At the time Grant Wahl was in Honduras for the soccer match, the country was experiencing a tumultuous period. That summer, a coup d’état by the Honduran military backed by the National Congress had deposed President Manuel Zelaya, whose politics had become left-leaning and was pushing for a change to the constitution to allow him to run for reelection, according to Britannica and The New York Times. Roberto Micheletti became the interim de facto president of Honduras and Wahl was scheduled to interview him on the evening of October 9, 2009.
Read Related Also: Megan Fox Claps Back at Claim That She “Can’t Buy a Razor” – E! Online
Even before the coup, Honduras had one of the highest murder rates in the Western hemisphere. Human rights abuses had occurred under Zelaya and only escalated with the de facto government that replaced him, per the U.S. State Department. A few hours before his scheduled meeting with Micheletti, Wahl interviewed several police officers stationed outside the Brazilian embassy, where Zelaya was then ensconced after quietly slipping back into the country following the coup, according to Wahl’s blog. “The police chief gave me the clearance to interview some soccer-loving police officers, whose scowls melted into smiles as they talked of getting a few hours off from work to watch USA-Honduras,” he recalled.
