An international human rights mission including, among others, Nora Cortiñas of Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, reported that Carlos Humberto Reyes was injured on 30 July 2009 when "the army and the special forces of the National Police of Honduras attacked thousands of pacific demonstrators, with fire weapons, wood and rubber projectiles and as well as tear gas, thrown even from helicopters."[2][3]
On 9 November 2009, following a national meeting of leaders of the National Resistance Front against the coup d'état, Reyes declared the withdrawal of his candidacy, on the grounds of not legitimising the coup d'état and fraudulent elections.[4][5] The Honduran newspapers El Tiempo and La Tribuna showed Reyes' right hand in a plaster cast.[4][5]