Chile to return ambassador to Honduras, recognize new government a year after coup

Chile formally recognizes Honduran government

SANTIAGO, Chile — Chile is formally recognizing the government of Honduran President Porfirio Lobo a year after a coup ousted his predecessor.

Chilean Foreign Minister Alfredo Moreno said late Friday that the country’s ambassador will return to Tegucigalpa.

Chile withdrew its envoy in protest following the June 2009 coup, in which soldiers seized President Manuel Zelaya at gunpoint and flew him out of the country.

Former Chilean President Michelle Bachelet, a socialist, pulled the ambassador; she was succeeded by the conservative Sebastian Pinera in March.

Lobo was elected in November in a vote that was scheduled before the coup.

Other nations including Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela and Nicaragua have not recognized Lobo.