Honduras president leads after vote recount

Apreliminary ballot count in Honduras’ disputed presidential raceyesterday pointed to a second term for incumbent Juan Orlando Hernandez,while his opponent accused the government of stealing the election andcalled for protests.US-backed Hernandez had 42.98% of the vote,compared with opposition challenger Salvador Nasralla’s 41.39%, based on99.96% of ballots tallied after a partial recount of more than 1,000polling stations.David Matamoros, who heads the electoral tribunal and is a member of Hernandez’s party, refused to declare a winner.Parties can still file legal challenges, and a wider recount is possible, he told reporters.Earlylast week, Nasralla, a former sportscaster and game show host, appearedset for an upset victory over Hernandez, gaining a five-point lead withmore than half of the ballots tallied.The counting process suddenly halted for more than a day and began leaning in favour of Hernandez after resuming.Oppositionleaders said on Sunday they wanted a recount of all the pollingstations that were entered into the system after the delay.Protesters flooded streets across the country on Sunday to decry what they called a dictatorship.Asnight fell, the sounds of plastic horns, honking cars, fireworks andbeaten saucepans echoed over the Tegucigalpa capital, challenging amilitary curfew imposed to clamp down on protests that have spread sincelast week.Nasralla, addressing a giant rally in the capital earlierin the day, told the armed forces not to enforce the curfew andencouraged supporters to walk out on a national strike startingyesterday.“I call on all members of the armed forces to rebelagainst your bosses,” Nasralla told a cheering throng of supporters whobooed nearby troops. “You all over there, you shouldn’t be there; youshould be part of the people.”TV images showed similar protests in other major cities.Whilethere were no reports of violence on Sunday, hundreds have beenarrested and at least three people were killed in recent days.Thegovernment imposed a military-enforced curfew on Friday that expandedpowers for the army and police to detain people and break up blockadesof roads, bridges and public buildings.The tribunal began the partial recount on Sunday.TheOrganisation of American States said Nasralla’s demands to recount morethan 5,000 polling stations were doable, and it urged the tribunal tomake further checks.Also on Sunday, Venezuelan President NicolasMaduro accused the US of backing vote fraud in Honduras, while the topofficial at the US embassy praised the peaceful protests and the“orderly” final count then under way.Honduras struggles with violentdrug gangs, one of world’s highest murder rates and endemic poverty,driving a tide of its people to migrate to the US.