Estoril, Portugal - An Ibero-American summit failed Tuesday to reach a consensus on Sunday's controversial elections in Honduras, viewed by some of the 22 participating countries as legitimate but rejected by others. Host Portugal issued a communique condemning the June 28 coup in the Central American nation and calling for the restitution of ousted president Manuel Zelaya until he served out his full term.
The document did not, however, comment directly on the legitimacy of the elections staged by the de facto government which took power after the coup.
Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates said the participating countries did not object to the document, which also criticized violations of fundamental rights and freedoms in Honduras.
It called for an end to the siege of the Brazilian embassy where Zelaya has been staying since September.
The summit also urged the United States to end its embargo on Cuba, in an echo of similar statements issued by previous summits.
The summit brought together Latin American countries, Spain, Portugal and Andorra in the seaside resort of Estoril.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa left the summit hours before it was scheduled to end, leaving only 12 heads of state to discuss the situation in Honduras.
"The summit was not called" to focus on the Central American country, Lula told journalists. "If I had been called here for that, I would not have come."
The summit had been meant to focus on new technologies, but was dominated by bickering over Honduras.
A group headed by Brazil and Venezuela rejects the elections, while Colombia, Peru, Costa Rica and Panama are in favour of joining the United States in recognizing the poll.
Brazil would not "even talk to" the government headed by conservative election winner Porfirio Lobo, Lula said, explaining that Brazil would not "make concessions" to those who had staged the coup against Zelaya.
A Brazilian spokesman said Lula had to leave the summit early, because he was scheduled to visit Ukraine and Germany.
The leftist Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA) also described the "illegal" Honduran elections as a "disastrous precedent."
That precedent would "endanger the stability and the existence of democracies" in Latin America and elsewhere," said the alliance, which comprises Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador, Cuba, Nicaragua and Honduras.
Former Mexican president Vicente Fox meanwhile criticized Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who did not attend the summit, saying he acted more and more like a "dictator."
Latin American leaders were "increasingly authoritarian" while the continent should focus on "the only battle it needs to win, the battle against poverty," Fox told journalists.
Fox and former Peruvian president Alejandro Toledo presented "a social agenda for democracy" which sought a "new way" between "market fundamentalism" and "authoritarian populism."
Latin America's recovery from the economic crisis could be accompanied by social unrest if profits were not distributed more evenly, the two former leaders warned.
