As ballots are counted in the race for president in Honduras, there is rising frustration and mistrust among voters in the Central American nation who say the country’s electoral system is rife with fraud. Many also point to the influence of U.S. President Donald Trump in skewing the outcome.
“Before Donald Trump’s tweet, we believed the contest would be between the left-leaning Liberty and Refoundation Party and Salvador Nasralla (of the center-right Liberal Party of Honduras),” noted Lucía Vigil, coordinator of the Center for the Study of Democracy (CESPAD), a non-profit that supports rural and Indigenous communities in Honduras.
With more than 80% of the votes counted, Nasry Asfura with the conservative National Party of Honduras leads Nasralla. Trump posted to his social media platform over the weekend expressing support for Asfura and decrying what he claimed to be fraud in the ongoing count.
Vigil described Asfura as a “very worn-out political figure,” and expressed surprise at his apparent success. She spoke with Manuel Ortiz of Peninsula 360 Press and Marcos Gutiérrez, host of the Bay Area radio program Hecho en California.
“With Donald Trump’s tweet, the National Party regained its relevance,” said Vigil, adding “the real issue in Honduras is that a percentage of the population has been influenced by the idea of being ‘blessed’ by the United States,” believing the country will prosper by adhering to the dictates out of Washington DC.
On his Truth Social platform, the president expressed his desire to partner with Asfura on combating what he called “narco communists.”
Explained Vigil, “In terms of U.S. intervention, in our entire history as a country, this has been the most blatant in specifically commenting on an electoral process, even indicating which party people should vote for.”
Elites in the country, among the poorest in Latin America, “take Trump’s voice as definitive, instead of recognizing him for what he is: an interventionist.”
Trump this week also pardoned former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez, who had been serving a 45-year sentence for his role in a massive drug smuggling ring. Vigil says after years of blatant corruption and violence directed toward the country, Hernandez, or JOH as he is known, could return “as if nothing had happened” at a moment of extreme political uncertainty for the nation.
In an interview with the BBC, Hernandez’ wife, Ana García Carías maintained her husband’s innocence, and credited his release to the conservative political advisor Roger Stone, himself the recipient of a Trump pardon, and former Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz.
As for her husband’s return to Honduras, García Carías said that would depend on whether his safety in the country could be guaranteed.
The race for president, meanwhile, remains extremely close, with former Vice President Nasralla having held a slim lead before Asfura edged ahead Thursday. Claims of fraud and questions over the security of the voting system continue to plague the process.
“So much money was invested in the electoral process, yet the (National Electoral Council) was unable to provide a system that works without interruptions,” wrote constitutional lawyer Joaquín Mejía, as reported by the news outlet El Faro. “Is it really a technical issue? Will anyone take responsibility?”
According to Vigil, the transmission system by which votes are delivered “is not reliable.” Vigil noted previous complaints in Colombia about the company behind the electronic voting system involving corruption and fraud.
“We have no guarantees right now about what is happening with the preliminary results transmission system,” said Vigil, who has long worked with impoverished communities in the country.
The race as it is playing out now, she said, does not bode well for those on the lower rungs of society, including many of the rural and Indigenous communities that CESPAD works with.
“We are confronting complex issues, and whichever of these two candidates wins… it’s definitely not going to be favorable to grassroots social movements.”
