On November 30, Hondurans will elect their next president. The election campaign has been plagued by accusations, intrigue, and fears that have increased uncertainty about the various electoral scenarios. The United States and the European Union have made their interest in the outcome of the election campaign very clear, which has only increased internal tension in the Central American country.

More than six million voters will have to choose between the continuity of the progressive LIBRE government, which is committed to a significant state presence, a certain redistribution of wealth, and a foreign policy aimed at Latin American integration; or, on the other hand, a clear shift to the right, the restoration of neoliberalism, and a foreign policy aligned with Washington’s geopolitical interests.

Moncada and progressivism

The ruling party presented a strong candidate for the elections. Rixi Moncada will seek to become the second female president in the history of Honduras. Her experience in government has been in the administrations of former President Manuel Zelaya (2006-2009) and Xiomara Castro (2022-present), where she worked in the Public Ministry, the Legislature, the Ministry of Labor, and as General Manager of the Energy Company. She has also served as Minister of Finance and Minister of Defense.

Her proposal focuses on further rolling back neoliberal policies and the accumulation of wealth by a select group of families and business groups, by increasing taxes. She also talks about eliminating the Financial Risk Center (which operates as a blacklist for many poor people) and founding more public companies (such as a state-owned oil company). She also spoke about reforming the constitution and restructuring the judiciary to reduce corruption.

Nasralla and neoliberalism

Salvador Nasralla was a television presenter for many years and an ally of Honduran progressivism. He has tried three times to become president, but has always failed. In 2021, LIBRE, however, formed an alliance with Nasralla and made him the country’s vice president. Despite this, internal disputes caused the alliance to break down in 2024.

Nasralla is now seeking the presidency with the Liberal Party of Honduras, one of the oldest parties in the country. His platform is based on fighting what he considers “authoritarianism” and eliminating corruption, which he accuses the current government of. He says he will create an international commission against corruption (as Guatemala has done) and stimulate foreign capital investment by reducing bureaucratic barriers and downsizing the state.

In addition, he has said that he will support the departure of Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela, through which he has allied himself with a sector of the Republican Party in the United States, led by Florida legislator María Elvira Salazar, who invited him to the US legislature by last week to talk about the need to defeat “socialism” and possible scenarios of fraud.

Asfura and neoliberal conservatism

The other candidate who has scored high in the polls is Nasry Asfura, a Honduran businessman with Palestinian roots who is running for the National Party of Honduras. Asfura has significant experience in the public sector, having served as mayor of the capital.

This is his second attempt at the presidency. In both cases, he has called for radical trade liberalization and a reduction in the size of the state, but under the moral principles of a Honduran conservative. For example, he said he supported José Antonio Kast’s presidential candidacy in Chile: “a staunch ally in the defense of life, family, security, and freedom.”

He proposes to strengthen the state security forces, open the economy to foreign companies, and build half a million homes in a decade. Asfura has received the backing of Donald Trump, which has led to much speculation about the loyalties of a PNH government.

Allegations of fraud

Both the ruling party and the opposition have highlighted the danger of electoral fraud in their speeches. Nasralla even traveled to the United States to promote this idea. LIBRE, for its part, fears the intervention of dark (and foreign) powers in a scenario that refuses to allow progressivism to continue governing. These fears are based on the coup d’état suffered by Zelaya in 2009 at the hands of the national army.

In recent days, audio recordings were revealed between Cossette López, a member of the National Electoral Council, and Tommy Zambrano, a PNH deputy, as well as the intervention of a third, as yet unknown, figure who is believed to be part of the armed forces. According to LIBRE, these audio recordings reveal that electoral fraud is being planned in favor of the opposition. “The recordings clearly demonstrate the existence of an illegal association (…) to alter the will of the people,” said Attorney General Johel Zelaya.

In 2017, a failure in the electoral system caused then-candidate Juan Orlando Hernández to suddenly increase his votes and be proclaimed president. What followed was a wave of protests that swept the country, demanding justice for what they considered to be blatant electoral fraud. Orlando Hernández is in prison in the United States, sentenced to 45 years for drug trafficking, but was allegedly pardoned by Donald Trump on Friday, November 28.

For its part, the opposition claims that the ruling party has prepared an electoral fraud, a discourse that has been tacitly supported by the United States and the European Union, which covers the entire process with a cloak of uncertainty and suspicion. In addition, Trump himself has become personally involved in the Honduran elections (as he did in Venezuela and Argentina) and stated, “Tito (Asfura) and I can work together to combat the narco-communists and provide the necessary aid to the Honduran people.”

In addition, Washington, through Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau, warned that it is closely monitoring the situation in Honduras and will act quickly if “the law is broken”: “We will respond quickly and firmly to any attempt to undermine the integrity of the democratic process in Honduras,” which has been seen by several analysts as a clear threat.

The post Between progressivism and neoliberalism: Honduras decides its future appeared first on Peoples Dispatch.

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