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The world was shocked when on June 28 2009 Honduran president Manuel Zelaya was forcibly removed from his residence by members of the military and put on a plane to Costa Rica. Stories invoking images of a pyjama-clad Zelaya being led off at gunpoint filled western media outlets and sparked outrage among world leaders across the political spectrum....

The world was shocked when on June 28 2009 Honduran president Manuel Zelaya was forcibly removed from his residence by members of the military and put on a plane to Costa Rica. Stories invoking images of a pyjama-clad Zelaya being led off at gunpoint filled western media outlets and sparked outrage among world leaders across the political spectrum. The event allowed journalists to resurrect the word coup and splash it all over the morning headlines, but Honduran lawyers want the world to know that this descriptor is incorrect. "At no moment have the armed forces taken control of the country," one attorney said in a typically representative statement: "They simply carried out a court order."

While it had all the elements of a coup – the ousting of a president, the military involvement – Honduran lawyers are quick to point out that the military was acting on a judgment passed down several days before by the Supreme Court at the call of the Attorney General as dictated by constitutional clause. Under that clause the constitution explicitly forbids the amending of the limit of a single four-year term of office for the president, and the mere proposal of re-election causes the president to forfeit their office. Lawyers hold that since Zelaya was outwardly preparing to hold a popular referendum on extending the term limit, he in essence was no longer president when he was removed to Costa Rica.

The situation may alarm private investors, but financial lawyers are buoyed by the fact that the US government confirmed it will not halt aid to the country. Also, immediate calls for sanctions in the Organisation of American States have died down amid promises for discussions between Zelaya and interim president Micheletti. With the situation far from resolved at the time of writing, many attorneys were expecting a rough period in the six months leading up to elections in November 2009.

Barring further political turmoil, financial lawyers see many opportunities for investment in Honduras. One such sector is the telecoms industry. The relatively small country already has three private mobile carriers and a recent state-owned entity providing cellular services, so attorneys see little room for large players in the tight market. However, there is a great need for support infrastructure in terms of cellular antennas, and space will need to be leased for them to be built. It is in this particular area that lawyers are predicting a great deal of activity within the next few years.