Clinton due in Guatemala with plea for Honduras recognition

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton joins regional summit talks in Guatemala later Friday as she urges recognition of the new Honduran government and promises aid to fight drug trafficking.

Wrapping up a six-country tour of Latin America, the chief US diplomat will meet Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom as well as hold broader talks with him and the leaders of El Salvador, the Dominican Republic, Belize and Panama.

An official from Nicaragua is also expected, but the full attendance list has not been confirmed.

In neighboring Costa Rica on Thursday, Clinton urged Latin American ministers to recognize Honduran President Porfirio Lobo, who came to power in polls sponsored by leaders of a June coup that ousted president Manuel Zelaya.

She is virtually certain to repeat the message with the Central American neighbors of Honduras, where only Costa Rica and Panama have recognized the new Lobo government in Tegucigalpa.

In San Jose, Clinton also announced that President Barack Obama's administration will restore more than 30 million dollars in aid to Honduras that it suspended after the coup in a bid to have Zelaya reinstated.

The effort in favor of Zelaya failed and the United States ultimately recognized the elections last November that resulted in victory for Lobo.

Trying to sway holdouts to recognize Lobo, Clinton said his government is taking the right steps to restore democracy.

"We think Honduras has taken important and necessary steps that deserve the recognition and the normalization of relations," she said.

"Other countries in the region say that they want to wait a while. I don't know what they are waiting for," she added.

Also topping the agenda is how to stem drug trafficking and the alarming crime wave it has spawned. Guatemala has become a major hub for South American cocaine and other drugs bound for the United States through Mexican cartels.

"We are increasing aid that will be coming to Central America because we recognize that you need resources," Clinton told reporters Thursday in Costa Rica.

The effort involved reinforcing maritime security, bolstering the justice system, and working to "weed out" those involved in the drug trade in the security forces, she said.

"I was impressed with the recent announcement coming out of Guatemala with arrests of high-ranking officials for corruption," Clinton said.

She was referring to the arrests on Tuesday of Guatemalan police chief Baltazar Gomez and anti-drug division head Nelly Bonilla for their alleged implication in a drug robbery and murder of five police officers last year.