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The candidate of the left opposition, Xiomara Castro, claimed the electoral victory at a time when the preliminary results give her an advantage of at least 200,000 votes, against the ruling Nasry Asfura, of the conservative National Party, who has also declared victory.
Xiomara Castro would be close to becoming the first woman to reach the presidency of Honduras.
With almost 45% of the votes counted, Castro, wife of former President Manuel Zelaya, obtained 53% of the votes in his favor. This is an advantage of almost 20 points over Nasry Asfura, the mayor of the capital and aspiring to the Executive by the ruling National Party, who registers 34% of support, according to the preliminary count of the National Electoral Council.
In third place, Yani Rosenthal, from the Liberal Party, appears with 9% of the vote.
If the trend that favors Castro continues, the candidate would return to power to the left, for the first time since her husband was deposed twelve years ago.
“We won! We won! (…) Today the people have obtained justice. We have reversed authoritarianism. We are going to form a government of reconciliation, a government of peace and justice,” declared the country’s former first lady in front of her supporters , even though the count has not finished.
Thousands of people packed Morazan Boulevard in the capital, honking car horns, waving the red flags of the Free Bank and setting off fireworks. After midnight, the street continued to fill with supporters celebrating Castro.
However, the National Party also quickly declared victory for its candidate, Tegucigalpa Mayor Nasry Asfura.
The presidential candidate of the ruling party urged voters to show patience in a post on social media.
The representative of the National Electoral Council (CNE), Kelvin Aguirre, reiterated that the result is preliminary and that the winner has not yet been determined.
Participation at the polls was higher than in 2017
According to the CNE, the participation was more than 68%. Ten points more than that of the last presidential elections four years ago.
In addition to a new president, Hondurans elected on Sunday, November 28, a new Congress, a unicameral body made up of 128 deputies, and new representatives in the Central American Parliament.
The observer mission of the Organization of American States (OAS) stated in a statement that the votes were “appropriate and peaceful.”
The elections concluded without violence, unlike four years ago when a sudden change in the vote count clouded the process and the count was stopped for hours, causing strong protests. However, the official website of the CNE recorded falls throughout the day.
This year’s elections were held against a backdrop of corruption scandals and social unrest in the Central American country, fueled by a fragile economy and chronic gang violence that has led to record numbers of migrants leaving their homeland. .
With Reuters, AP and local media
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