Presidential Candidate Alleges Election Has Been 'Manipulated'
The centrist candidate in Honduras's tightly contested presidential election, Salvador Nasralla, has accused "unscrupulous individuals" of manipulating the vote count in the country.
Over a week after the election, the election authority has still not declared a winner, but the latest results suggest that Nasry "Tito" Asfura, the right-wing contender endorsed by US President Donald Trump, holds a slim advantage.
Nasralla, who had been ahead in the initial stages before falling to second place, declared on social media: "This is theft."
The progressive hopeful placed in third, Rixi Moncada, has demanded the vote to be annulled and accused Trump of the election.
Close Results and Growing Unrest
With 98.77% of votes counted, Asfura had 40.53% of the vote, ahead of Nasralla with under forty percent and Moncada with just under twenty percent, according to the election body's update.
Patience has worn thin over the last week as the counting was repeatedly halted, sometimes for days on end.
Representatives of the CNE blamed "technical problems."
They have also warned that numerous voting records with "irregularities" still need to be reviewed.
Trump's Endorsement and Controversial Pardon
The run-up to the election was overshadowed by Trump's support for Nasry "Tito" Asfura.
Shortly before the vote, Trump threw his weight behind the former mayor of Tegucigalpa, stating that "Tito and I can work together to fight the Narcocommunists."
"Our support will be strong should Asfura win, but the United States will not be throwing good money after bad, because a poor choice can only bring catastrophic results," Trump added.
In a surprise move two days before the election, Trump also granted clemency to jailed former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernández, who is from the same party as Asfura.
Hernández was in the midst of a 45-year prison sentence in the US for conspiring to import cocaine.
His pardon and subsequent release has shocked Honduran authorities, who issued an international arrest warrant for Hernández, who is still in the US.
Rising Tensions and Claims of Meddling
Meanwhile, tension has been rising as the lead in the vote count changed a number of times.
Trump claimed the CNE of "trying to change" the outcome when Nasralla pulled past Asfura early on.
"They will face severe consequences," the US president said without offering proof of any fraud.
Since the moment the Trump-endorsed Asfura moved in the lead, it has been his two rivals crying foul.
Rixi Moncada's Libre party called for the "the total annulment" of the elections.
It also urged its supporters to protest publicly against what it called "the interference and coercion of the President of the United States."
Nasralla blamed unnamed "corrupt ones" for "holding up the counting process."
According to the nation's regulations, the CNE has until 30 December to announce a victor.
