Reuters report some unhappiness in Brazil about the fact that former President Zelaya of Honduras is camping out in their Embassy in Tegucigalpa:

Government and opposition legislators in Brazil’s Congress have urged President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to stop Zelaya from using the embassy as a political theater.

"Zelaya’s political activities are unacceptable. They weaken Brazil’s position and international image," Eduardo Azeredo, head of the Senate foreign relations committee, told Reuters.

Brazil should formally grant Zelaya political asylum and take him out of Honduras, Azeredo said. Brazil would still be seen as defending a democratically-elected leader without being directly involved in the dispute, he said.

Brazil is a country which takes seriously its diplomatic representation round the world. The Zelaya soap opera is indeed a bit … undignified for Brazil’s reputation?

We Brits of course have a soft spot for Brazilian Embassies, as the one in Belgrade generously served as our Interests Section while our diplomatic relations with Belgrade were broken off during the NATO bombing of Milosevic’s rump Yugoslavia in 1998.