(AFP) – A right-wing Honduran presidential candidate backed by Donald Trump reclaimed a narrow lead over his rival Thursday on the fourth day of a plodding vote count. With over 86 percent of the votes counted, the race was still too early to call. Trump-backed businessman Nasry Asfura was leading with 40.24 percent compared to 39.41 percent for fellow right-winger and TV personality Salvador Nasralla, according to the National Electoral Council (CNE).
The CNE has come under fire from the US president after announcing Monday that a partial count showed the two men locked in a “technical tie.” CNE chief Ana Paola Hall said Thursday that the electoral body was entering into the system records that could not be transmitted on election day. “All of this will complete… the final count to 100 percent,” said Hall, who asked the candidates for patience as the count continues. “Haste is sometimes the enemy of legitimacy,” she added. The CNE has vowed that the end result will “scrupulously respect the popular will.”
Trump, who routinely casts doubt on the integrity of elections whose results he disapproves of, accused Honduran authorities of “trying to change” the results, and threatened there would be “hell to pay” if they did. Late Thursday, US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau amplified Trump’s message, posting on X that “democracy is on trial” in the Honduran election and calling on all parties to “uphold the independence” of the CNE to ensure transparency. “The world’s eyes, including ours, are on Honduras,” he added.
Honduras is one of Latin America’s most impoverished and violent countries, and many citizens have fled north to the United States to escape those hardships, including minors fearing forced recruitment by gangs. On Tuesday, the CNE said ballots were still coming in from remote areas — some only accessible by donkey or boat — and the declaration of a winner may still be days away. The CNE, which has frequently been accused by parties of political favoritism, legally has one month to announce a winner. Honduran presidential elections are determined in one round, with a simple plurality needed to win.
– ‘Friend of freedom’ – Trump supports 67-year-old businessman Asfura, whom he has called a “friend of freedom,” while accusing 72-year-old Nasralla of merely “pretending to be an anti-communist.” Trump has become increasingly vocal in his support for allies in the region, having threatened to cut aid to Argentina and Honduras if his picks did not win. Argentina’s President Javier Milei, a close Trump ally, was victorious in his country’s midterm elections.
Whatever the outcome in Honduras, Sunday’s vote was a clear defeat for ruling leftists. Honduras’s swing to the right will likely boost US influence in a country that under the last government had increasingly looked to China. Trump has also granted a pardon to Juan Orlando Hernandez, a former president from Asfura’s National Party who had been serving a 45-year sentence in the United States for drug trafficking. The 57-year-old lawyer was released Monday in what was widely perceived as more interference.
© 2024 AFP
