Presidential Candidate Alleges Vote Has Been 'Manipulated'
The moderate 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 electoral council has still not declared a winner, but the most recent tally 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: "They have stolen it."
The progressive hopeful 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, leading Nasralla with 39.16% and Moncada with 19.32%, per the National Electoral Council's (CNE) update.
Frustration has been growing over the last week as the counting stalled several times, sometimes for days on end.
Officials from the CNE attributed the delays to "system glitches."
They have also warned that thousands of voting records with "discrepancies" still need to be examined.
Trump's Endorsement and Surprise Pardon
The period preceding the election was dominated by Trump's endorsement of Nasry "Tito" Asfura.
Shortly before the vote, Trump threw his weight behind the former mayor of Tegucigalpa, stating that "We can work together to fight the Narcocommunists."
"We will be very supportive should Asfura win, but the United States will not be throwing good money after bad, because a wrong Leader can only bring disastrous outcomes," Trump added.
In a surprise move two days before the election, Trump also granted clemency to jailed former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernández, who stems from the same party as Asfura.
Hernández was in the midst of a 45-year prison sentence in the US for conspiring to import cocaine.
His pardon and subsequent release has stunned Honduran authorities, who issued an international arrest warrant for Hernández, who is still in the US.
Mounting Tensions and Allegations of Interference
Meanwhile, the situation has grown more tense as the lead in the vote count changed a number of times.
Trump claimed the CNE of "seeking to alter" the outcome when Nasralla pulled past Asfura early on.
"They will face severe consequences," the US president said without providing evidence of any fraud.
Ever since the Trump-endorsed Asfura took the lead, it has been his two rivals crying foul.
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 "the interference and coercion of the President of the United States."
Nasralla blamed unnamed "bad actors" for "holding up the counting process."
According to the nation's regulations, the CNE has until 30 December to declare a winner.
