General elections were held in
Honduras
Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. The republic of Honduras is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Oce ...
on 24 November 2013. Voters went to the polls to elect a new
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
*President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
, the 128 members of the
National Congress, 298 Mayors and vice-mayors and their respective councilors and 20 representatives to the
Central American Parliament
The Central American Parliament ( es, Parlamento Centroamericano), also known as PARLACEN, is the political institution and parliamentary body of the Central American Integration System (SICA). Its headquarters are in Guatemala City.
History
...
.
The closely watched presidential election saw a field of eight candidates vying to succeed outgoing President
Porfirio Lobo Sosa
Porfirio Lobo Sosa (born 22 December 1947), known as Pepe Lobo, is a Honduran politician and agricultural landowner who served as President of Honduras from 2010 to 2014. A member of the conservative National Party and a former deputy in the ...
, who is not eligible to run for re-election.
Salvador Nasralla, a sports journalist and television personality, and
Xiomara Castro
Iris Xiomara Castro Sarmiento (; born 30 September 1959), also known as Xiomara Castro de Zelaya, is a Honduran politician who is the 56th president of Honduras, in office since January 2022. She is the country's first female president, having ...
, the wife of the deposed president
Mel Zelaya
José Manuel Zelaya Rosales (born 20 September 1952)Encyclopædia BritannicaManuel Zelaya/ref> is a Honduran politician who was President of Honduras from 27 January 2006 until 28 June 2009, and who since January 2022 serves as the first Firs ...
, both candidates from newly formed political parties (the
Anti-Corruption Party
The Anti-Corruption Party ( es, Partido Anticorrupción de Honduras, PAC) is a political party in Honduras. It was founded by sports journalist/television presenter Salvador Nasralla, who ran unsuccessfully in the 2013 Honduran presidential el ...
and
Libre
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, respectively) were leading in most of the early polls. However, as the election neared, the candidates of the two traditional parties –
Juan Orlando Hernández
Juan Orlando Hernández Alvarado (; born 28 October 1968), also known as JOH, is a Honduran lawyer and politician who served as President of Honduras from 2014 to 2022.
A member of the National Party, Hernández previously served as the presi ...
of the
National Party and
Mauricio Villeda
Mauricio Villeda Bermúdez (born April 27, 1948 in Tegucigalpa) is a Honduran attorney, leader of the Liberal Party of Honduras, and son of the late former president Ramón Villeda Morales. He ran unsuccessfully as a presidential candidate in t ...
of the
Liberal Party
The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left.
__TOC__ Active liberal parties
This is a li ...
– both surged in the polls.
Background
This is the first election to be contested by the opposition since the controversial and polarising
2009 Honduran coup d'état. The
social mobilization since then led to the founding of the main opposition party,
Libre
Libre may refer to:
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* Libre Computer Project, developer of open-hardware single-board computers
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*FreeStyle Libre, a glucose monitoring device
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.
Two-party system
Honduras has historically been dominated by a two-party system – the National Party and the Liberal Party. This election represents the first time in Honduran history in which other parties had a chance at winning the presidency or at least gaining a significant representation in the Congress, four of which find their genesis post-
coup.
Human rights concerns
The elections took place amidst a deteriorating human rights situations.
Amnesty International
Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...
called attention to the killings of human rights defenders in the lead-up to the election, noting that Honduras had the highest homicide rate in the world yet only twenty percent of homicides were investigated.
[ Honduran human rights organizations formed the Board of Analysis on the Human Rights Situation to monitor human rights violations surrounding the election, pointing to the level of political violence in the country: human rights group Rights Action examined the period between May 2012 and October 2013 and documented 36 killings and 24 armed attacks against pre-candidates, candidates, their families and campaign leaders across all parties, with ]Libre
Libre may refer to:
Computing
* Libre software, free software
* Libre Computer Project, developer of open-hardware single-board computers
Medicine
*FreeStyle Libre, a glucose monitoring device
Media
* Libre Times, news site which people can free ...
experiencing the majority of both armed attacks and killings. In light of this situation, 24 U.S. Senators
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and powe ...
signed a letter to the U.S. State Department expressing their concerns about the upcoming elections.
Campaign
Key electoral issues have been citizen security, organized crime, unemployment, and corruption. One of the main components of Hernández's campaign is his promise to put "a soldier on every corner."[ For her part, Castro has emphasized the need for community policing and secure borders.
]
Presidential candidates
Primaries
Primaries were held for the National Party, Liberal Party
The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left.
__TOC__ Active liberal parties
This is a li ...
and Libre
Libre may refer to:
Computing
* Libre software, free software
* Libre Computer Project, developer of open-hardware single-board computers
Medicine
*FreeStyle Libre, a glucose monitoring device
Media
* Libre Times, news site which people can free ...
.
National
Juan Orlando Hernández
Juan Orlando Hernández Alvarado (; born 28 October 1968), also known as JOH, is a Honduran lawyer and politician who served as President of Honduras from 2014 to 2022.
A member of the National Party, Hernández previously served as the presi ...
, president of the National Congress of Honduras
The National Congress ( es, Congreso Nacional) is the legislative branch of the government of Honduras.
Organization
The Honduran Congress is a unicameral legislature. The nominal President of the National Congress of Honduras is currentl ...
, won the presidential nomination of the National Party. The other candidates were Ricardo Álvarez (the Mayor of Tegucigalpa
Tegucigalpa (, , ), formally Tegucigalpa, Municipality of the Central District ( es, Tegucigalpa, Municipio del Distrito Central or ''Tegucigalpa, M.D.C.''), and colloquially referred to as ''Tegus'' or ''Teguz'', is the capital and largest city ...
), Fernando Anduray (National Congress deputy), Victor Hugo Barnica (Third Vice President of Honduras), Eva Fernandez, Loreley Fernandez, and Miguel Pastor (Secretary of State for Public Works, Transport, and Housing). The Supreme Electoral Tribunal certified Hernández's victory, but Álvarez immediately presented an appeal, accusing Hernández of fraud and asking for a recount. The appeal was rejected by the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court, four of whose five members were replaced by Hernández a month earlier in a move widely criticized as an illegal "technical coup".[ Álvarez and Pastor refused to attend the party convention in protest, claiming that they were being persecuted by their own party.
]
Liberal
Mauricio Villeda
Mauricio Villeda Bermúdez (born April 27, 1948 in Tegucigalpa) is a Honduran attorney, leader of the Liberal Party of Honduras, and son of the late former president Ramón Villeda Morales. He ran unsuccessfully as a presidential candidate in t ...
, won the presidential nomination of the Liberal Party. Other candidates in the fray for the presidential nomination were Esteban Handal Perez and Yani Rosenthal
Yani Benjamin Rosenthal Hidalgo (born 14 July 1965 in San Pedro Sula, Honduras) is a businessman, politician and former convict.
Personal data
His parents are Jaime Rosenthal and Miriam Marina Hidalgo de Rosenthal. He has a sister, Patricia, ...
(National Congress deputy and former Minister of Presidency).
Libre
Xiomara Castro de Zelaya
Iris Xiomara Castro Sarmiento (; born 30 September 1959), also known as Xiomara Castro de Zelaya, is a Honduran politician who is the 56th president of Honduras, in office since January 2022. She is the country's first female president, having ...
, former First Lady of Honduras, was the sole presidential candidate in the Libre primaries.
Opinion polls
President
Congress
Conduct
Honduran elections have historically been marred by fraud,[ (Spanish)] and polls leading up to the elections found that 59% of Hondurans believe the elections would be fraudulent. However, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) has stated that these would be the most clean and fair elections in Honduras's history, and both the traditionally dominant parties – the National and Liberal parties – agree.[ (Spanish)] The newly formed Libre Party and Anti-Corruption Party fear that there would be fraud, a position backed by the Carter Center
The Carter Center is a nongovernmental, not-for-profit organization founded in 1982 by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter. He and his wife Rosalynn Carter partnered with Emory University just after his defeat in the 1980 United States presidenti ...
.[ Anti-Corruption Party candidate Salvador Nasralla publicly denounced attempts at vote-buying by the National Party across the country.][ (Spanish)] Nasralla highlighted National Party control of key government institutions like the Public Ministry and the Supreme Court.[ Dana Frank, writing in '']The Nation
''The Nation'' is an American liberal biweekly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper tha ...
'', echoed these concerns, noting National Party candidate Hernández's participation in both the illegal naming of a new attorney general in August 2013 and the illegal destitution of four Supreme Court judges in December 2012, the latter of which ultimately resulted in Hernández securing his party's nomination for the presidency.[
The TSE has stated that over 700 international election observers, representing various governments and organizations, including the ]United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...
, the Organization of American States
The Organization of American States (OAS; es, Organización de los Estados Americanos, pt, Organização dos Estados Americanos, french: Organisation des États américains; ''OEA'') is an international organization that was founded on 30 April ...
, the European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
, and the Carter Center
The Carter Center is a nongovernmental, not-for-profit organization founded in 1982 by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter. He and his wife Rosalynn Carter partnered with Emory University just after his defeat in the 1980 United States presidenti ...
, will be present to monitor the elections. In the days before the election, international observers in the department of Yoro
Yoro, with a population of 25,560 (2020 calculation), is the capital city of the Yoro Department of Honduras and the municipal seat of Yoro Municipality. It is notable for a local event known as Lluvia de Peces, where it is claimed that strong ...
and in the capital Tegucigalpa
Tegucigalpa (, , ), formally Tegucigalpa, Municipality of the Central District ( es, Tegucigalpa, Municipio del Distrito Central or ''Tegucigalpa, M.D.C.''), and colloquially referred to as ''Tegus'' or ''Teguz'', is the capital and largest city ...
reported targeted harassment and intimidation on the part of immigration officials and unidentified armed men. The TSE confirmed these reports and ordered the Honduran immigration authorities to stop all of these types of operations concerning election observers.
Results
President
National Congress
Aftermath
Juan Orlando Hernández was announced as the winner in a result the Supreme Electoral Tribunal's head, David Matamoros, called "irreversible", this followed initial claims by both leading candidates of having won. While opposition protests continued, Hernández said the result was "not negotiable with anybody" and named a transition team.[
However Castro and Nasralla disputed the results, and Venezuelan president ]Nicolás Maduro
Nicolás Maduro Moros (; born 23 November 1962) is a Venezuelan politician and president of Venezuela since 2013, with his presidency under dispute since 2019.
Beginning his working life as a bus driver, Maduro rose to become a trade unio ...
accused the United States of "meddling in the internal affairs of Hondurans." Castro called on her supporters to hold a protest on Saturday 30 November.
According to the North American Congress on Latin America
North American Congress in Latin America (NACLA) is a non-profit organization founded in 1966 to provide information on trends in Latin America and relations between Latin America and the United States. The organization is best known for publishi ...
, the elections were "fraught with irregularities and violent intimidation, threatening to throw the embattled nation into further political disarray." However, observers from the Organization of American States
The Organization of American States (OAS; es, Organización de los Estados Americanos, pt, Organização dos Estados Americanos, french: Organisation des États américains; ''OEA'') is an international organization that was founded on 30 April ...
and the United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...
declared that the elections met international standards and were both free and fair.
See also
* Parliamentary candidates in the 2013 Honduran general election
*
References
{{Honduran elections
Honduras
Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. The republic of Honduras is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Oce ...
2013 in Honduras
Elections in Honduras
November 2013 events in North America
Presidential elections in Honduras