Honduran presidential hopeful feels pro-Zelaya backlash

An aide said he wouldn't be available for an interview, in keeping with Lobo's strategy of avoiding discussion of the forced exile.

Santos led Lobo by 39 to 35 percent in a February poll for CID Gallup. A CID poll immediately after Zelaya's ouster showed Lobo had pulled into the lead, 31 to 25, with the number of voters who were undecided or supporting another candidate rising from 27 to 44 percent.

"Elvin is a victim of what's happened," said Carlos Denton, the president of CID Gallup. "The Liberal Party is now divided, and he's the man in the middle. You've got one group that supports Mel (Zelaya) which feels like Elvin is not supporting their effort to bring Mel back. The group not supporting Mel feels like Elvin hasn't supported their side either. Both sides are saying, 'Elvin, we want your support.' If they could settle this, he could bounce back."

Santos is a graduate of Lamar University in Texas whose father was Tegucigalpa's mayor and now serves as the Liberal Party's president. His wife, Becky, won a local beauty pageant 20 years ago, and his supporters frequently say that her beauty is a campaign asset.

Santos agreed to an interview with McClatchy but then didn't make himself available.

He's said that the June 28 vote was illegal but has criticized the military for spiriting Zelaya out of the country that day.

"Zelaya should have had the right to defend himself in the country," said Bill Santos, a cousin and Elvin Santos' campaign manager. Bill Santos noted that Elvin supports the Arias Plan, which, reflecting his centrist position, puts him at odds with the country's interim government.

Victim of outside agitators?

Bill Santos blamed outside agitators for stirring up trouble for his cousin but said onetime supporters would return to the fold once they better understand Elvin Santos' views.

In the meantime, Santos is facing furious Zelaya supporters practically wherever he goes. In the city of La Esperanza in the state of Intibuca last week, Santos held an unannounced meeting with local supporters. Some 100 Zelaya backers found out and chanted "Get out! "Get out!"

When Santos' caravan emerged, they threw bags of water and eggs at the vehicles. "He had better not return to Intibuca," said Gustavo Caceres, one of the protesters. "The response will be even more forceful next time."

Santos canceled a planned campaign stop in the neighboring state of Lempira on Friday.

"We were waiting for him with sticks and stones," said Jose Rosa Sanchez, a local activist. "We wanted to show that we repudiate him."

On Saturday in La Ceiba, a city on the northern coast, pro-Zelaya activists invaded a Santos campaign meeting without the candidate. The hotel where it was taking place cut off electricity to force everyone outside, and police came to keep the two sides apart.

"If the police hadn't come, a fight would have broken out between the two Liberal Party groups," said Geovany Alfonso, the owner of a TV station in La Ceiba.

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