U.S. Wins Praise and Some Questions for Honduras Role

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States has won praise for resolving a post-coup crisis in Honduras that caused regional turmoil, but some experts question why the Obama administration took so long to act in its own backyard.

After months of failed negotiations, Honduras' de facto government late on Thursday agreed to a U.S.-driven deal that opens the door for the return to power of President Manuel Zelaya, who was toppled in a military coup in June.

The deal, which still needs the backing of Honduras' Congress, came after top U.S. officials went to Honduras this week in a successful last-ditch effort to end a crisis that has given President Barack Obama another foreign policy headache.

The involvement of Assistant Secretary of State Tom Shannon, his deputy Craig Kelly and senior White House official Dan Restrepo was praised by U.S. and Latin American groups for delivering the needed push for an end to the crisis.

"For as often as we've been criticized for our activities in Latin America, this shows that we remain the indispensable nation," said Eric Farnsworth of the Council of the Americas, although he warned there were still questions over whether the deal will hold and whether all parties will follow through with plans to hold a fair presidential election next month.

"You can bet there are people around the hemisphere, particularly in Caracas, who are not going to be delighted by this because it's in their interest to keep things stirred up," he said. "My prediction would be there will be people who will keep trying to complicate the election on November 29."

Zelaya, whose term ends in January, had angered many in Honduras by becoming an ally of socialist Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. Zelaya was toppled and sent into exile on June 28 but then snuck back into Honduras last month.

Repeated rounds of negotiations collapsed amid disagreement over whether Zelaya would return to power.