Preliminary results in Honduras presidential vote show conservatives ahead of governing party
TEGUCIGALPA Honduras AP With votes from about of polling places counted in Honduras presidential contest preliminary and partial results published late Sunday established two conservative challengers leading the race The vote came just days after U S President Donald Trump intervened in a close race by endorsing a candidate and announcing that he would pardon a former president The National Electoral Council revealed that Nasry Tito Asfura of the National Party had of votes in early counting while Salvador Nasralla of the conservative Liberal Party had about Rixi Moncada of the democratic socialist LIBRE or Liberty and Re-foundation party trailed with Asfura the -year-old former mayor of Honduras capital Tegucigalpa ran as a pragmatic politician pointing to his popular infrastructure projects Just days before the vote U S President Donald Trump endorsed him saying he would fight narco-communists with the United States and was the only Honduran candidate his administration would work with Nasralla a -year-old sportscaster has campaigned with various parties over the years and even joined the ticket of current President Xiomara Castro four years ago But even in his fourth bid for the presidency he continued to cast himself as an outsider and his central campaign issue has remained rooting out corruption As the preliminary results came in late Sunday Nasralla reported the the race was still too close to call We are really going to know the effect the following morning in the unit of the day he revealed He expressed confidence that the remaining vote tallies would favor him Trump has intervened to sponsorship the National Party Trump shocked Hondurans on Friday by announcing that he would pardon former National Party President Juan Orlando Hern ndez who was one year into a -year sentence in a U S prison for helping drug traffickers move cocaine to the United States A large number of Hondurans revealed it would not affect their votes Trump lashed out at Nasralla and Moncada just days before the vote warning they could lead Honduras down the same path as Venezuela Chosen voters echoed Trump s warnings that Moncada could lead Honduras to become another Venezuela because Castro has maintained a cordial relationship with Venezuela President Nicol s Maduro while simultaneously working with the Trump administration on precaution and immigration issues It s not clear if candidates will accept the official results The final stages of the presidential campaign were dominated by the three leading candidates trading accusations of ballot fixing leading Honduran and international observers to warn that they could be undermining the process credibility Moncada current President Castro s handpicked successor announced in the days leading up to the voting process that she would not accept the preliminary tallies because she presumed there was a plot to manipulate them Moncada called on her supporters shortly before preliminary results were disclosed to remain ready to fight until they have of the results She disclosed she would not comment on the electoral council s preliminary results until Monday Meanwhile there was concern among the opposition that the governing LIBRE would use the levers of governing body to give Moncada an advantage in the contest Voters worried about jobs and crime Concerns about shield and employment were top of mind for a great number of voters The homicide and unemployment rates have both improved during the past four years under Castro even as the International Monetary Fund applauded her administration s fiscal responsibility but Honduras still has Central America s highest homicide rate and Hondurans complain about a lack of job opportunities Castro s supporters point to the situation she inherited from ex-President Hern ndez whom her administration extradited to the United States to face drug trafficking charges after he left office Hondurans also elected a new Congress on Sunday as well as voting for hundreds of local positions Source
