Lobo elected president in Honduras

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras, Nov. 30 (UPI) -- U.S. diplomatic officials said the presidential election in Honduras was important, but was "only a step" in the country's return to democratic order.

"We see this election as a very important step forward for Honduras," said Arturo Valenzuela, assistant U.S. secretary of state for western hemisphere affairs. "(While) the election is a significant step in Honduras' return to the democratic and constitutional order after the (June 28) coup, it's just that. It's ... only a step, and it's not the last step."

Returns from Sunday's election indicate Porfirio "Pepe" Lobo, a conservative businessman, won going away. Early returns showed Lobo, 61, of the National Party garnered more than 52 percent of the vote to 34.4 percent for former Vice President Elvin Santos of the Liberal Party, The Miami Herald reported.

Lobo, an opponent of ousted President Manuel Zelaya, remained neutral in the coup that forced Zelaya out of the country at gunpoint. Zelaya defeated Lobo in 2005, and Santos was Zelaya's vice president.

Argentina and Brazil said they would not recognize the results because doing so would legitimize the coup, several media outlets reported.

Pressed whether the United States would accept the results, Venezuela said, "We recognize those results. And we commend Mr. Lobo for having won these elections. And as I say, you know, this is an important step to restore the democratic and constitutional order in Honduras."

Honduras, however, must move from the polarizing effects of the coup, the U.S. diplomat said, and attempt to follow the overall broad frameworks of the Tegucigalpa-San Jose accord.

"And by that, I (mean) a government of national unity needs to be formed (and) the congress has to take a vote on the return of President Zelaya to office," he said, as well as the formation of a truth commission.