Honduran police fired tear gas at rock-hurling protesters on Thursday after a contentious presidential election that looks set to drag on for two more days without a clear winner, deepening the political crisis in the Central American nation. Both center-right President Juan Orlando Hernandez and his rival Salvador Nasralla, a television game show host allied with leftists, claimed victory after Sunday’s election. The vote tally at first favored Nasralla, but then swung in favor of the incumbent after hold-ups in the count, fueling talk of irregularities.
International concern has grown about the crisis in the poor coffee-producing nation of more than 9 million, which experienced a military-backed coup in 2009 and suffers from drug gangs and one of the world’s highest murder rates.
The delays have already led to violence, and observers fear they could risk undermining the eventual winner’s legitimacy.
One of the four magistrates on the Honduran electoral tribunal flagged “serious doubts” about the process on Thursday.
Full Article: Honduran protesters, police clash in growing election crisis.