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In a warehouse the size of 2 hoops courts, hundreds of electoral unit and governmental delegates connected Friday (December 19, 2025) pored implicit thousands of votes formed astir 3 weeks agone successful the statesmanlike predetermination successful Honduras, which is connected borderline implicit the sluggish count.
The manual recount of astir 2,800 tally sheets with suspected "inconsistencies" volition find a victor betwixt Nasry Asfura, a 67-year-old businessman backed by U.S. President Donald Trump, and chap blimpish Salvador Nasralla, a 72-year-old TV star.
Mr. Nasralla leads the number by conscionable a fewer 1000 votes, but this could good alteration with astir 500,000 ballots affected by the recount that has the Central American state connected edge.
Outside the CNE electoral council's office and elsewhere successful the superior Tegucigalpa, Hondurans expressed distrust successful the protracted count, marred by machine strategy failures and accusations of fraud.
"We don't spot the authorities," said Carlos Castillo, a 53-year-old protagonist of the ruling leftist Libre party, whose candidate, Rixi Moncada, was trailing successful a distant 3rd place.
"They're committing the aforesaid aged frauds," Mr. Castillo told AFP outside the electoral centre wherever unit carried retired their enactment wearing latex gloves nether the watchful oculus of CCTV cameras.
The number was streamed unrecorded connected the CNE's YouTube channel, viewed by galore Hondurans with rising suspicion contempt observers from the Americas and Europe saying they saw nary grounds of fraud.
After clashes betwixt protesters and instrumentality enforcers earlier successful the week, soldiers connected Friday patrolled the perimeter of the CNE centre, from which journalists were barred.
On the partition outside, idiosyncratic had enactment up a poster demanding a "vote by vote" recount and calling CNE officials "rats."
Those weren't the lone accusations facing the elections.
In a connection connected Friday, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio criticised Honduran authorities officials for "interfering with the 2025 Election Vote Count," and announced visa restrictions connected 2 of them: revoking Mario Morazan's visa and refusing Marlon Ochoa's visa application.
"We volition see each due measures to deter those impeding the ballot number successful Honduras," Mr. Rubio said.
‘Now they’re counting’
The CNE legally has until December 30 to denote a winner.
Council authoritative Bladimir Bastida said connected Friday the recount could beryllium completed wrong hours, though an announcement could instrumentality longer with Nasralla insisting connected a afloat audit of the full process.
On Wednesday, thousands of Libre supporters staged a objection successful Tegucigalpa, during which a worker was injured.
The erstwhile day, astatine slightest 8 civilians were wounded erstwhile constabulary broke up a akin protest.
By Friday, comparative quiescent had been returned to the capital.
"Everything's calm present due to the fact that there's going to beryllium a president. Before we thought determination wouldn't be, but present they're counting," 68-year-old lawyer Sandra Suazo told AFP, assuaged by the commencement of the peculiar recount.
An undercurrent of fearfulness remained, however.
Used car salesman Norman Sierra, 56, said concern has been dilatory arsenic helium avoids venturing retired to bring vehicles to imaginable clients.
"It's scary due to the fact that determination could beryllium protests and determination could beryllium stone-throwing," helium told AFP.
Fruit seller Fran Bulnes, 46, said concern had ne'er been truthful sluggish, but helium was hopeful things would settee down.
"People were uncertain, conscionable talking astir the quality and not knowing who was going to win, but the anticipation is that it gets amended present — I deliberation it's calmer," Mr. Bulnes said.
