Honduras’ post-election crisis intensified in the early hours of Wednesday as mass protests demanding a full vote-by-vote recount of the November 30 general elections converged with reports of police repression and a public warning from President Xiomara Castro of an alleged attempt to break constitutional order.
RELATED:
Electoral Coup in Honduras: Libre Party Urgently Calls for a Gathering at the Vote Counting Center
Since Monday night, thousands of citizens have mobilized outside the facilities of the National Institute for Professional Training (INFOP) in Tegucigalpa, where the National Electoral Council (CNE) is operating and where electoral materials are being safeguarded. Demonstrators demanded a comprehensive recount of all disputed tally sheets, rejecting the CNE’s decision to conduct special scrutiny on only a limited portion of the records.
Protesters and political leaders alleged that the electoral process was compromised by irregularities, including failures in the Preliminary Electoral Results Transmission System (TREP), biometric inconsistencies, falsified signatures, mathematical discrepancies and missing tally sheets. Demonstrators stated they would not recognize any official declaration of a new government unless all 14,073 tally sheets flagged for biometric inconsistencies and an additional 1,882 disputed records were reviewed, together with the total of 19,167 presidential tally sheets issued nationwide.
In #Honduras, the #LIBRE party takes to the streets in protest, rejecting the electoral #coup perpetrated in the presidential elections on November 30. pic.twitter.com/DRudWS8hoz
— teleSUR English (@telesurenglish) December 15, 2025
The mobilization was promoted by the Liberty and Refoundation Party (LIBRE) and called by its general coordinator, former president Manuel Zelaya, who urged party militants and grassroots organizations to demand the immediate annulment of the contested TREP records. Liberal Party lawmaker Iroshka Elvir also called on citizens to gather at INFOP to demand a vote-by-vote recount of all tally sheets.
The dispute has been marked by cross-accusations between competing parties, public questioning of the transparency of the results transmission system and appeals to respect legal procedures for the definitive count without interference or manipulation. Both Rixi Moncada of LIBRE and Salvador Nasralla of the Liberal Party publicly denounced what they described as “theft” and “fraud,” citing multiple irregularities and calling for a thorough recount.
CNE member Marlon Ochoa criticized the decision adopted by electoral councilors Ana Paola Hall and Cossette López, stating that they “decided by majority to carry out the special scrutiny only on 1,081 tally sheets (5.6% of the total),” despite proposals to conduct a full vote-by-vote recount at the presidential level across all 19,167 polling stations.
#FromTheSouth News Bits | Honduras: President Xiomara Castro condemned the United States government’s interference in the electoral process and rejected any attempt to undermine the country’s dignity. pic.twitter.com/wD4XuM8wTg
— teleSUR English (@telesurenglish) December 15, 2025
In the early hours of Tuesday, Zelaya rejected accusations from the National Party that LIBRE was promoting a so-called “self-coup” through its calls for mobilization. “Our mobilization responds to the scandalous electronic electoral fraud of the TREP already denounced by international observers, as well as the fact of ignoring direct, public and confessed foreign interference in our elections,” Zelaya said.
After several hours of peaceful protest, tensions escalated early Wednesday when police forces intervened. According to teleSUR correspondent Karim Duarte, police used water cannons and tear gas to disperse demonstrators outside INFOP, violently detaining several protesters and destroying a LIBRE encampment where Tegucigalpa Mayor Jorge Aldana was present. Duarte reported that no authorities initially commented on the repression, describing it as the first incident of its kind during Castro’s administration.
Minutes later, President Castro ordered an immediate halt to the police action, along with an investigation and the dismissal of all officials involved in the repression of the peaceful protest demanding electoral transparency.
Shortly afterward, Castro issued a public statement warning of a broader threat to constitutional order. “I inform with historical responsibility that, based on verified intelligence information, Juan Orlando Hernández, pardoned in the United States, is planning to enter the country to proclaim the winner of the elections while an aggression is underway aimed at breaking the constitutional and democratic order through a coup against my government,” the president said.
Castro called for urgent, peaceful popular backing and urged citizens, social movements, grassroots organizations and party militants to mobilize in Tegucigalpa. “I call on the people to gather urgently and peacefully in Tegucigalpa to defend the popular mandate, reject any coup attempt and make visible to the world that a new coup is being plotted here,” she added.
Al pueblo hondureño:
Informo con responsabilidad histórica que, a partir de información de inteligencia verificada, Juan Orlando Hernández, perdonado en EEUU, planifica su ingreso al país para proclamar el ganador de las elecciones al tiempo que está en marcha una agresión…— Xiomara Castro de Zelaya (@XiomaraCastroZ) December 16, 2025
With the CNE facing a December 30 deadline to declare an official winner, pressure continues to mount both on the streets and within institutional channels, as allegations of fraud, repression and coup plotting converge in a rapidly evolving political crisis.
From teleSUR English via This RSS Feed.