Estoril, Portugal - A summit of 22 Ibero-American countries began Sunday in the seaside resort of Estoril, Portugal, amid divisions over the elections being held simultaneously in Honduras. Foreign ministers were unable to reach a common position on the situation in Honduras, where toppled president Manuel Zelaya has called for a boycott of the elections staged by the de facto government.
"What is at stake is whether we validate or not a new methodology of coups d'etat," said Argentine Foreign Minister Jorge Taiana, whose country was seeking a rejection of the elections along with Bolivia, Cuba, Brazil, Spain, Venezuela, Ecuador, Paraguay, Guatemala and Chile.
"We do not recognize those who carried out the coup" that ousted Zelaya on June 28, Bolivian Foreign Minister David Choquehuanca told the German Press Agency dpa.
Some countries, however, felt the elections should be recognized as a way out of the political deadlock in Honduras.
"The elections represent a step ahead," Panamanian Foreign Minister Juan Carlos Varela told dpa. "(The coup) was six months ago, and we need to look to the future of 6 million Hondurans."
Peru and Costa Rica were also believed to agree with the United States, which has said it will recognize the elections.
Heads of state were due to discuss the matter on Monday.
The 14 heads of state in attendance included Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, one of the first to arrive, whose country is feuding with Venezuela over US use of military bases in Colombia.
The absence of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez was expected to reduce bickering between Colombia and Venezuela at the summit but also to lessen chances of mediating the neighbour's diplomatic row.
Chavez has called on Venezuelans to prepare for a war against what he calls a US-Colombian plot to promote "Yankee imperialism," after Bogota authorized Washington to use seven military bases.
Chavez blamed his failure to attend the summit on having "a lot of work, a lot of trips" on his agenda.
Latin America's leftist regimes had a lowered profile at the summit with further absences of two Chavez allies, presidents Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua, Evo Morales of Bolivia and Raul Castro of Cuba.
Honduran de facto leader Roberto Micheletti did not attend, either. With polls open Sunday for the country's regularly scheduled elections, Micheletti had stepped aside for a week coinciding with the vote to remove the leadership crisis as a distraction.
Ibero-American countries include Latin American countries, Spain, Portugal and Andorra.
The official motto of the summit was "Innovation and Knowledge," as it prepared to discuss ways to promote new technologies in Latin America.
Policies in that field would determine "the success or failure of economies" in the medium and long term, Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates said at an Ibero-American entrepreneurial meeting in Lisbon.
Colombian singer Shakira and Chilean President Michelle Bachelet, meanwhile, urged Latin American governments to do more to protect children in the region.
"Latin America has 35 million children without any state protection," Shakira said after meeting Bachelet in Estoril.
The singer has helped to launch a Regional Alliance for the Development of Early Childhood (DIT), which she was due to present at the summit.
