Mercosur rejects Honduran election

Dec 8, 2009, 15:08 GMT

Montevideo - The presidents of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela expressed Tuesday in Montevideo their 'total' rejection of the recent general election in Honduras.

Gathered in the Uruguayan capital for a summit of the South American trade bloc, Mercosur, the five presidents underlined that the election was organized under a de facto government, in the wake of the June 28 coup that ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya.

'(Voting) was carried out in an atmosphere of unconstitutionality, illegitimacy and illegality, dealing a hard blow to the democratic values of Latin America and the Caribbean,' Mercosur leaders said in a statement.

Conservative Porfirio Lobo won the presidential election held in Honduras on November 29 and is set to be inaugurated on January 27.

The regional trade bloc has repeatedly demanded Zelaya's reinstatement. Zelaya was sent into exile in June, and has been staying in the Brazilian embassy in Tegucigalpa since he returned to Honduras on September 21.

Mercosur stressed its condemnation of the coup that ousted Zelaya and denounced 'the serious violations of human rights and of fundamental liberties' that followed.

Honduras dominated a three-hour meeting of the bloc's leaders.

They also agreed, however, to relaunch trade negotiations with the European Union, which Mercosur regards as a 'fundamental strategic partner.'

'We renew today the determination to finalize an agreement with fair and balanced underpinnings,' said Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

Mercosur was founded in 1991 to bring together South American neighbours Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. Venezuela joined the bloc in 2006, although its full membership is still pending ratification from the legislatures of Brazil and Paraguay.