US denies visa to Honduran electoral authority amid delay in election results

Marlon Ochoa, secretary of the Honduran electoral body REUTERS/Fredy Rodriguez The United States reported, this Friday (19), that it denied a visa application from Marlon Ochoa, member of the National Electoral Council of Honduras. 📱Download the g1 app to see news in real time and for free According to a statement released by the United States Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, the decision was taken due to the delay in determining the results of the presidential election held this year on November 30th. Almost three weeks later, there is still no clarity on who will be the next president. “The Department denied Marlon Ochoa’s visa application and took action to impose visa restrictions on another individual for undermining democracy in Honduras,” Rubio said in a statement. The chaotic elections were rocked by failures in the vote counting process, accusations of fraud and allegations of US interference. READ MORE Trump accuses Honduras of trying to change the results of the elections After Trump’s pardon, former Honduran president leaves prison in the US amid electoral impasse in Honduras Accusations of fraud In early December, the president of the National Congress of Honduras stated that he will not validate the result of the presidential elections held at the end of November in the country. According to Luis Redondo, the electoral process was “tainted by internal pressure from organized crime structures linked to drug trafficking, external pressure and the direct violation of voters’ freedom.” Redondo denounced an electoral coup in the election, echoing a speech made by President Xiomara Castro on Wednesday. These are not the only reports of fraud in the country’s elections. Asfura’s two rivals, Salvador Nasralla and Rixi Moncada, also accused manipulation in the process. In addition to them, the country’s president, Xiomara Castro, also accused fraud. “We are experiencing a process marked by threats, coercion, manipulation by Trep [sistema de resultados preliminares] and adulteration of the popular will”, denounced Xiomara, in her first statement after the vote on November 30. According to the news agency France-Presse (AFP), suspicions of fraud are fueled by successive IT failures, which affected the calculation and publication of the results, carried out by the Colombian company ASD. Added to this is the politicization of the CNE, whose plenary is made up of representatives of the three majority parties. Until the last recorded count, with 99.4% of the minutes counted, the candidate Nasry Asfura, supported by the president of the United States, Donald Trump, had 40.52% of the votes, against 39.20% for Salvador Nasralla. Trump grants pardon to former president of Honduras who had been convicted of drug trafficking Candidates for the presidency of Honduras Nasry Asfura, Rixi Moncada and Salvador Nasralla Leonel Estrada and Fredy Rodriguez/ Reuters

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