TEGUCIGALPA, Sept 12: Honduras, a former US ally in Central America now run by a leftist government, told a US envoy not to present his credentials as ambassador on Friday in a diplomatic snub in support of Bolivia.

Bolivia and anti-US Venezue-lan President Hugo Chavez are in a fight with Washington over what they see as US support for violent protests against Bolivian President Evo Morales. Honduran President Manuel Zelaya, who has moved the country closer to Chavez, was due to receive a new US ambassador on Friday in a ceremony at which the envoy would present a letter with his diplomatic credentials.

But Zelaya temporarily put off the event in support of Bolivia, a government source said. “The government decided to temporarily suspend the reception of the new ambassador’s letter of credentials in solidarity with Bolivian President Evo Morales,” the source said.

The snub means that envoy Hugo Llorens is not officially US ambassador.

Bolivia and the United States expelled their respective ambassadors earlier this week after Morales accused Washington of supporting the opposition in the Andean country.—Reuters