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Hondurans voting in what electoral officials said were “massive” numbers on Sunday boosted opposition hopes of ending a dozen years of National Party rule and possibly paving the way for leftist Xiomara Castro to win the presidency.
If she wins, opposition standard-bearer Castro would become the first female president in Honduras and mark the left’s return to power for the first time since her husband, former President Manuel Zelaya, was deposed in a 2009 coup.
As polls closed, the electoral council said more than 2.7 million voters had already cast ballots, a figure the council described as a “massive turnout” but with more votes yet to be counted.
Council president Kelvin Aguirre said it had already surpassed total turnout four years ago.
He added that voters still in line could vote, in a contest marked by efforts from the conservative ruling party to shake off numerous corruption scandals while attacking Castro as a dangerous radical.
Long lines could be seen at many polling places across the capital. Nationwide, some 5.2 million Hondurans are eligible to vote.
For months, Castro has sought to unify the opposition to outgoing President Juan Orlando Hernandez, who has denied accusations of having ties to powerful gangs, despite an open investigation in the United States allegedly linking him to drug trafficking.
After tying up with the 2017 runner-up, a popular TV host, most polls have reinforced her front-runner status.
“We can’t stay home. This is our moment. This is the moment to kick out the dictatorship,” said Castro, mobbed by reporters just after voting in the town of Catacamas earlier in the day.
“It’s now or never.”
The candidate said she trusted that voters would report any problems they see and that international observers would also help to ensure a fair vote.
‘This is Honduras’
The election is the latest political flashpoint in Central America, a major…
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Source : france24
