Left-Leaning Nasralla Leads Honduras Election Results

FEATURING SUYAPA PORTILLO – Hondurans are anxiously awaiting official results from elections that took place over the weekend and so far former sports reporter and television presented Salvador Nasralla is leading by 5 points over incumbent Juan Orlando Hernández.

The electoral tribunal released partial results on Monday leading Mr. Nasralla’s coalition, the Opposition Alliance Against the Dictatorship, to begin celebrating victory. But President Hernández’s party is convinced of its victory once rural votes are counted. Official election results are expected this Thursday.

The elections are a test of Hondurans’ tolerance for an era marked by corruption, violence, and dictatorship after a 2009 US-backed coup against democratically elected Manuel Zelaya. Zelaya is backing front-runner Nasralla in this election.

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Suyapa Portillo, Assistant Professor of Chicano/a-Latino/a Transnational Studies at Pitzer College.