Presidential Candidate Alleges Election Has Been 'Manipulated'
The centrist candidate in Honduras's tightly contested presidential election, Salvador Nasralla, has alleged "corrupt people" of manipulating the vote count in the country.
Nine days after the election, the election authority has still not declared a winner, but the latest results suggest that Nasry "Tito" Asfura, the right-wing contender endorsed by US President Donald Trump, holds a slim advantage.
Nasralla, who had been leading earlier on before dropping into second place, declared on social media: "This is theft."
The left-wing candidate trailing in third, Rixi Moncada, has called for the vote to be annulled and alleged US interference by Trump in the election.
Close Results and Growing Frustration
With the vast majority of votes counted, Asfura had 40.53% of the vote, ahead of Nasralla with under forty percent and Moncada with just under twenty percent, per the election body's update.
Patience has worn thin over the last week as the counting was repeatedly halted, sometimes for days on end.
Representatives of the CNE blamed "IT issues."
They have also cautioned that thousands of voting records with "inconsistencies" still need to be examined.
Trump's Backing and Controversial Pardon
The period preceding the election was overshadowed by Trump's endorsement of Nasry "Tito" Asfura.
Just days before the vote, Trump backed the former mayor of Tegucigalpa, saying that "Tito and I can work together to fight the drug traffickers."
"Our support will be strong should Asfura win, but the United States will not be throwing good money after bad, because a poor choice can only bring catastrophic results," Trump added.
In a surprise move two days before the election, Trump also granted clemency to jailed former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernández, who is from the same party as Asfura.
Hernández was serving a 45-year prison sentence in the US for trafficking cocaine.
His pardon and subsequent release has shocked Honduran authorities, who have issued an international arrest warrant for Hernández, who remains in the US.
Mounting Tensions and Claims of Interference
Meanwhile, the situation has grown more tense as the lead in the vote count fluctuated repeatedly.
Trump accused the CNE of "seeking to alter" the outcome when Nasralla pulled past Asfura early on.
"If they do, there will be hell to pay," the US president said without providing evidence of any fraud.
Since the moment the Trump-endorsed Asfura moved in the lead, it has been his two rivals alleging misconduct.
Rixi Moncada's Libre party called for the "complete cancellation" of the elections.
It also called on its supporters to protest publicly against what it called "meddling and pressure of the President of the United States."
Nasralla blamed unnamed "corrupt ones" for "delaying the counting process."
Under Honduran law, the CNE has until 30 December to declare a winner.
