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U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said connected Friday (December 19, 2025) the State Department has refused the visa exertion of Marlon Ochoa, a member of the Honduran National Electoral Council, and revoked the visa of Mario Morazan, the caput of Honduras’ electoral court.
Honduras’ statesmanlike predetermination took spot connected November 30 but astir 3 weeks aboriginal determination is inactive nary clarity connected who volition beryllium the country’s adjacent President. The chaotic elections person been rocked by a fumbled vote-tallying process, allegations of fraud and U.S. intervention. “The Department has refused the visa exertion of Marlon Ochoa and taken steps to enforce visa restrictions connected different idiosyncratic for undermining ideology successful Honduras,” Mr. Rubio said successful a statement. “We will see each due measures to deter those impeding the ballot number successful Honduras,” helium added.
Mr. Ochoa and Mr. Morazan did not instantly respond to Reuters requests for comment.
Weeks earlier Honduras’ November 30 presidential election, Mr. Ochoa had said that a trial tally exposed heavy flaws successful the vote-counting system: lone 36% of signifier ballots were processed. Honduras’ National Electoral Council began connected Thursday the long-delayed manual number of astir 15% of the votes formed successful past month’s predetermination aft the U.S. State Department had demanded connected Wednesday that the assembly instantly statesman a number of ballots. The electoral assembly blamed protests for preventing it from starting the manual number of ballots that it said showed inconsistencies and were truthful excluded from the archetypal tally. The manus number could easy alteration the election’s preliminary result, which gave Conservative Nasry Asfura of the National Party a razor-thin borderline of 43,000 votes - retired of much than 3 cardinal formed - implicit center-right Liberal Party campaigner Salvador Nasralla. U.S. President Donald Trump backed Asfura and suggested that Washington’s enactment for Honduras was conditional connected Asfura winning the election. The assembly has until December 30 to state the victor of the election, who would presume bureau astatine the extremity of January for a four-year term.
