December 5, 2025

By Honduras Solidarity Network

The Honduras Solidarity Network (HSN) issued the following statement on Dec. 2.

Like many others, the Honduras Solidarity Network was taken aback by Sunday’s unexpected preliminary election results. Since Sunday, there has been an escalation of U.S. interference, delays in counting, close numbers of the announced front runners and surprisingly low numbers for LIBRE [Liberty and Refoundation]. This situation has increased tensions in the country, whose people have seen blatant fraud by the traditional parties in the elections of 2009, 2013 and 2017.

As of December 1 at midnight, with not all ballots counted, as reported by the National Electoral Council (CNE), the National Party’s Presidential candidate, Nasry Asfura, had a slight lead over, but a technical tie with, the Liberal Party’s Salvador Nasralla (39.91%). The governing LIBRE party candidate, Rixi Moncada, was showing considerably fewer votes (19.16%) in third position. There was a long pause in the published counting process, but the CNE (with the representatives only from the Liberal and National Party) just announced this morning the “reinitiation” of the process.

As the CNE continues, the political parties also do their own review of their copies of all the ballot documents. Nasralla has accused the National Party of fraud as Asfura pulled slightly ahead. In addition [he was] perhaps hoping for some help from Trump, as [Nasralla] also stated that if he becomes president he will immediately break off relations with Venezuela. Moncada has declared that there are a large number of ballots without biometric validation.

Trump pardons JOH

Yesterday and today, Donald Trump has doubled down in his social media on his pre-election public support for the ultraright National Party and has made good on his threat to pardon convicted narcotics trafficker and National Party dictator Juan Orlando Hernandez (JOH) who has now been released from a U.S. prison. That news is being met with an outcry in Honduras and the U.S. with more calls from inside Honduras to mobilize against U.S. interference and even some public disagreement from Republicans in the U.S.

The Honduras Solidarity Network (HSN) and many others have been sounding the alarm for months about U.S. interference in Honduran politics in ways similar to its interference in other recent elections in Latin America. It is clear that the constant, aggressive U.S. intervention in Honduras by Donald Trump and Congressional representatives like Rep. Maria Salazar had an impact on these elections. The far-right discourses from the U.S, threats to cut off aid, military action against Venezuela and the pardon for a dangerous drug trafficker, ex-President Hernández, by Trump not only impacted the election votes but will also have grave consequences in Honduras in the coming months and years.

Both the Liberal Party and the National Party have publicly stated or inferred during the campaign that their governments would reverse the progressive policies of the LIBRE party and will protect the interests of large land owners and the business class.

All ballots must be counted to finalize the results, and as of this writing the parties are all supporting that position. In addition, the ballots from the Congressional and municipal races are still being counted and will need to be analyzed to understand their impact in both national legislative and local municipal level politics. Undoubtedly, there are discussions of what to do going on inside all the parties and party-to-party discussions as well.

As HSN has done since its founding in 2009, we will continue to accompany and support the brave and inspiring struggles of the Honduran people. Popular power is what sustains and inspires our movements through hard times like these.

Honduras Solidarity Network: honsolnetwork@gmail.com