Leftist holds substantial lead in presidential vote
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras — Leftist opposition candidate Xiomara Castro held a commanding lead Monday as Hondurans appeared poised to remove the conservative National Party from power after 12 years of continuous rule.
Castro declared herself the winner despite orders from the National Electoral Council to political parties to await official results.
“We win! We win!” Castro, Honduras’ former first lady who is making her third presidential run, told cheering Liberty and Re-foundation party supporters when only a fraction of the ballots had been tallied. “Today the people have obtained justice. We have reversed authoritarianism.”
The National Party also quickly declared victory for its candidate, Tegucigalpa Mayor Nasry Asfura, but the early returns from Sunday’s vote were not promising.
By Monday, Castro’s wide early lead was holding up. With 51% of the polling station tallies in, Castro had 53% of the votes and Asfura 33%, according to the National Electoral Council preliminary count. With more than 1.8 million votes counted, Castro held a margin of more than 350,000 votes. The council said turnout was more than 68%.
Late Sunday, Castro promised a permanent dialogue with the Honduran people and said she wanted to open conversations with all sectors of society and international organizations to seek solutions for the Central American country, which is recovering from two major hurricanes while facing gang violence and enduring corruption and high poverty.
In addition to a new president, Hondurans chose a new congress and decided a bevy of local races. The Organization of American States observation mission said in a statement late Sunday that the voting had appeared to be “appropriate and peaceful.”