Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez on Sunday was declared the winner of the nation’s disputed election, but that did little to quell unrest from weeks of uncertainty as challenger Salvador Nasralla called for more protests yesterday and the Organization of American States (OAS) proposed holding the vote again.
The OAS, which sent election observers to the country, issued a statement saying it was impossible to determine the outcome with enough certainty due to irregularities, including “deliberate human intrusions into the computer system, intentional elimination of digital traces,” opened ballot boxes and “extreme statistical improbability regarding levels of participation within the same department,” combined with the narrow vote differential.
“The only possible path for the winner to be the Honduran people is a new call for general elections... Respecting democratic values and citizens is the necessary road to safeguard society from death and violence,” the OAS said.
Photo: Reuters
“The Honduran people deserve an electoral exercise that offers democratic quality and guarantees. The electoral cycle that the [Supreme Electoral Tribunal] gave as concluded today has clearly not been that,” it added.
Honduran Supreme Electoral Tribunal President David Matamoros on Sunday evening announced that Hernandez had won, saying: “We have fulfilled our obligation [and] we wish for there to be peace in our country.”
According to the court’s official count, Hernandez won with 42.95 percent to 41.42 for Nasralla, who well before the announcement had challenged the result and said he would not recognize it.
There were reports of nighttime demonstrations on main boulevards in the capital, Tegucigalpa, and other cities, and Nasralla’s party called for more protests yesterday.
At least 17 people have died in violent street clashes since the Nov. 26 election.
There was no immediate public comment by Hernandez, whose sister, Hilda Hernandez, a Cabinet minister, died on Saturday in a helicopter crash.
Earlier in the day, Nasralla traveled to Washington to present what he called “numerous” examples of evidence of alleged fraud.
He said he planned to meet with officials from the OAS, the US Department of State and human rights groups.
Interviewed by UneTV during a layover at Miami airport, Nasralla called Hernandez’s re-election illegitimate and said he would ask the OAS to invoke its democratic charter against Honduras.
“The declaration by the court is a mockery because it tramples the will of the people,” Nasralla said.
He added that he was “very optimistic” because “the people do not endorse fraud.”
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique