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Earlier, the leader of the Roman Catholic Church in Honduras called on the ousted president not to return from exile, in order to avoid provoking what he called a "bloodbath".

The international community - including the US - swiftly rallied to Zelaya as the victim of an illegal overthrow which evoked grim memories of central America's cold war-era upheavals. The UN general assembly today condemned the coup and demanded Zelaya's immediate return to power.

Several Latin American countries have suspended trade with Honduras and the World Bank has "paused" lending, piling further pressure on the isolated government in Tegucigalpa to back down.The strongest language during the crisis has come from Chávez who urged Hondurans to rebel and reinstate his ally. "I'll do everything possible to overthrow this gorilla government of Honduras."

The authorities have shut down several TV and radio stations and those that remain on air have ignored the crisis and broadcast soap operas and cooking programmes. The new government said no coup had taken place and that Zelaya was constitutionally removed by the army with congressional and supreme court support.

The flamboyant landowner was elected in 2006 as a conservative but tacked to the left and became a Chávez ally. He was popular among many of Honduras's poor but concern over crime, corruption and his governing style lowered his approval rating to around 30%.He angered the courts, army, congress and his own party by trying to hold a non-binding referendum which may have paved the way for him to change the constitution to run again when his term expired.Days before the coup Zelaya fired the armed forces chief, who refused to cooperate in the referendum, and defied a supreme court ruling to abandon the vote.

As his ratings fell Zelaya clashed with the media over stories about crime and government corruption and became isolated in congress, with his own party turning against him.Accusations that he violated the constitution came to a climax over his push for a referendum which might have abolished presidential term limits. The courts, army and congress joined forces to oust him.

The left-wing leader was ousted early on Sunday in a joint move by the army, judiciary, congress and disaffected members of his own party

The Obama administration said Zelaya's overthrow was illegal and had "evolved into a coup" but stopped short of defining it as a coup, a move which would require cutting US aid. Latin American governments went further in their condemnation and said they would withdraw their envoys. Several neighbouring states said they would cut trade for 48 hours.

Zelaya, a wealthy rancher, was popular with some of Honduras's poor but had low approval ratings and sour relations with the courts, congress and military. His plan for a referendum which might have abolished term limits triggered the crisis.

Polls show Zelaya's popularity had dropped to 30 percent in recent months. The army, courts and Congress all opposed his quest to lift presidential term limits.

Zelaya has vowed to go back and serve the rest of his term, but the new government says he will be arrested if he goes to Honduras and there is "no chance" of him returning to office.

After several failed attempts to touch down at Tegucigalpa airport, where military vehicles were placed on the runway, the plane eventually flew to Nigaragua, where Mr Zelaya met President Daniel Ortega.

The deposed Honduran leader went on to El Salvador where he was due to meet the presidents of Argentina, Ecuador and Paraguay and the head of the Organization of American States (OAS).

On Saturday, the OAS suspended Honduras - the first time the organisation had taken such a measure since Cuba was suspended in 1962, when it allied itself with the USSR.

On Tuesday, Mrs. Clinton plans to attend a meeting in Honduras of the Organization of American States. Members of the group want to make an even clearer break with the past by moving to readmit Cuba, which the organization expelled in 1962, citing its alliance with the Communist bloc. Mrs. Clinton has fended off calls for Cuba to be offered membership until Havana moves to accept the group’s democratic principles. On Sunday, she reiterated that the United States would oppose the efforts of several Latin American countries to immediately reinstate Cuba.“We believe that membership in the O.A.S. comes with responsibility, and that we must all hold each other accountable,” she said. Cuba, for its part, has said it has no interest in returning to an organization that the official newspaper Granma referred to recently as “that decrepit old house of Washington.”