The electoral process that took place last Sunday caused Honduras to fade to black. Five days after voting centers closed, the Central American country still does not know with certainty the identity of its next president. The vote counting system suffered from a series of technical problems in the results dissemination service, and both the National Electoral Council (CNE) and the Electoral Court of Justice (TJE) were unable to provide solutions.
The audit has been progressing fitfully since the Transmission of Preliminary Results (TREP) system, the only mechanism for disseminating rapid votes that Hondurans can trust, stopped working. Only on Thursday did the number finally cross the 85 percent threshold.
Two men vying for the presidency. Governor Nasri Asfourathe former mayor of the capital known as Titus bird or Papa on callAnd the liberal Salvador NasrallahA famous TV presenter and sports commentator with a foot in the political arena. By the way, two men were born in Tegucigalpa but of Palestinian origins.
Asfoura began to lead the count by 515 votes. Nasrallah surpassed him on Wednesday. But this Thursday, as the centrist leader was enjoying victory, Asfoura regained first place by surprise. The conservative candidate will receive 41.20 percent of the votes, compared to 39.46 percent for Nasrallah.
The difference exceeds 20 thousand votes. It is a margin so narrow that the National Electoral Council considers it “historic.” It seems difficult to reverse the trend at this point, but no one seems willing to bet on it given what we have seen. It is also not motivating for the presidency to be determined in one round.
Nasri Tito Asfora, candidate of the Honduran National Party.
Reuters
Intervention Donald Trump In the process he didn’t make things any easier. The President of the United States sided 48 hours before the polls opened by calling for a vote for Asvora, threatening to suspend economic aid to Honduras – and not continue to “waste money” in the country – if the conservative candidate, who admitted to liking Honduras, wins. Javier Miley and Nayeb Bukele With a long political career, he lost the election.
Not only that, Trump once again played the interference card in the middle of the slow vote recount process. He raised the specter of election fraud when the difference in votes between his candidate and Nasrallah began to narrow. He added, “It appears that Honduras is trying to change the results of its presidential elections. If it does so, there will be dire consequences!” He wrote on his platform Truth Social.
Many wonder what is lost in Honduras. The Hondurans are clear on this matter. Orlando J. PerezThe Republican president “has several interests at the same time,” explains the University of North Texas political science professor: “showing that he ‘contains’ the axis of Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua, strengthening his war on drugs rhetoric and sending a signal to his Latino voters in the United States that he supports right-wing governments that are ‘tough’ in terms of security.”
But why close rows with Papa on call? “His association with the National Party is political and autobiographical: it was a government Juan Orlando Hernandez“Who was pardoned by Trump today, who was closely allied with Washington on security and immigration, and Asfora is the heir to this project,” Peres responds.
“Presenting a bird as ‘the only person he can work with’ is not only in the interest of the National Party, but is also trying to set a precedent: allies who agree with Trump’s agenda on immigration, anti-narcotics and Venezuela receive explicit electoral support and even judicial advantages, even though the democratic quality of the partner is questionable,” adds the dialogue specialist with EL ESPAÑOL.
It remains paradoxical because, as the Honduran lawyer pointed out in an interview with this newspaper: Giselle and my weightAsfora, co-founder of consulting firm CENTURIA, has tried in the past four years to distance herself from the legacy of Hernandez, known as JOH, a polarizing figure on the national political scene. Trump has nixed that strategy, but the White House occupant can still get his way.
The United States is working to destabilize, but Nasrallah is not doing his part to reduce tensions either. Liberal candidate denounces fraud. It says an “algorithm changed the count data” in the early hours of Thursday. With sleeplessness and treachery.
There’s no proof, but there’s no doubt either. Although it is true that the electoral authority admits that 17 percent of the records contain contradictions, they will therefore be reviewed. We’ll have to wait.
Presidential candidate Salvador Nasrallah at a press conference in Tegucigalpa on Tuesday.
Reuters
In any case, allegations of fraud revived the electoral shock that rocked the country in the 2017 elections. “After that, a process plagued by irregularities and technical cuts ended with the rapid recognition of Hernandez despite the skepticism of the OAS and a large part of the international community,” Perez recalls.
He adds: “Today we have again a very close result, a breakdown in the data transmission system and open intervention from Washington, now reserved for Trump, questioning the process when its candidate was losing.”
The 2017 post-election crisis caused the deaths of 31 people in clashes with security forces, according to Amnesty International data. The victims were followers of Nasrallah himself, who was then a candidate under the name of the Opposition Alliance Against Dictatorship, and who lost the elections to Hernandez, who approved his re-election.
In this sense, the University of North Texas professor warns, “The danger is not only that another election will be ‘stolen,’ but that it will become normal for the outcome of a close contest to be determined by external pressures and imported narratives of fraud, rather than by Honduran rules and institutions.”
Sorry
Trump’s interference in the electoral process in Honduras culminated on Monday with the release of Juan Orlando Hernandez. In the early stages of the recount process, US prison authorities confirmed that the former Honduran president had left the high-security prison in Hazleton (West Virginia), where he was serving a 45-year prison sentence.
In March 2024, a New York court convicted him of drug trafficking and weapons crimes. The American judiciary proved that Hernandez received bribes from at least El Chapo GuzmanThis was part of a conspiracy to smuggle more than 400 tons of cocaine across the United States border.
Hernandez himself had asked the Republican president to pardon him through a letter in which he described him as “His Excellency.” Trump agreed, asserting that Hernandez was treated “very harshly and unfairly” and that the administration Joe Biden “So we set a trap for him.” before. And that, as the instructions revealed, JOH at one point said “they’re going to put the drugs right under the noses of the gringos.”
Hecatomb from left
Former President Gabriel Zelayahusband and court advisor to the outgoing president Xiomara Castrohe wrote in
Zelaya — who suffered riots for bringing Honduras closer to the orbit of Cuba and Venezuela — denounced in passing that “with Donald Trump stepping in and pardoning Joe, the desperate bipartisanship is forcing an electoral coup against Rex.”
The former president’s statements do not mitigate the disaster of the ruling Free Party, the party he founded and coordinates. Xiomara Castro’s formation was relegated to third place. Your candidate, Rexy MoncadaThe analyst confirms that they are still “far from their expectations and the role that their political power played in recent governments.” Daniel Zovatto. He will receive only 19.30 percent of the votes.
The collapse of the left comes after four years of rule in one of the most violent countries in the region, which suffers from criminal gang violence and corruption. Meanwhile, Zovatto adds, “the right is gaining more ground with the prospect of restoring not only power, but also old international alliances — such as the prospect of restoring relations with Taiwan — and the unexpected and intensified support from Trump in Washington.”