Hondurans protest election results

Supporters of the defeated presidential candidate in Honduras have taken to the streets of the capital, Tegucigalpa, to protest the results of the presidential election, the BBC reported. On Sunday, more than 5,000 supporters of leftist presidential candidate Xiomara Castro, who is the wife of ousted President Manuel Zelaya, marched on the offices of the election commission to demand a recount of the ballots. Castro’s Liberty and Refoundation Party (LIBRE) has refused to accept the election results, claiming that victory was “stolen” from her. According to official election results, Castro lost the election last week by eight percentage points to ruling National Party’s Juan Orlando Hernandez, who won with 36.8 percent. The former Honduran president told the crowd of protesters that Castro’s campaign would file papers Monday for a “review of all the records and the polls.” Zelaya continued by saying that if the election commission rejects a recount and they “do not resolve the dispute, we will appeal to all the levels permitted by law, and if they do not resolve it, we will also appeal to international treaties.” “We do not want fraud in Honduras. We do not want a government born out of cheating and deception.” The head of the election commission, David Matamoros, said later on Sunday night that the tribunal had spoken with LIBRE, telling the party it was willing to allow it to review the electoral record. The European Union and the US-based Organization of American States observers say the election in Honduras was transparent. The new president of Honduras will face the difficult task of fighting poverty. Seventy percent of the 8.4 million people of the country are living in poverty. Honduras also faces the highest rate of homicide in the world with 20 murders reported every day, as youth gangs control major portions of the country.