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TEGUCIGALPA: Deposed Honduras President Manuel Zelaya sent a letter to divided Latin American leaders Tuesday asking them to reject elections held under the regime that backed his June 28 ouster.
"I ask you not to recognise the electoral fraud and for your cooperation so that this military coup does not go unpunished," Zelaya said in a letter released from the Brazilian Embassy, where he is holed up under threat of arrest.
Sunday's vote has bitterly divided the Americas, pitting the United States, which supported it as a first step out of the five-month crisis, against regional powerhouse Brazil.
In Honduras, both sides stuck firmly to the their positions after Sunday's controversial polls, in which conservative Porfirio Lobo claimed victory.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva warned Tuesday that cooperating with Lobo would pose a "serious threat" to democracy in Latin America.
Lobo says he will seek to form a national unity government in an attempt to overcome deep rifts in the impoverished and polarised nation.
But top Zelaya aide Carlos Reina, who left the Brazilian embassy earlier, said Lobo had not made any attempt to talk to Zelaya - who was ousted after critics said he acted against the constitution and tried to illegally extend term limits.
Zelaya "accepts no dialogue with the de facto government which aims to whitewash the coup," Reina added.
"The elections have to be cancelled."
Under a US-brokered crisis agreement, Congress was Wednesday to vote on Zelaya's brief reinstatement until his term expires in January.
Reina called for protests outside the Congress and disputed its authority to decide on Zelaya's fate, after having backed his ouster in the first place.
Some see Zelaya's reinstatement as a possible way out of the crisis, and a way to add legitimacy to Lobo's presidency.
Zelaya's rival, de facto leader Roberto Micheletti, who stepped down briefly during the election, has also said he will return to the helm of the country on Wednesday.
Hundreds of Zelaya supporters drove across the Honduran capital late Monday in a noisy protest to reject the elections, for which they said turnout figures of more than 60 per cent had been inflated.
Rights groups said the elections were marred by the lack of international consensus and slammed a military crackdown on journalists and activists since the coup.
- AFP/yb
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