Brazil against new Honduras president

“We cannot deal with the coup leader (Lobo), as if nothing has happened,” Lula told reporters as he left the Iberian American summit in Estoril, Portugal.

On Sunday Honduran electors voted for Lobo in the hope he would find an exit to a five-month crisis that started with a military-backed coup to overthrow Manuel Zelaya. Lobo, Zelaya's predecessor, was a supporter of the coup.

“It is a matter of common sense, of principle. We cannot make concessions with the coup leader (or) deal with political vandalism,” he said. “If this was done, democracy in Latin America would face a serious threat.”

Lobo claimed victory in the first presidential election in Honduras since the June 28 coup.

Zelaya, who has been holed up in the Brazlian embassy since returning home in September, called for a boycott of the polls which he said would legitimize the coup.

Lula insisted Brazil would not recognize Lobo's election win.

“The current position is not to recognize the electoral process in Honduras,” he said.

The Honduran crisis is not on the summit agenda, but it has dominated preparatory meetings and underlined splits over the legitimacy of Sunday's vote. Leaders from the 22 countries attending the summit have been unable to agree a common position on Honduras.

“There are a lot of differences between us,” a Spanish government official told AFP.

However a final statement from the summit released unilaterally by hosts Portugal called for the restoration of Zelaya but took no position on the legitimacy of Sunday's poll.

The statement which Portugal said triggered no objections from member nations condemned the coup and said “restoration of president Manuel Zelaya to the office for which he was democratically elected was a necessary step for the return to constitutional normality.”

Critics of Sunday's election, including Brazil and Argentina, say acceptance of the polls would endorse the coup in a region with a painful history of dictatorships.

The United States is backing the polls, after condemning the coup and freezing millions of dollars in aid, to the disappointment of many in Latin America.

Peru, Costa Rica and Panama have also endorsed the result of Sunday's vote.

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