Election Reflection: What Does the Honduran Presidential Election of November 28 Tell Us?
JANUARY 7, 2022
BY JAMES PHILLIPS
Photograph Source: Ricardo Stuckert/PR – CC BY 3.0 br
I was in Honduras from November 17 to December 13. During that time, Honduras held general elections. The outcome of these elections is highly significant for Honduras and the United States. Here is my initial report and interpretation.
— James Phillips
Lining Up
El Progreso, northern Honduras, Friday, November 26.
A city in the heart of the old “banana empire” of the U.S. fruit companies. Driving through the narrow streets near the city center, we see lines of people, some elderly, some in wheel chairs, lines extending down city blocks and around corners. People waiting for banks to open so they can claim the bono (cash payment) that the incumbent government of President Juan Orlando Hernandez and his National Party are doling out two days before the presidential election. According to his many critics, this is one of the more blatant attempts by Hernandez and the National Party to buy votes to secure the election of their chosen successor, National Party candidate Nasry Asfura, said to be a close associate of Hernandez. In the eight years of Hernandez’ presidency the poverty rate has grown to include 70 percent of the population, and the country ranks second poorest in the hemisphere. Critics say that, having created such poverty with a foreign-oriented extractive economy and rampant official corruption, Hernandez has instituted various programs to “assist” the poor, but in fact to turn the population into dependent clients of the government and the Party, and to buy the support of the poor majority.
San Pedro Sula, Saturday, November 27.
The second-largest city in Honduras, and the commercial center of the country. I accompany some Honduran friends as they shop for food, water, and supplies. Long lines of shoppers rushing to secure supplies intended to last for several weeks or a month. In the streets and online, I see images of stores and businesses where workers are boarding windows in anticipation of violence. Everyone seems concerned that there will be a repeat of the post-election violence that marred the last presidential election in 2017. It is widely believed by many Hondurans and international observers that Hernandez stole that election. Huge protests followed in the streets of cities, as the government’s military police forcefully attacked nonviolent protesters. At least 28 were killed, many were injured or suffered the effects of tear gas launched against them. (The tear gas was manufactured in Pennsylvania.) When I arrived in Honduras in January, 2018, more than six weeks after that election, the protests and the repression were still occurring almost daily. So much of the concern and talk on this day before the 2021 election is about the potential for another “stolen” election, and more protests and repression. Many are aware that, this time, the pent-up anger, frustration, and desperation of people might not be expressed as peacefully as before.
San Pedro Sula, Sunday, November 28.
Election Day. At 8 a.m. I accompany my Honduran friends as they go to their polling places to vote. For reasons I don’t understand, husband and wife must go to different polling centers, both in schools. At both places,there are lines of cars and people, but the voting seems to go smoothly and rather quickly with no incidents to disrupt matters. Later, I will hear reports of incidents at a few polling places, but nothing that seems to significantly cast doubt about the legitimacy of the process. For the rest of the day, people anxiously await the returns. By law, the National Electoral Council (CNE) must begin to release preliminary results at 8 p.m., three hours after the official closing of the polls.
6 p.m., back in El Progreso.
I listen to Radio Progreso’s election coverage. At 8:45, the first preliminary tally puts the opposition Libre Party candidate, Xiomara Castro, well ahead of National Party candidate Asfura. Good news, but too early for celebration. People remember the “stolen” election of 2017 when the opposition candidate seemed well ahead, only to have the incumbent Hernandez and the National Party claim a narrow victory three days later. Tense waiting. I sit by my cell phone listening. At 11:15, the CNE announces that Castro’s lead has widened to almost 14 points.
More:
https://www.counterpunch.org/2022/01/07/election-reflection-what-does-the-honduran-presidential-election-of-november-28-tell-us/
