Cuba's president has accused the US of helping to legitimise what he called an "electoral farce" in Honduras.
Raul Castro made the comments on Sunday in Havana during the Alba summit of nine Latin American countries, defending what he said was the right of Manuel Zelaya, the former Honduran president, to be reinstated.
The Cuban leader said many of the region's governments had "condemned unequivocally" the military coup that ousted Zelaya in June.
"Sadly, we weren't able to count on the physical presence of the president of Honduras, Manuel Zelaya," Castro said.
"The people of that Latin American nation have had their constitutional rights denied and a usurper government has been imposed with the support of the North American [US] administration, which they've attempted to legitimize with an electoral farce."
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"If Raul Castro wants to lecture about democracy, he should start practising it as well"
US state department
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Alba, which approved economic sanctions against the de facto Honduran government of Roberto Micheletti, called for international pressure to reject the November 29 Honduran elections won by president-elect Porfirio Lobo.
Zelaya, the ousted Honduran president, secretly slipped back into the country in September and has remained holed up at the heavily-fortified Brazilian embassy ever since.
On Friday he told reporters he would stay there until January 27, when his presidential term was to officially end.
Responding to Castro's comments, the US state department said in a statement to Al Jazeera that Cuba's leader was in no position to give lectures about democracy.
"Millions of Hondurans voted in the recent competitive election won by Porfirio Lobo," the statement said.
"When Raul Castro was named president, there was only one vote that counted - his brother's. If Raul Castro wants to lecture about democracy, he should start practising it as well."