Chavez describes Honduras voting as a farce

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez vowed on Sunday that his government would not recognize the results of the presidential election in Honduras, calling the voting a farce.

"We will not recognize any result of the election. For us, the only Honduras' president is still Manuel Zelaya," Chavez reiterated his position during the weekly broadcast "Hello, Mr President."

Chavez said his government, together with the Ecuadorian government, which expressed earlier a similar attitude, suspected that the election result came from a crooked process.

Meanwhile, Chavez accused the United States and its President Barack Obama of resorting to double dealing in recognizing the election.

Hondurans voted for a new president on Sunday in an election organized by the de facto government in the hope of easing the five-month coup crisis. Neither ousted President Zelaya who called for a boycott of the vote nor the interim President Roberto Micheletti was in the race.

Opposition candidate Porfirio Lobo is set to become the new president of Honduras, after official preliminary results showing he had gained 51 percent votes of Sunday's presidential election.

Lobo had a commanding lead over archrival Elvin Santos from the ruling Liberal Party, who just managed to garner 34 percent of the vote, according to the preliminary results announced by the central election commission.

Earlier, different exit polls all give Lobo a big lead in the vote.

Source: Xinhua