Honduran coup general says army "saved democracy"

By Daniel Trotta and Enrique Andres Pretel

TEGUCIGALPA (Reuters) - The Honduran armed forces chief who ousted President Manuel Zelaya said the decision to throw him out of the country was made by "the state" to save lives, because violence would have erupted had he remained.

General Romeo Vasquez Velasquez, leader of the joint chiefs of staff, told Reuters it was a difficult decision for him to topple Zelaya on June 28, because the two were friends.

But he said he was following orders from the Supreme Court and Congress, which have accused Zelaya of violating the constitution by trying to lift presidential term limits.

"The outside world sees us as bad guys but inside the country we are the ones who saved democracy. ... The best judge we will have is history," Vasquez Velasquez said in an interview at his office at the joint chiefs headquarters.

"We did it out of duty and for love of country because democracy was at risk," he said.

Soldiers rousted Zelaya out of bed and put him on a plane to Costa Rica in his pyjamas in order to stop a vote to gauge public support for a constituent assembly that could have rewritten the constitution and lifted the term limits.

Zelaya's ouster was popular with many at home, although pro-Zelaya protesters have clashed with troops on the streets.

But the United States condemned it as a coup and the Organisation of American States suspended Honduras' membership.