Honduras roiled by claims of fraud in presidential vote

Honduras roiled by claims of fraud in presidential vote
AFP November 28, 2013, 9:24 am

Tegucigalpa (AFP) - Opposition charges of fraud roiled Honduras Wednesday as the official count in the country's presidential elections showed a clear victory for conservative Juan Orlando Hernandez over leftist candidate Xiomara Castro.

The electoral tribunal has said Hernandez won, scoring 34 percent compared to the 29 percent of his rival, with 68 percent of polling stations tallied.

Castro and her husband, deposed ex-president Manuel Zelaya, allege that the Supreme Electoral Tribunal manipulated 19 percent of the votes to favor Hernandez.
They gave 48 hours for the situation to be resolved.

"We will defend the will of the people as it was expressed at the polls," Castro wrote in a Twitter posting. "We will confirm our victory, and if it were the opposite, we also would acknowledge it," Zelaya said on Twitter,warning: "Nobody should speculate; we will look at the dimensions of the fraud -- and what was properly done."

Tensions were running high as the political standoff exploded into violence on the streets of Tegucigalpa on Tuesday. Police beat and used tear gas against about 800 people demonstrating in support of Castro.

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