ESTORIL, Portugal (Reuters) – Latin American countries meeting here with Spain and Portugal struggled with their response to the Honduras election, with large South American countries saying failure to condemn it could spur political instability in the region.

The victory of conservative opposition candidate Porfirio Lobo in Sunday’s presidential election prompted differing reactions at the meeting of Ibero-American leaders in Portugal that opened yesterday and quickly became the number one issue at the summit.

Latin American diplomatic heavyweight Brazil had condemned the vote even before the result was known, as did Argentina and Venezuela, while Colombia and some smaller states, including Panama, supported the election process.

Opponents of the election said was illegitimate because it was backed by military leaders of a coup that ousted leftist President Manuel Zelaya in June and could end chances for Zelaya to return to power and complete his term, which ends in January.

Portuguese Foreign Minister Luis Amado said the issue was causing rifts at the summit meeting .

“There are problems in promoting a consensus and a declaration on the Honduras situation,” Amado told reporters. “There are divergent positions over the political situation in Honduras and the impact of the elections.”

“It (the election) is not legitimate,” said Marco Aurelio Garcia, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s foreign policy advisor said. “We don’t recognize the elections.”

If the leaders at the summit were to agree to condemn the election, it could put them at odds with Washington. The State Department called the vote a “necessary and important step forward” after the results came in on Sunday but did not say whether Washington would explicitly recognize Lobo’s victory.

Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, who has close ties with the United States, said he congratulated Lobo on his victory. “Colombia recognizes the new government and there has been a democratic process in Honduras with high participation,” he said.

Lula had said as he arrived in Portugal on Sunday that supporting the election could encourage other “adventurers” to stage coups in Latin America. But Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos said Honduras’ election could not be ignored either. “We don’t recognize but nor do we disregard the election,” Moratinos told reporters.

Failure by foreign governments to recognize the election could end any hope of Zelaya returning to complete his term in office and hand over power in January.