By ELISABETH MALKIN
MEXICO CITY - The Honduran president, Manuel Zelaya, was ousted by the army on Sunday after pressing ahead with plans for a referendum that opponents said could lay the groundwork for his eventual re-election, in the first military coup in Central America since the end of the cold war.
Soldiers entered the presidential palace in the capital, Tegucigalpa, and disarmed the presidential guard early Sunday, military officials said. Mr. Zelaya's private secretary, Eduardo Enrique Reina, confirmed the arrest.
Mr. Zelaya flew into exile in Costa Rica, telling a local television station, "They are creating a monster they will not be able to contain."
Much of the capital was without electricity on Sunday and residents stood on long lines to buy kerosene for home generators. Military tanks patrolled the streets and military planes flew overhead. Soldiers were on guard at all the main government buildings and military trucks dropped off police at strategic crossings throughout the city, residents said.
Political tensions have increased in recent weeks, as Mr. Zelaya pressed ahead with plans for a nonbinding referendum that opponents said would open the way for him to rewrite the constitution to run for re-election despite a one-term limit.
In the weeks leading up to the referendum, supporters and opponents of the president held competing demonstrations.
Last week, the Supreme Court and Congress both declared the referendum unconstitutional. But on Thursday, the president led a group of protesters to an air force installation and seized the ballots, which the prosecutor's office and the electoral tribunal had ordered confiscated.
After the armed forces commander, Romeo Vazquez, said that the military would not participate in the referendum, Mr. Zelaya fired him. But the Supreme Court declared the firing illegal.
President Obama said Sunday that he was deeply concerned by the reports from Honduras about the detention and expulsion of the president.
"I call on all political and social actors in Honduras to respect democratic norms, the rule of law and the tenets of the Inter-American Democratic charter," Mr. Obama said in a statement. "Any existing tensions and disputes must be resolved peacefully through dialogue free from any outside interference."
Administration officials said the president spoke with his national security adviser, Gen. James Jones, about the situation and was receiving updates throughout the day. The call from Mr. Obama echoed a statement from the Organization of American States on Friday.
Mr. Zelaya, who has the support of labor unions and the poor, is an ally of President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela. During his three years in office, opposition to the president has mounted from the middle class and the wealthy business community who fear that he is planning to introduce Mr. Chávez's brand of socialist populism into the country, one of Latin America's poorest.
Opponents of Mr. Zelaya charged that he was following the example of Mr. Chávez, who has repeatedly called Venezuelans to the polls to approve his re-election.
Mr. Chávez was quick to react to the events unfolding in Honduras. In comments to Telesur, the regional news network backed by Venezuela's government, he said: "Behind these soldiers is the Honduran bourgeoisie, the rich who converted Honduras into a banana republic, a military and political base for the North American empire."
Simon Romero contributed reporting from Caracas.
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