Honduras is going through one of the most uncertain election days in recent years, marked by a technical tie and the decline of the ruling Freedom and Refoundation Party (Libre).
According to preliminary data released by EFEwith 57.03% of the minutes scrutinized, the conservatives Nasry Asfura (National Party, 39.91%) and Salvador Nasralla (Liberal Party, 39.89%) They compete for the presidency by just 515 votes, thus stopping the “incipient left” that came to power with Xiomara Castro.
The official candidate, Rixi Moncada, is relegated to a distant third place with 19.16%, well below what the polls predicted, which placed her competing in the forefront with the conservative candidates.
The Trump factor enters the Honduran electoral campaign
EFE It stands out that in the final stretch of the campaign a public message from the president of the United States, Donald Trump, broke out.
According to Trump, Asfura is “the only true friend of freedom in Honduras” and that they could “work together to fight against narco-communists.”
Analyst José Manuel Torres told EFE that this gesture was “an intervention in Honduran politics in a direct way like never before.”
Likewise, he warned of the impact it could have in a country where migration to the United States is central to economic and social life.
Torres added that These types of statements influence thousands of voters whose hopes of survival depend on the north.
Preliminary results and call for calm
cnn reported that the National Electoral Council (CNE) closed the Transmission of Preliminary Electoral Results (TREP) when the count was at 57% and showed the technical tie between Asfura and Nasralla.
The president of the CNE, Ana Paola Hall, asked for “patience and prudence” until the contingency count and special scrutiny are completed, remembering that the law grants up to 30 days to declare the official results.
The general atmosphere, he points out cnnit was not tense and there were no large demonstrations in the streets.
Both right-wing candidates have asked for calm while ensuring that the pending figures will favor them.
Candidate reactions
Nasralla wrote in
Asfura, for his part, assured that there are “several departments with differences quite in favor of the National Party,” although he also asked to wait for the scrutiny to close.
Libre denounces fraud and questions Washington’s role
In statements collected by P.L.Rixi Moncada denounced an alleged fraud organized by the “bipartisanship” between liberals and nationalists, accusing manipulation of the TREP, irregularities in records and “adulterated biometrics.”
Moncada also attributed responsibility to President Trump’s “imperial foreign interference,” pointing out as coercive the pardon granted by Washington to former President Juan Orlando Hernández, convicted in the United States for drug trafficking, and Trump’s explicit support for Asfura.
He stated: “Trump condemned my participation, but I will maintain my positions and I will not give up.”
Honduras and the electoral punishment of Libre
Analyst Filadelfo Martínez told EFE that Libre maintained “a totally aggressive speech” and that many of its officials were “unkind” or even “arrogant,” igniting discontent among the middle classes.
He also pointed out that the Government was one of those that approved the most money and one of the most inefficient in executing it.
Other factors included frustration over the non-implementation of an international anti-corruption commission, the lack of progress on the sale of the presidential plane, the military outside the barracks and the failure to fulfill a promise to eliminate the toll on the country’s main highway.
A return of the right on the horizon
cnn He stressed that regardless of the final result, The process reflects a political turn in Honduraswith two conservative figures contesting the presidency after Libre’s four-year cycle.
Nasralla is trying to return the Liberal Party to power after 16 years, while Asfura seeks to consolidate the return of the National Party despite the wear and tear left by Juan Orlando Hernández.
P.L.for its part, emphasizes that Libre will not recognize either of the two candidates of the “oligarchy”while the party demands respect for the popular will.
