Mercosur nations, Venezuela condemn Honduras election

Mercosur, the South American trade bloc led by Brazil and Argentina, condemned the "illegitimate and illegal" elections in Honduras after the interim government and congress failed to restore ousted President Manuel Zelaya. The bloc issued a statement noting "its strongest condemnation of the coup in Honduras" and saying it considers "the grave violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms against the Honduran people unacceptable." The statement was signed today by the leaders of Argentina, Brazil, Venezuela, Uruguay and Paraguay at a Mercosur summit in Montevideo. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, speaking earlier, said the only resolution to the nearly six-month political crisis was to have new elections under Zelaya, who was deposed at gunpoint and forced out of Honduras in late June after the Supreme Court ruled his bid to change the constitution was illegal.