Brazil urges UN Security Council to hold emergency meeting on siege at embassy in Honduras

Brazil asks UN for emergency meeting on Honduras

BRASILIA, Brazil — Brazil’s government has asked the United Nations Security Council to convene an emergency meeting over a standoff in Honduras with the nation’s deposed president taking refuge in the Brazilian Embassy.

The official Agencia Brasil news agency says Brazil’s U.N. ambassador, Maria Luiza Viotti, has urged the council to guarantee the safety of the embassy and ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya.

Viotti sent a letter asking for the council meeting after baton-wielding soldiers used tear gas and water cannons Tuesday to chase away thousands of Zelaya’s supporters who were demonstrating outside the embassy.

Zelaya and 70 friends and relatives are trapped inside.