He attended Niño Jesús de Praga y Luis Landa elementary school and the Instituto Salesiano San Miguel.

[1] He was forced to take over the family business by the arrest of his father José Manuel Zelaya Ordoñez, implicated in the murders known as "Slaughter of the Horcones.

[14] The COHEP occupies a particularly important role in Honduran politics, as the Constitution delineates that the organization elects one of the seven members of the Nominating Board that proposes nominees to the Supreme Court of Honduras.

[b] During Zelaya's time in office, Honduras became a member of ALBA, an international cooperation organization based on the idea of social, political, and economic integration between the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean.

[22] Political opponents, particularly business elites, opposed his foreign policy, including his alliance with Hugo Chávez in Venezuela, and friendship with Cuba's Raúl Castro.

Under his government, free education for all children was introduced,[24] subsidies to small farmers were provided, bank interest rates were reduced,[25] the minimum wage was increased by 80%, school meals were guaranteed for more than 1.6 million children from poor families, domestic employees were integrated into the social security system, poverty was reduced by almost 10% during two years of government, and direct state help was provided for 200,000 families in extreme poverty, with free electricity supplied to those Hondurans most in need.

[26] On 22 July 2008, Zelaya sought to incorporate Honduras into ALBA, an international cooperation organization based on the idea of social, political, and economic integration in Latin America and the Caribbean.

[citation needed] Zelaya said that the main media outlets in Honduras, owned by wealthy conservatives, were biased against him and did not cover what his government was doing: "No one publishes anything about me.

[27][28][29] According to a paper written by Manuel Orozco and Rebecca Rouse for the Inter-American Dialogue think tank in the United States, the Honduran media operate as arms of political parties.

[30] On 24 May 2007, Zelaya ordered ten two-hour cadenas (mandatory government broadcasts) on all television and radio stations, "to counteract the misinformation of the news media".

[35] The Associated Press, citing Manuel Orozco of the Inter American Dialogue, said that "His [Zelaya's] campaign for changing the constitution has energized his support base of labour groups, farmers and civil organisations who have long felt marginalized in a country where a wealthy elite controls the media and much of politics.

Those responsible for the coup justified their actions on the grounds that Zelaya's interest in potentially convening a constituent assembly to draft a new constitution was illegal, and alleged that his real motive was to increase his time in office.

Zelaya denied that his motive was to stay in office, stating that he intended to step down in January 2010 as scheduled, noting that his successor would be elected at the same time the vote on whether to convene a constituent assembly would occur.

[42] Because the president can amend 368 of the 375 articles in the Honduran constitution without calling a constituent assembly, some suspected that Zelaya's true intention was to extend his rule.

[citation needed] There has been considerable debate as to whether Zelaya's call for a poll about whether to organize a constituent assembly was legally valid according to the 1982 Constitution.

[44] As Congress can amend 368 of 375 articles without any constituent assembly, some observers charged that Zelaya's true intention of holding a referendum on convening a constitutional convention on the same date as his successor's election was to extend his term of rule.

[46][48] By 25 June, the newspaper La Tribuna reported that the military had deployed hundreds of troops around Tegucigalpa, to prevent possible disturbances by organisations that support Zelaya and with the exception of leftist organizations, "all sectors are publicly opposed to the consultation, which has been declared illegal by the Prosecutor and the Supreme Court".

The troops were deployed from the First Infantry Battalion, located 5 km east of the city, to the vicinity of the presidential residence in the west, and the airport, in the south.

[53] He was then brought to the air force base Hernan Acosta Mejia,[54][55][56] and taken into exile in Costa Rica,[57] precipitating the 2009 Honduran constitutional crisis.

[60] He also stated that he would begin to meet with diplomats,[61] and attended the Summit of Central American presidents held in Managua, Nicaragua, two days later (30 June 2009).

[69] A one-page United Nations resolution, passed by acclamation in the then 192-member body, condemned the events and demanded Zelaya's "immediate and unconditional restoration" as president.

Michelletti later issued a state of emergency with a curfew and asked the Brazilian government to put Zelaya in Honduran custody for trial.

Security Vice-Minister Mario Perdomo ordered checkpoints on the highways leading to Tegucigalpa, to "stop those people coming to start trouble".

[80][81][82] Costa Rican President Óscar Arias and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urged both sides to begin a dialogue toward a peaceful solution[80] and Eulogio Chavez, leader of a 60,000-member teachers union, announced that his organization would go on strike to back Zelaya.

Honduran interim president Roberto Micheletti warned that his government would take action if Brazil did not determine Zelaya's status soon.

"If Congress agrees", according to Elisabeth Malkin of The New York Times, "control of the army would shift to the electoral court, and the presidential election set for 29 Nov. would be recognized by both sides.

[89] The United States sent diplomats to help to resurrect the pact,[90] but Zelaya insisted that he would not accept any deal to restore him to office if it meant he must recognize the elections of 29 November.

[102] Organisations and individuals in Honduras, including the National Resistance Front against the coup d'état in Honduras,[103] Marvin Ponce of the Democratic Unification Party,[103] and Bertha Oliva of COFADEH,[104] and internationally, including Mercosur,[105] President Cristina Kirchner of Argentina[105] and the Union of South American Nations,[106] said that elections held on 29 November under Micheletti would not be legitimate.

Juan Barahona, who had been leading protests since late June when Zelaya was forced out of the country, said that his supporters are "closing that chapter" of their struggle.

Lobo also discussed the situation with former presidential candidates, who signed onto a joint statement on the agreement, which also requested that sanctions against Honduras as a result of the coup be lifted.