ESTORIL, Portugal.- President Leonel Fernandez affirmed that the elections in Honduras could be a starting point to declare a permanent dialogue between all political forces in that nation, included the ousted president Manuel Zelaya.

The leaders taking part in the 14th Summit of Iberia-American Government and Heads of State discussed the Honduras elections on Sunday and noted that they can neither be recognized nor ignored. They suggested a national agreement between the political and social forces in that country, which must be preceded by the consensus of the Latin American countries.

The discussion surfaced during a breakfast of the chief executives who attended the Latin American Summit, where Fernandez warned of the "wide scientific and technological gap between our nations and the developed economies."

"As to the quality of the higher learning institutions considered in global rankings, not a single Latin America university figures among the first 1,000," the Dominican chief executive said.

He also warned against the Latin American region’s sluggish investment in research and development; the proportion of scientists to the population and the registry of patents.