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Original article: Contra el golpe de Estado y el fraude electoral: pueblo de Honduras se moviliza para defender el orden constitucional y la democracia

Thousands of Hondurans flooded the streets near the Presidential House in Tegucigalpa on Wednesday as part of a mobilization against the ongoing coup and electoral fraud following the general elections on November 30.

The gathering, called by the Libertad y Refundación (Libre) party alongside a broad spectrum of social, labor, youth, and popular organizations, had a clear goal: to defend constitutional order and democracy and ensure respect for the popular mandate they believe is at risk.

A Call for Peaceful Defense and Transparency

Amid the protest, President Xiomara Castro addressed the crowd, warning that Honduran democracy is facing «serious difficulties» due to attempts to manipulate the electoral process.

«Democracy in Honduras is in serious trouble. They want to manipulate our democracy and make decisions that only belong to the people, in the only democratic opportunity they have to express themselves, which is through an electoral process,» she stated.

«The call is precisely for us to express ourselves peacefully, as we are accustomed to do. Democracy is defended standing up, not in silence,» she insisted.

Facing elections marked by uncertainty, technical irregularities, delays in counting, fraud allegations, and foreign interference from U.S. President Donald Trump, where no winner has been determined after two weeks, the Honduran leader made a specific demand to the National Electoral Council (CNE): that the results be reviewed vote by vote to ensure the respect for the citizens’ decision.

She indicated that this measure seeks to ensure that the electoral results reflect the «exact representation» of the people’s will, emphasizing transparency as an antidote to the crisis.

With her government set to conclude on January 27, she called for the «conscious, firm, and peaceful support of the Honduran people.»

In a message directed at potential destabilizers, she declared: «There will be no coup here,» as reported by TeleSUR.

Castro asserted that she has the loyalty of the Armed Forces, stating that «the Army will guarantee stability and democratic alternation,» thus ruling out any military involvement in actions against the constitutional order.

During her speech, she reflected on her administration’s achievements, pointing out that she inherited a country burdened by debt, poverty, and exclusion, and argued that together with the people, her government has laid the foundations for a refounding of the state and national development.

“You know perfectly well the conditions in which I received the country four years ago: indebted, impoverished, excluded, and without opportunities. Today we have a different Honduras, with great possibilities for development,” emphasized the progressive leader.

Electoral Coup Built on «Fear, Threats, and Fraud»

During the massive mobilization, Libre leaders pointed out that the electoral coup «was built on fear, threats, and fraud.»

They denounced alterations to the Preliminary Electoral Results Transmission System (TREP), a key mechanism for the prompt dissemination of data.

They also accused major media conglomerates of conducting a disinformation campaign and media terrorism to sway the population and the international community, specifically targeting the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump, whom they accuse of blatant interference to influence the process and its results.

Electoral Process Marked by Uncertainty and Irregularities

The mobilization does not emerge in a vacuum. The general elections on November 30 took place in a climate of high political tension, featuring a closely contested race where former Defense Minister and Libre candidate, Rixi Moncada, sought to continue the progressive project of Castro, competing against right-wing candidates Nasry Asfura of the National Party—backed by Trump—and Salvador Nasralla of the Liberal Party.

However, the post-election process has been marked by serious irregularities. The CNE itself has acknowledged technical inconsistencies in between 14% and 15% of the voting records, an extraordinarily high percentage that has necessitated the ordering of a special scrutiny of thousands of records to clarify a final result.

The slow and opaque counting process, attributed by the electoral body to «technical errors,» has sparked spontaneous protests in various regions of the country and a widespread distrust in the transparency of the electoral body.

*Featured image (TeleSUR).

La entrada Honduran Citizens Mobilize Against Electoral Fraud and Coup to Defend Democracy se publicó primero en El Ciudadano.