OAS rejects doubts on Honduras election, slams results delay

The Organization of American States said Monday there was no reason to suspect fraud in elections in Honduras even as it criticized a sluggish vote count with a Donald Trump ally holding a slim lead.

The Central American country has not yet certified results from the November 30 election in which Nasry Asfura, a 67-year-old right-wing businessman backed by the US president, holds a razor-thin lead.

Salvador Nasralla, a 72-year-old fellow conservative in second place, and outgoing left-wing President Xiomara Castro have alleged tampering.

Castro has accused Trump of election interference and the candidate from her leftist camp, Rixi Moncada, has called for the election to be annulled.

Eladio Loizaga, a Paraguayan diplomat who headed an OAS observer mission, said there was a lack of expertise on the part of vote organizers, but ruled out "any evidence that would cast doubt on the results."

More than 99 percent of the votes have been counted but the CNE election council says some 2,800 tally sheets -- representing nearly half a million votes -- need to be re-examined in a special recount for alleged inconsistencies.

The CNE legally has a month to call the winner, but the OAS urged it to release the final result "as quickly as possible."

"The current delay in processing and publishing the results is not justifiable," Loizaga said in a report to OAS members.

He added the team had not observed "any malice or obvious manipulation of the electoral materials or computer systems."

- 'Unlawful pressure' -

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Nasralla, who had held a slight lead in early tallying, is demanding a full recount.

CNE member Cossette Lopez said on X Monday that the special recount had not yet started "because unlawful pressure is being exerted on the CNE, demanding recounts outside the legal framework."

On the latest count, Nasralla trailed Asfura by just over a percentage point, or some 42,000 votes, according to his team.

Trump has come under fire for his public backing of Asfura and his threat that if his chosen candidate doesn't win, "the United States will not be throwing good money after bad."

On the eve of the vote, the US leader also issued a surprise pardon for former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernandez of Asfura's National Party.

Hernandez was serving a 45-year prison sentence in the United States, where a jury found him guilty of belonging to one of "the largest and most violent drug trafficking conspiracies in the world."

In what many saw as an attempt at political interference, Hernandez was released despite Trump's stated commitment to eradicating Latin American drug trafficking.

"Ever since Trump said he supported Asfura, we already knew he was going to win. The gringos (Americans) are the ones in charge," 53-year-old taxi driver Sergio Canales told AFP in Tegucigalpa.

Trump has openly sought to pick favorites in elections in Latin America, vowing the United States will dominate the region.

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