Venezuela Refuses to Recognise Honduran Elections, Congratulates Uruguayan President-Elect

By Tamara Pearson
November 30, 2009 - venezuelanalysis.com

On Sunday, the Venezuelan government congratulated the president-elect of Uruguay, Jose Mujica, for his victory in the run-off elections, and also called the Honduran elections a "farce," refusing to recognise the results.

Mujica, an ex-guerrilla and member of the National Liberation Movemement-Tuparamos, and currently member of the centre-left party Frente Amplio (Broad Front), won the presidential run-off elections yesterday with 52.6% of the vote.

In a press release, the Venezuelan government said, "This historic victory of the left ratifies that the destiny of the Uruguayans continues to be of equality and social justice, and consolidates the large wave of transformation, dignity and sovereignty that is crossing our Latin America and the Caribbean, making the time of the peoples more and more irreversible."

Meanwhile on Sunday, Venezuelans rejected the Honduran elections with a day of solidarity in the main Caracas plaza, titled "Everyone with hope and resistance against hypocrisy."

The Honduran military kidnapped President Manuel Zelaya on 28 June and transported him to Costa Rica in a plane that took off from the U.S. military base in Honduras. In the following months, negotiations mediated by Costa Rican President Oscar Arias, an ally of the United States, repeatedly failed to restore Zelaya to the presidency.

On election day, Honduran security forces detained dozens of protestors who refused to recognise the legitimacy of the elections. The protestors were part of a resistance movement that has sustained street demonstrations since the coup.

The de facto government reported participation of 61.3%, but Zelaya said this was a lie and told Telesur that abstention was between 65-75%.

Following the election results, the Venezuelan government refused to recognise the elections as legitimate. "We won't recognise any results of these elections," said President Hugo Chavez.

"The president of Honduras for us continues to be Zelaya… this farce [of elections] is nothing but another chapter in the coup d'etat," said Chavez.

The United States, on the other hand, recognised the National Party candidate, Porfirio Lobo, as the new legitimate president of Honduras, and called the elections a "step forward."

Source: venezuelanalysis.com