassy with toxic gases. On Sept. 24, the de facto Honduran government accepted the mission led by Arias and Panamanian Vice President Juan Carlos Varela, which was proposed by former U.S. president Jimmy Carter, to discuss the situation of the country. On Sept. 27, Micheletti ordered to detain the five members of the OAS delegation for six hours and then expelled four of them. On Sept. 28, the de facto government closed radio station RadioGlobo and TV channel Canal 36, which had been supporting Zelaya. Source:Xinhua