Hondurans vote to elect new president in a close race under shadow of Trump’s surprise intervention

TEGUCIGALPA Honduras AP Hondurans voted Sunday to elect a new president only days after U S President Donald Trump intervened in a close race with an endorsement of one candidate and broadcasted that he would pardon a former president At a voting site in the capital the country s major parties were present outside with tables banners flags and music Several dozen people lined up outside the gate to the neighborhood school and were allowed in about minutes after the official start of voting In addition to a new president voters will elect a new Congress as well as hundreds of local positions Main candidates Among the five presidential candidates on the ballot polls indicated three had a chance to win and were finishing in close competition They are Rixi Moncada who served as finance and later as defense secretary in the current administration of President Xiomara Castro and is running for the social democrat LIBRE or Liberty and Re-foundation party Salvador Nasralla who is making his fourth bid for the presidency this time as the candidate for the conservative Liberal Party Former Tegucigalpa Mayor Nasry Tito Asfura who carries the mantle of the also conservative National Party Moncada promises to democratize an financial market still defined by extreme wealth and poverty Nasralla casts himself as the outsider who can clean up the country s endemic corruption And Asfura is trying to restore the National Party as a pro-business force tarnished by previous bouts of presidential corruption Campaign issues Honduras guard situation has improved in latest years as homicides across the region continue to fall but it still has Central America s highest homicide rate Hondurans say prevention and jobs remain their top priorities despite an financial system that has strengthened during Castro s administration The presidential contest had mostly focused on candidates trading accusations of plans to manipulate the vote until this past week when Trump endorsed Asfura while attacking his opponents the latest signal of the United States renewed interest in Latin America U S president s intervention Then Trump shocked Hondurans by announcing Friday that he would pardon ex-President Juan Orlando Hern ndez who was serving a -year sentence in a U S prison for helping drug traffickers moving cocaine to the United States It was unclear what impact Trump would have on the poll but it was the latest show of the U S cabinet s willingness to directly involve itself in the region and came at a time of already heightened tensions because of the U S military buildup in the Caribbean and Trump s threats against Venezuela President Nicol s Maduro Hondurans were left unnerved by the sudden U S attention and hoping at a minimum for a peaceful poll Walking by a polling site in the capital Ruben Dar o Molina a -year-old safeguard guard stated that he wouldn t vote Sunday because he had to work But he had choice words for Trump whose administration deported him back to his native Honduras a month ago after years living in the United States He had worked in landscaping in Miami but was picked up by U S Immigration and Customs Enforcement or ICE one day in the street separating him from his U S citizen wife and son I don t believe in politicians he explained Politicians are garbage They use you like a ladder to move up Divergent views Cristian Zelaya a -year-old systems engineer announced that his priority in the voting booth was to try to rescue the country from a future like Venezuela He commented that he needed to get the Communists out in reference to the governing social democrat LIBRE party which he declared made big promises but didn t deliver He praised Trump s decision to pardon Hern ndez who he considered a good president but announced it had no impact on his decision In another part of the capital Carlos Alberto Figueroa a -year-old retiree explained that he longed Moncada to continue President Castro s work which he stated had already resulted in expansion a better economic activity and prevention But he too discounted Trump s impact saying the Honduran people would decide Nancy Serrano was voting for the first time and top of mind for her was enough with corruption Serrano is studying to be a instructor and she worries that the high prevalence of corruption limits opportunities for the youth and eats away at the commercial sector Ballot details In announcing the start of voting Sunday National Electoral Council President Ana Paola Hall called on the candidates to respect the rules to not declare mastery before the council confirms a winner Polls are due to close at p m local time GMT Sunday The council planned to provide preliminary results at p m GMT Monday but has up to days to officially announce the final consequence More than Honduran and foreign ballot observers had fanned out to the nearly polling places across the country This story has been corrected to show that Moncada made the comment about promising to democratize the financial sector not Castro