Honduras turmoil grows as president alleges ‘electoral coup’ amid chaotic vote count
Fraud allegations, claims of US interference and disputed tally sheets mar vote count following Honduras’ November 30 presidential election
Honduran President Xiomara Castro on Tuesday denounced what she called an “electoral coup” unfolding amid a chaotic vote count from the November 30 presidential election, as hundreds of protesters gathered in the streets of the capital Tegucigalpa to demand clarity over the situation.
The election has been marked by technical failures, unsubstantiated fraud claims and a shadow cast by US President Donald Trump, who has threatened to withdraw funding for the Central American nation if his preferred candidate was not successful.
“We are seeing a process marked by threats, coercion, manipulation of the TREP (vote transmission system) and adulteration of the popular will,” Castro, who is from the leftist LIBRE party and set to leave office in January, told a press conference. She also condemned Trump’s intervention in the race on behalf of conservative Nasry Asfura of the National Party.
“These actions constitute an electoral coup that is under way and we will denounce them,” she said.
Castro’s comments add fuel to an already combustible moment in Honduras, while election officials have urged calm.