Honduras, coup against democracy again?

This video says about itself:

Nasralla-Next President of Honduras

28 November 2017

Salvador Nasralla of the left-leaning Opposition Alliance is leading in the Honduras election and has as good as won according to technical experts. Nasralla’s probable victory was unexpected against the intimidation and voting irregularities practiced by the current right-wing President Hernandez who was running for re-election.

Hoewever, today:

Nasralla, who has seen his initial five-point lead evaporate in recent days, said Wednesday night that he believes the election is being stolen and that he won’t respect official results.

On Monday it had appeared Nasralla, a television personality with no prior political experience, had pulled off a stunning victory, but as the days have dragged on, his lead has melted away.

By James Tweedie:

Nasralla calls for protests over ballot fraud fears

Thursday 30th November 2017

HONDURAN presidential candidate Salvador Nasralla alleged ballot fraud yesterday, urging protests as troops rolled toward the capital.

Fears of a repeat of the 2009 US-backed coup against president Manuel Zelaya were raised after a video was posted on social media on Tuesday showing long lines of army trucks carrying soldiers on the road from Siguatepeque to La Esperanza — west of the capital Tegucigalpa.

Counting of votes in Sunday’s presidential election resumed after a mysterious two-day hiatus.

Mr Nasralla’s five-point lead over incumbent Juan Orlando Hernandez rapidly shrank to 24,000 — less than 1 per cent — with around half a million ballots left to count.

The Supreme Electoral Tribunal promised a final result by last night.

On Tuesday, Opposition Alliance candidate Mr Nasralla accused the ruling National Party of Honduras (PNH) of putting pressure on the tribunal, which had called his 40-45 per cent lead irreversible days earlier, to steal the election.

He said: “The company hired to give out the results, under pressure from the magistrate president, removed security mechanisms from the data transmission system.”

Mr Nasralla called on his supporters to launch protests against the fraud, insisting: “We’ve already won the election.

“I‘m not going to tolerate this and, as there are no reliable institutions in Honduras to defend us, tomorrow the Honduran people need to defend the vote on the streets.”

PNH National Secretary Juan Zelaya — no relation of the ousted president — called his supporters onto the streets on Tuesday to “defend the triumph,” despite his candidate still trailing at the ballots.

Mr Hernandez succeeded party mate Porfirio Lobo, who took over from Liberal Party congress speaker Roberto Micheletti.

Mr Micheletti was made interim president after the military coup against Mr Zelaya after he won a referendum to extend the presidential term limit — with a pledge not to seek re-election.

The coup was condoned by then US secretary of state Hillary Clinton with the support of former Republican senator Jim DeMint, a prominent backer of US President Donald Trump.

It was followed by a vicious security crackdown with the murders and disappearances of Zelaya supporters and others, including indigenous campaigner Berta Caceres.

Mr Nasralla has said his supporter Mr Zelaya would have influence in a new government, while his wife and former presidential candidate Xiomara Castro would join his cabinet.

He has also promised to review the siting of a US military air base in the country that Mr Zelaya vowed to convert to civilian use.

By Calvin Tucker:

Honduras election its like 2009 all over again

Thursday 30th November 2017

I REPORTED from inside Honduras during the US-backed coup in 2009, and it’s looking awfully like the groundwork for a second coup is being prepared.

The signs are ominous: the unexplained halting of the vote count after left alliance candidate Salvador Nasralla took an early and irreversible lead, the intimidation of journalists, the torture and murder of social movement activists and the convoys of military trucks captured on film streaming towards the capital.

Right-wing president Juan Orlando Hernandez, whose administration and family are implicated in drug smuggling and money laundering, has refused to concede defeat.

Meanwhile, after a 48-hour news blackout, the electoral authorities have begun drip-feeding extraordinary new results that showed Hernandez on course to overhaul his rival and retain the presidency.

The Honduran oligarchy and its US sponsors have long understood that democracy threatens their grip on power. Back in 2006, charismatic left candidate Manuel Zelaya convincingly won the elections, and he was duly sworn in as president. But Zelaya was in office for just three years before he was kidnapped at gunpoint by the military and flown to exile in Costa Rica.

His crime had been to double the minimum wage in a country where a quarter of children have stunted growth due to malnutrition.

At the time, there was hope that the new US president Barack Obama would deliver on his promise to open “a new chapter of engagement” with Latin America and withdraw military and economic support for the coup regime. But behind the scenes, Hillary Clinton’s State Department cut a deal with far-right Republicans to endorse the military takeover and the ousting of Zelaya.

Despite the increase in repression and killings in the years that followed, the left regrouped in a new political party called Libre and formed an anti-corruption alliance with clean politicians and public figures.

Today, we should discover whether the regime is going to allow Nasralla to take up his rightful position as president, or once again snuff out democracy at the point of a gun.