Hondurans protest after presidential election
by Carly Cundiff
Protestors have taken to the streets in Honduras after a recount of the recent presidential election showed incumbent president Juan Orlando Hernandez up by less than 1,000 votes. The protestors are saying that Hernandez stole the votes after third party candidate Salvador Nasralla was polling five points ahead of the president, according to The New York Times.
With close to 96 percent of precincts reporting, the margin was less than 2 percent between the two candidates, according to CNN.
At least eight people have died as a result of the protests. In addition, at least 50 people have have been detained by the Honduran National Guard.
The election, which was held on Nov. 26, has been marred with scandal after the head of the electoral tribunal, David Matamoros, enacted a recount of about six percent of the votes. The recount also came to the conclusion that Hernandez had won the election.
In polls leading up to the election, Nasralla, a sports broadcaster with no political experience running as a third party candidate, was expected to win by 5 percent of the vote. Hernandez is running for an unprecedented second term as president, as it was previously illegal to do so. Hernandez altered the constitution to allow him to run for a second term, according to BBC News.
Heide B. Fulton, Chargé d’Affaires of the U.S. Embassy in Honduras, said in a tweet that “election authorities need to carry vote count to completion freely and transparently, without interference.” She also wished that “all parties remain calm while that process unfolds.”
Ballots from 1,000 ballot boxes showed inconsistencies after the voting system shut down during the voting period. Nasralla and his supporters were not supportive of any recount effort that does not include all 5,000 ballot boxes, according to CNN.
Around 100,000 people are protesting around the federal electoral building alone, with several smaller protests occurring throughout Honduras.
“It’s a symbolic act, to show that we are marching for our children’s future that is being stolen by corrupt politicians,” said Raul Lopez, who was marching with his wife and two young daughters.
As a result of the protests, the Honduran government, which is backed by the Honduran military, has imposed a curfew, barring citizens from any public places from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. Schools and work has also been cancelled since the election and for the foreseeable future.
“The executive decree orders the arrest of any person found outside the circulation hours established by the authorities or who is suspected of causing damage to persons or property,” Jorge Ramón Hernández, coordinating minister of the government, said on national TV.
In a tweet, Nasralla condemned the curfew and said declaring the “curfew 12 hours a day while processing electoral ballots is the equivalent of a coup d’état in Honduras.”
Nasralla has asked his supporters to practice nonviolent protest in the wake of the election results.
Editor’s Note: Information from The New York Times, BBC News and CNN was used in this report.
