Leaders attending the 22-nation Iberoamerican summit in Portugal sought a joint position on Sunday's ballot in Honduras which came five months after a coup ousted President Manuel Zelaya.

But while Colombia, Peru and Costa Rica endorsed the vote they faced fierce opposition from Brazil, Argentina and Venezuela.

The election was won by conservative rancher Porfirio Lobo whose goal now is to persuade the world to accept the vote, designed to end the poor country's international isolation.

Colombian President Alvaro Uribe argued that the ballot had "a high turnout, no fraud, and could not be faulted."

Brazil, however, stood by its refusal to recognize the election, in part because it wants to send a message to anyone who might be considering staging a coup.

"There are still many nations, especially in Central America, in vulnerable political situations. Brazil therefore must not recognize nor rethink the Honduran question," said President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva.

Portuguese Foreign Minister Luis Amado, who was trying to broker a compromise by the end of the summit on Tuesday, said the negotiations were "difficult."

"There are deep differences of opinion on the political situation in Honduras, on the impact of the elections on the situation," he said.

Spain's Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos said the election had altered the situation.

"The Spanish government does not recognize the elections but neither does it ignore them," he said. "We have new players and we all agree on the need to reach a political solution in Honduras, a national reconciliation and, as such, a definitive way out of the crisis."

Zelaya was represented at the summit by his foreign minister, Patricia Rodas, who dismissed the election as "an attempt to whitewash the military coup."

The United States on Monday described the election as an important step forward for Honduras but not enough to put the crisis behind it.

Zelaya has been holed up at the Brazilian embassy in Tegucigalpa since he sneaked back into Honduras from forced exile two months ago. Silva said Zelaya would be allowed to stay at the embassy until Honduran authorities guarantee his security.

The summit took place without eight leaders, including Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, making it one of the poorest attended of 19 annual Iberoamerican summits so far. Absent leaders who sent apologies said the event clashed with their domestic agendas.

Besides Chavez, his regional allies Raul Castro of Cuba and Evo Morales of Bolivia also stayed away.

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Associated Press writer Ciaran Giles in Estoril, Portugal contributed to this report.

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