Brazil signals it may recognise Honduran election

A top Brazilian official said the presidential election in Honduras should be considered separately from the June coup, the first indication that Brazil may recognise the candidate who won the Sunday election.                                           

Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and his Venezuelan and Argentine counterparts have condemned the de facto government of Roberto Micheletti, who came to power after president Manuel Zelaya was ousted by a coup in June. 

Lula has also said his country, Latin America's biggest economy, would not recognise president-elect Porfirio Lobo unless Zelaya were reinstated to serve out his term.

Dilma Rousseff, Lula's chief of staff, said until now Brazil has been concerned mainly with the return of Zelaya to power and the condemnation of the coup and the de facto government.                                          

"The coup is one thing. Discussing (the election) is another thing ... I think that this new process will have to be considered," Rousseff told Brazil's Globo television network late on Friday.                                           

Rousseff, who Lula hopes will replace him after the October 2010 presidential election, was speaking from a train in Germany as the Brazilian delegation headed to climate talks in Copenhagen.                                           

Zelaya has been holed up in the Brazilian embassy in Tegucigalpa since he secretly returned from exile in September. The United States has said Lobo's election was carried out in an open and transparent manner.

The stance has split the United States from Latin American powers like Brazil and Argentina that say it is impossible to recognize an election organized by a de facto government.                                           

Honduras remains deeply divided by the coup. Zelaya supporters organise protests in the capital almost everyday, although their numbers have dwindled since Micheletti cracked down on marches and pro-Zelaya media outlets.