Manuel Zelaya
José Manuel Zelaya Rosales (born 20 September 1952) is a Honduran politician who was President of Honduras from 27 January 2006 until his forcible removal in the 2009 coup d'état, and who since January 2022 serves as the first First Gentleman of Honduras. He is the eldest son of a wealthy businessman, and inherited his father's nickname "Mel". Before entering politics he was involved in his family's logging and timber businesses.
Manuel Zelaya | |
|---|---|
Zelaya at his wife's presidential inauguration, January 2022 | |
| First Gentleman of Honduras | |
| Assumed role 27 January 2022 | |
| President | Xiomara Castro |
| Preceded by | Ana García Carías (as First Lady) |
| Deputy of the Olancho Department | |
| In office 25 January 2014 – 25 January 2018 | |
| Leader of Libre | |
| Assumed office 26 June 2011 | |
| Preceded by | Party established |
| 52nd President of Honduras | |
| In office 27 January 2006 – 28 June 2009 | |
| Vice President | Elvin Ernesto Santos Arístides Mejía (as Vice-Presidential Commissioner) |
| Preceded by | Ricardo Maduro |
| Succeeded by | Roberto Micheletti (interim) |
| Deputy of the Olancho Department | |
| In office 25 January 1986 – 25 January 1998 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | José Manuel Zelaya Rosales 20 September 1952 Catacamas, Olancho, Honduras |
| Political party | Liberal Party (1970–2011) LIBRE (2011–present) |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 4 (including Xiomara) |
| Alma mater | National Autonomous University of Honduras (Incomplete) |
Elected as a liberal, Zelaya shifted to the political left during his presidency, forging an alliance with the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas known as ALBA. On 28 June 2009, during the 2009 Honduran constitutional crisis, he was seized by the military and sent to Costa Rica in a coup d'état. On 21 September 2009 he returned to Honduras clandestinely and resurfaced in the Brazilian embassy in Tegucigalpa. In 2010, he left Honduras for the Dominican Republic, an exile that lasted more than a year.
He now represents Honduras as a deputy of the Central American Parliament. Since January 1976 Zelaya has been married to Xiomara Castro, the current President of Honduras, elected in the 2021 general election. Upon his wife's inauguration, Zelaya became the first "First Gentleman" in Honduran history.