Porfirio “Pepe” Lobo

On January 26, the day before taking office as the newly elected president of Honduras, Porfirio “Pepe” Lobo was counting on the restoration of normal relations with the United States.

“Starting tomorrow,” he told reporters inquiring about his country’s rift with the United States, “everything will be normal.”

You can’t blame Lobo for being confident. That day, the top U.S. diplomat for Latin America, Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere affairs, Arturo Valenzuela, had arrived, dispatched by President Obama as head of the delegation attending Lobo’s inauguration.