Honduras: Political Violence threat to Presidential Elections

aljazerra.com reported that On Nov. 24 Honduras will hold a presidential election that could usher in a new era. The country’s politics have been long dominated by the conservative National party and the slightly more centrist Liberal party. But a new party, Libre, has put forward a presidential candidate who has led polling for much of the past several months.

The candidate is Xiomara Castro, the wife of former Liberal party President Mel Zelaya, who was ousted in a military coup in 2009. Despite his affiliation with the Liberal party, Zelaya strayed from the traditional party line and alienated entrenched interests by proposing modest land reforms and wage increases, among other policies. Coup leaders claimed that a planned national referendum on constitutional reform was a veiled attempt to illegally overturn the one-term limit for presidents. Zelaya’s unceremonious removal elicited quick condemnation from the Organization of American States and leaders across the hemisphere. In the coup’s aftermath, a range of grassroots organizations coalesced into the National Front for Popular Resistance and formed the Libre party. Read Article