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News > Latin America

Honduran Military, Protesters Clash in Fresh Election Riots

  • A military policeman is silhouetted against burning tires set alight by opposition supporters during a protest against the results of Honduras' disputed elections.

    A military policeman is silhouetted against burning tires set alight by opposition supporters during a protest against the results of Honduras' disputed elections. | Photo: Reuters

Published 20 January 2018
Opinion

Honduran military police and soldiers have taken to the streets, some launching tear gas at people protesting the contested results of last year's presidential election.

Military personnel have clashed with protesters in street demonstrations against the disputed results of last year's contested presidential elections in Honduras, with video footage showing soldiers lobbing tear-gas canisters into the crowds.

United Nations spokesman Elizabeth Throsell had urged the Central American government to adhere to international human rights laws and avoid using force to surpress the protests, but that call was ignored.

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Honduras: UN Urges Gov't Not to Use Military Against Protests

Impromptu roadbloacks of burning tires were set up in different parts of the capital, Tegucigalpa, and other parts of the country.

In response to the attacks, Salvador Nasralla, leader of the Opposition Alliance and former presidential candidate, tweeted: "The Honduran military (maintained by the people's army) continue repressing the poor people who demand respect towards their will expressed at the ballot box on the Nov. 26."

He went on to note that the people of Honduras are continuing to protest the "illegal imposition of the dictator Juan Orlando Hernandez," who on Friday was given his presidential credentials by the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE). He is due to be sworn in on January 27.

The Opposition Alliance, coordinated by former president Manuel Zelaya, has announced nationwide demonstrations and strikes beginning Saturday. The demonstrations are due to last one week.

The opposition's main concern regarding the results came when Hernandez began to pull ahead after an hours-long technical problem caused the TSE system to "go down."

The sitting president overcame Nasralla's original five percent lead with more than half the ballots counted – a lead experts had said would be irreversible.

The Organization of American States (OAS) has consistently disputed the results and called for new elections, havibg originally declared Nasralla victorious.

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