Honduran president makes surprise visit to Costa Rica

Honduran President Porfirio Lobo made a surprise visit to Costa Rica on Monday to meet with his counterpart in Costa Rica, Laura Chinchilla.

The Honduran leader arrived in San José to discuss issues of bilateral and regional interest with Chinchilla, the Costa Rican president said. After the meeting, they held a joint press conference.

Chinchilla said that during the meeting with Lobo they talked of an upcoming meeting in San José in which various participants from Central America, the Caribbean and the United States would speak on the fight against drugs in the region.

Another topic of discussion was health issues, and how the countries would work together in the future to fight against the mosquito-borne dengue fever.

In addition, Lobo spoke to reporters about Honduran politics and last month’s return of exiled ex-President Manuel Zelaya. Lobo applauded the creation of a new political party created by Zelaya. The party will compete in the next general elections in 2013.

“As president of Honduras and a friend of democracy, I am pleased to celebrate that there is a new political force that will participate in the upcoming elections, the National Front for Popular Resistance (FARP), coordinated by former President Zelaya,” Lobo said in a news conference with Chinchilla.

Zelaya and his followers formed FARP with the goal of competing against the two traditional political forces, the Liberal and National parties.