Manuel Zelaya

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Zelaya and the second or maternal family name is Rosales.
Manuel Zelaya
Zelaya at his wife's presidential inauguration in 2022.
First Gentleman of Honduras
Incumbent
Assumed role
January 27, 2022
PresidentXiomara Castro
Preceded byAna García Carías
(as First Lady)
Deputy of the Olancho Department
In office
January 25, 2014 – January 25, 2018
Leader of Libre
Incumbent
Assumed office
June 26, 2011
Preceded byParty established
35th President of Honduras
In office
January 27, 2006 – June 28, 2009
Vice President
Preceded byRicardo Maduro
Succeeded byRoberto Micheletti (interim)[a]
Deputy of the Olancho Department
In office
January 25, 1986 – January 25, 1998
Personal details
Born
José Manuel Zelaya Rosales

(1952-09-20) September 20, 1952 (age 72)
Catacamas, Olancho, Honduras
Political partyLiberal Party (1970–2011)
LIBRE (2011–present)
Spouse
​
(m. 1976)​
Children4 (including Xiomara)
Alma materNational Autonomous University of Honduras (Incomplete)[1]

José Manuel Zelaya Rosales (born September 20, 1952)[2] is a Honduran politician who was 35th President of Honduras from January 27, 2006 until his forcible removal in the 2009 coup d'état, and who since January 2022 serves as the first 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 June 28, 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 September 21, 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.[citation needed]


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).

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference abc.es was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b Encyclopædia Britannica, Manuel Zelaya Archived 26 March 2015 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ 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.
  4. ^ "Timeline: The Honduran Crisis". AS/COA Online. 12 November 2009. Archived from the original on 15 January 2011. Retrieved 22 January 2010.
  5. ^ "Americas group suspends Honduras". BBC. 5 July 2009. Archived from the original on 5 July 2009. Retrieved 5 July 2009.
  6. ^ "Ousted leader returns to Honduras". BBC News. 21 September 2009. Archived from the original on 9 November 2020. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
  7. ^ "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.
  8. ^ "Media-Newswire.com - Press Release Distribution - PR Agency". Archived from the original on 13 March 2016. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
  9. ^ "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.
  10. ^ "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.