US backs re-election of Honduras president
TEGUCIGAL: The United States on Friday backed the re-election of Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez despite widespread misgivings about the vote count, prompting the opposition candidate to bow out of the race.
The Honduran electoral tribunal declared Hernandez winner of the Nov 26 election last weekend amid strident opposition protests over the vote count in the impoverished Central American country.
The vote tally had initially clearly favoured opposition candidate Salvador Nasralla, a centreleftist, but it swung in favour of the incum- bent after a 36-hour delay.
Nasralla contested the vote count, but after the US backed Hernandez, he declared his bid for the presidency a “lost cause”.
“The situation is practically decided,” he said in an interview with TV network France 24. “I no longer have anything to do in politics, but the people, which are 80 per cent in my favour, will continue the fight.”
The US followed Mexico and other Latin American countries in supporting Hernandez, who has been a reliable US ally.
The US State Department congratulated Hernandez and said Honduras should pursue a “longterm effort to heal the political divide in the country and enact much-needed electoral reforms”, spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a statement.
The Honduras election tribunal’s declaration in Hernandez’s favor last week sparked violent protests in Honduras, and the Organisation of American States called for new elections to resolve the dispute, a proposal that was rejected by the Honduran government. Reuters