Honduras is in crisis. I live in the countryside and so have
little access to direct knowledge of what is happening in the major cities,
Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula, or even what is happening in Santa Rosa de Copán,
24 kilometers from here. I have been listening to Radio Progreso and looking for information on the internet.
Last Sunday elections were held throughout Honduras for
president, congress, and mayors. All went quietly and well at the polls. But
then the crisis began.
I had no internet connection on Sunday and so I didn’t realize
until Monday morning that it appeared that the president elect would be
Salvador Nasralla, the candidate of a coalition of parties called Alianza, the Alliance.
In past elections, results were known and divulged within a
few hours. Yet, this year the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, responsible for the
elections, said it would not make a definitive statement until Thursday.
Thursday night they said that they would not release final results until Friday
or Saturday. We will be waiting – as Honduras has waited all week.
Every delay raises suspicions of fraud and tampering of
ballots. As the Catholic Bishops Conference of Honduras (CEH) noted in a communique
issued this week, “Whatever delay in such information [the election result]
only generates a suspicion that is not fitting [conveniente] and can
detonate [detonar] the feelings of insecurity and division to which some
politicians have brought us in the last few years.”
Initial results from the electoral tribunal saw the opposition Alliance Party presidential candidate leading the incumbent National party candidate. The candidate for the Liberal Party conceded to Alliance candidate, but the National Party candidate claimed victory, even before the first results were released. The Alliance candidate also claimed victory. Soon after the first tallies were released, the candidate for the Liberal Party conceded the victory of the Alliance candidate.
But soon after the initial results were released that showed the Alliance candidate ahead, the official vote count slowed but with the Alliance still in the lead.
After the two candidates signed an agreement to respect the
results, the computer system supposedly went down for several hours. When the
system came up, the count began to favor the incumbent National Party
candidate. There are suspicions of fraud.
Thus there is a lot
of insecurity. Many people fear that the
results are being manipulated by the governing party, the National Party. This
party controls the presidency, the supreme court, congress, the electoral tribunal,
as well as the police and military.
Thursday people, mostly young, began taking to the streets to protest what they see as an effort to take away their vote. There has been some violence by the mostly young crowd but there has also been violence by the government's security forces. There are reports of looting and vandalism in some cities. On the other hand, there are also some reports of government security force members who are dialoguing with the demonstrators.
The violence weighs heavy on me. We pacifists may have
failed the people for not helping them discover and deepen their resources for
nonviolence. But I also know, from my experience in anti-war mobilizing in the US
that the powers that be may incite the people with the use of agents
provacateurs, persons paid or recruited to incite violence.
Thursday, coming home from Dulce Nombre, I came across a
group of people I know in a truck with a flag of Libre/Alliance. I stopped and
asked what was happening. They told me that they were defending democracy. They
invited me to join them, but I reminded them that as a foreigner and a church official
I cannot take direct part in this. I also mentioned that I need to be able to
talk to all and reminded them that I know some activists of the National Party.
But I reminded them that is important
for the future is to be organized and to work at the base to be a force for
real social change. I am seriously thinking that I may have to discern how to
accompany the people.
Having lived here during the 2009 coup, I feel that this is an even more precarious situation. So much is unknown, so much is up in the air, and emotions are running high.
Pray for us. Read, critically, what's being written. Demand
that the US support efforts for transparency to undermine all fraudulent
efforts.
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The photo was taken on Tuesday in Mar Azul. Note the three flags - representing the three major political parties in Honduras.
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