Lobo wins disputed Honduras vote

Monday, November 30, 2009 TEGUCIGALPA: Conservative opposition candidate Porfirio Lobo easily won Honduras' presidential election on Sunday in a vote that has put the United States at odds with leftist governments in Latin America.Lobo, a rich landowner, had over 55 percent support with more than half the votes counted and his closest rival, Elvin Santos of the ruling Liberal Party, then conceded defeat.The election could calm a five-month crisis which was sparked when the Honduran army overthrew leftist President Manuel Zelaya in June and flew him into exile.But while Washington commended Sunday's vote, leftist rulers of Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela and other Latin American countries say the election is invalid because it was backed by the coup leaders and could end any hope of Zelaya returning to power and completing his term, which is due to end in January.The division puts in danger U.S. President Barack Obama's attempts to turn a new page with Latin America where memories of military coups supported by the United States during the Cold War are still fresh.State Department spokesman Ian Kelly called the election "a necessary and important step forward" but did not say whether Washington would explicitly recognise Lobo.As the partial election results were announced after long delays that officials put down to technical problems, hundreds of supporters of Lobo's National Party waved flags and danced in a victory celebration at a hotel in the capital.Lobo, 61, is seen as more able than Santos to lead Honduras out of political gridlock and diplomatic isolation.Today, millions of Central American immigrants to the United States send home money that is vital to the economies of countries like Honduras and El Salvador. Honduras is the second largest coffee producer in Central America.Although the crisis has not affected Honduran coffee production, it is threatening U.S. President Barack Obama's attempts to turn a new page with Latin America, where leftist governments are in the majority.Argentina and Venezuela also oppose the Honduran election, but Panama, Peru and Costa Rica have said they back the vote.Lobo declared victory after electoral authorities gave him an almost unassailable lead with 55 percent of the vote, compared to 38 percent for Santos who conceded defeat.A conservative landowner, Lobo said he would ask other countries to give him recognition."We are prepared to approach them and ask them to understand that there is a government which was elected, that it is the precise will of Hondurans at the ballot box, that it is a democracy and we should all respect the leadership of countries," he said.Lobo, 61, has also called on the international community to resume aid that was blocked in retaliation for the coup.Due to take office in January, he must now decide what to do with Zelaya. He could try to negotiate a form of political amnesty for the deposed leader and the main players in the coup in a bid to unite the deeply divided nation.Soldiers grabbed Zelaya from his home on June 28 and forced him into exile, sparking Central America's biggest political crisis since the end of the Cold War.Neither Zelaya nor his arch-rival, Roberto Micheletti, who was installed as interim president by Congress after he coup, took part in the presidential election.