Honduras protesters burn tyres

Tegucigalpa – Activists blocked roads and clashed with police in Honduras on Saturday as part of nationwide protests against the contested re-election of President Juan Orlando Hernandez.

Dozens of people have been killed and hundreds jailed since Hernandez was declared the winner of the November 26 runoff election – after a three-week stretch of often interrupted ballot counting that stoked tensions and sparked accusations of fraud in the central south American country.

The left-wing Alliance in Opposition against the Dictatorship is heading up a protest campaign, insisting that the election was stolen from its candidate, former TV anchor Salvador Nasrallah.

The opposition has called for a “national strike” on Saturday to block the country’s main roads ahead of the start of the president’s new term in office on January 27.

The government deployed police and soldiers to confront protesters.

One demonstrator was shot dead on Saturday, opposition leader and former president Manuel Zelaya told AFP, identifying the victim as Anselmo Villareal, 60.

Seven other demonstrators were detained and two police were hurt, police spokesperson Jair Meza said.

A military spokesperson, Lieutenant Jose Coello, said some highways had been blocked “but they are being cleared in a peaceful manner”.

Coello said police confiscated tyres, presumably to be set ablaze, that protesters were transporting in their vehicles.

Protesters blocked the country’s main highway, between Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula, at a point about 100km north of the capital, local media reported.

In Tegucigalpa, police fired tear gas at protesters trying to block a road and burn tyres. The demonstrators responded by hurling rocks.

Hernandez has implicit backing from the United States, which is pouring millions of dollars into Honduras and neighbouring states Guatemala and El Salvador to improve security conditions there.

The three countries, known as Central America’s “Northern Triangle”, provide the biggest source of undocumented migrants heading to the United States.

Highways have been blocked but are being systematically cleared.

Lieutenant Jose Coello Honduras military spokesperson