Something Fishy Is Happening in Honduras

Honduras ’ presidential election is mired in controversy as the country’s Electoral Tribunal (TSE) suspended the release of results on Sunday night when president Juan Orlando Hernández was trailing left-wing candidate Salvador Nasralla by 5 percentage points, with 58.5% of polling stations counted. The re is no precedent in Honduras for such a blackout on the release of election results and many observers are worried—with good reason—that electoral fraud might take place.First, some context. Juan Orlando Hern ández was barred from running for reelection. Honduras’ constitution is famous in Latin America for its repeated emphasis on presidential term limits. It says that any person who has held the office of the presidency cannot be president or vice president again. Moreover, it states that under no c ircumstance can the constitution be amended to allow for presidential re-election. In 2009, Juan Manuel Zelayawas removed from power by a Supreme Court ruling for organizing an illegal referendum on a constitutional amendment to allow for his reelection.Then, things changed. In December 2012, the National Assembly —whose speaker at that time was Juan Orlando Hernández—sacked four justices of the Constitutional Court for voting down several government pet projects. In April 2015, the Constitutional Court —with four new justices—struck down the prohibition on presidential reelection claiming it violated human rights. This allowed Hern ández to contest this y...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs