Honduras interim leader Roberto Micheletti has imposed a nationwide 48-hour curfew after the army ousted elected President Manuel Zelaya and sent him into exile.
Congress voted Mr Micheletti in just hours after Manuel Zelaya was removed.
Shots were heard in the Honduran capital late last night and the UN General Assembly is to discuss the crisis later today.
Clashes have flared between Honduran troops guarding the presidential palace and demonstrators protesting the ousting of President Manuel Zelaya
Mr Zelaya has since travelled to Costa Rica and later Managua to take part in a summit of Latin American leaders.
He told reporters he was determined to return and 'reclaim my post.'
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, also in the Nicaraguan capital, vowed to do 'everything that is necessary in political, diplomatic, social and moral aspects to restore the government of Manuel Zelaya.'
In Honduras however, Mr Micheletti brushed off worldwide condemnation of the takeover.
'I came to the presidency not by a coup d'état but by a completely legal process as set out in our laws,' he said.
Roberto Micheletti also issued a direct warning to Hugo Chavez, saying his country was determined to 'go to war' if there was external interference on the part of 'this gentleman.'
Congress said it had voted unanimously to remove the president from office for 'apparent misconduct' and 'repeated violations of the constitution and the law and disregard of orders and judgments of the institutions.'
Meanwhile, Amnesty International has joined global calls for Honduran President Manuel Zelaya to return to the country and warned his overthrow jeopardised human rights in the Central American nation.
Amnesty International stated that 'The forced removal of President Zelaya places human rights and the rule of law in serious danger, it fears that pro-Zelaya activists may be arbitrarily detained amid the political turmoil and considers those held because of their criticism of the president's ouster as prisoners of conscience'.
New general elections are planned for 29 November.
