The political crisis in Honduras is sinking the country further into economic problems as sanctions and a lack of tourism play against the country, one of Central America's poorest.
President Manuel Zelaya was toppled in a June 28 coup in what is the worst political crisis in Central America in recent history. The coup, when soldiers seized Zelaya and sent him into exile on an army plane, came when the country was already suffering from the global economic downturn.
Now people on the gro Read more

The political crisis in Honduras is sinking the country further into economic problems as sanctions and a lack of tourism play against the country, one of Central America's poorest.
President Manuel Zelaya was toppled in a June 28 coup in what is the worst political crisis in Central America in recent history. The coup, when soldiers seized Zelaya and sent him into exile on an army plane, came when the country was already suffering from the global economic downturn.
Now people on the ground are suffering as tourists have been turned back the incessant political chaos.
Elmer Mendoza, a 34-year-old father of three, said he and many others have had the rug pulled out from under them by the coup.
"It has directly affected us seeing as we live by providing transportation for foreigners and they are no longer visiting our city or our country. And with this situation we are all down, completely down. Our cooperative of 80 families that live in this area is in despair and we are facing a tremendous crisis," he said.
Roundly condemned, the coup prompted foreign governments and multinational lenders to freeze some aid programs, and pro-Zelaya protests at home have disrupted cargo shipments.
Mario Bustillo, the head of the country's chamber of commerce, said economic outlooks have dropped dismally for the year.
"Remember that there will be an economic contraction of 2 percent. I think trade could go down 30 percent on average this year. This means companies are looking to see how they can survive this year and are betting on the third quarter which Christmas may help make up for losses seen in the year as a whole," Bustillo said.
Honduran politicians and business leaders behind his ouster, including de facto leader Roberto Micheletti, said they would rather take months of international isolation than let Zelaya back, but the economic chaos could make them unpopular.
Presidential candidate Pepe Lobo is hoping to take advantage of the economic situation to win over voters before the November 29 presidential vote.
"Why don't they put they interests of the people first, the true interests of the people. Mr. Manuel Zelaya [ousted President] should therefore call the international community and ask them to free up the funds they have frozen, because they are for Honduras, and Mr. Roberto Micheletti should tell them, look, if you don't want to give the money to the central government, give it to the mayors and local governments and to the NGOs, but free up the funds," Lobo said.
Zelaya snuck back into the country in late September and took refuge in the Brazilian embassy, but the fruitless negotiations have drug on between the two sides.
Meanwhile, Hondurans like Mendoza are paying the price.
"Sadly this has gone to a political level, but we know it will end and we hope itsoon because as it is the economy can not take any more. If the situation keeps us in the red, the entire capital, Tegucigalpa, we're in a crisis beyond what we understand and people are hurting on a national level. There are certain groups that try to say that economically things in Honduras are ok, but this is not true," he said.
A clutch of wealthy families who control much of the small textile, banana and coffee producing economy say they will do what it takes to keep Honduras running even if it is not recognized by any foreign governments.
The World Bank and other major lending institutions have canceled loans to a country that gets nearly 20 percent of its budget from aid.
Hotel occupancy rates have dropped from 80 percent to 20 percent. Close