tightโค Race adn External Influence Mark Honduran Election Count
The aftermath of Honduras’s โ2021 presidential โขelection saw a tense count placing conservative candidates Nasry Asfura and Salvador Nasralla in a close โฃcontest, following an electionโ where over six million Hondurans also voted โfor โdeputies, mayors, and โvice-mayors. Asfura had previously been โฃdefeated โขby current President Xiomara Castroโค in โa prior attempt to win โขthe presidency, while Nasralla was seeking the office for aโ fourth time.
The initial report from the โคNational Electoral Council (CNE) was delayed by over an hour and a half, and nearly five โhours after polls closed, prompting Asfura toโ publicly โurge CNE โadvisory members toโ fulfill โคtheir โขduty and announceโข the resultsโฃ “for the goodโค of democracy.” โ Luis Zelaya, also a candidate, echoedโข concernsโ about โคpotential irregularities,โฃ having previously denouncedโข the possibility of โคfraud during the campaign, and announcedโ plans toโ address theโ preliminary CNEโ resultsโ at a press conference.
The CNE โฃhas up to โ30 daysโ to โฃmake the official โขdeclaration of the election results. the election wasโข observed by overโ 4,000 national and international observers, including representatives from โฃthe European Union, the Organization โฃofโข American States (OAS),โค and members โคofโ the United States Congress.
Adding a layer of complexity to the electionโ was the โขunexpected intervention ofโฃ former โคU.S. โขPresident Donald Trump. Days before the vote, trump โpublicly endorsed Asfura,โข a candidate aligned with the political party ofโข former President Juan Orlando Hernรกndez, who is โคcurrently serving โa 45-year prison sentence in the United States after being convictedโ of drug โandโฃ weapons trafficking.
Trump described Asfura as “the only trueโค friend ofโค freedom in Honduras” andโ pledgedโ to work with him to combat “narco-communists” and provide aid.โค He also leveled accusations against otherโ candidates,โ linking Zelaya to Fidel Castro and labeling Nasralla as “practically communist” and alleging involvement in deceptive practices. Trump furtherโข stated โhe woudlโ consider pardoningโค Hernรกndez, claiming the former president was “treated very harshlyโค and unfairly” and that the caseโค was politically motivated, responding toโ concerns raised by Hondurans.
Theโ election’s impact was โขfeltโ personally โคby Honduran citizens. Rubรฉn Darรญo Molina, โคa 55-year-oldโฃ security guard, explained he was โunable to voteโฃ due to work commitments. He expressed disillusionmentโ with politicians,citing his own experience ofโ being deported โคfrom the Unitedโข States after 20 years,separating him from his American โฃcitizen wife โand โขson.
Conversely, Carlos Alberto Figueroa,โ a 71-year-old retiree, voiced support โคfor the โขcontinuation โof President castro’s policies, hoping โขfor continued “development, a โขbetter economy andโข security.”