Honduran Presidential Election: What You Need to Know

You need to know what’s been going on in Honduras. I’m usually not one to care much about politics, but this is important because Honduras is currently a very violent country, plagued with corruption and instability. The new leader could change that trend.

I can’t vote, but the safety and future of my community and school are at stake, so I care about the results. I’ll give you a simplified version of what’s going on and how it applies to me. Before I tell you who the candidates are and who won, we need a little lesson in recent history...

In 2009, Honduras had a president named Manuel Zelaya (you’re going to want to remember these names). When Zelaya started to change his political views while in office, other politicians got nervous. Eventually, Zelaya tried to rewrite the constitution, giving himself the opportunity for more terms as president and more power in that office. These are trademark moves of a soon-to-be dictator, so the military and government kicked him out of the country, in what was called a coup by other nations including the US.

So Zelaya and his wife Xiomara left the country, and after an interim presidency, a guy named Porfirio “Pepe” Lobo was elected democratically. Lobo had been a strong supporter of saying adios to Zelaya.

Mel: "Don't you adios me, hombre!"

Pepe: "I'm El Jefe now, comprende?"

Fast forward to now. Lobo’s term is over and it’s time for another election. Just so you know, there are many political parties in Honduras, but the country has been mainly dominated by the National Party (conservative) and the Liberal Party (still pretty conservative by US standards, despite the name). But wait – new for this year’s election, we see the emergence of another party, the Liberdad y Refundación party, which is actually liberal. (The name means Liberty and Refoundation, and is also referred to as the Libre party, meaning simply free)

Sidenote: other party names include the Democratic Unification party, the Christian Democratic Party of Honduras, the Innovation and Unity party, the Frente Amplio Político Electoral en Resistencia (the Wide Political Front for Electoral Resistance), the Patriotic Alliance party, and my personal favorite, the Anti-Corruption party.

Now, to the main candidates. First, from the National Party, we have Juan Orlando Hernández, who is currently the President of the National Congress (think Speaker of the House). He was another big supporter of President Zelaya’s departure from the country a few years ago. That’s significant because the other major candidate is Xiomara Castro de Zelaya. If that name sounds familiar, it’s because she is the wife of said ex-president Zelaya who got kicked out in 2009 (I told you you’d need to remember the names...)

Juan: He looks like he's ready for a Muppets sing-along

Xiomara: Hispanic Liza Minnelli?

Juan Orlando’s main platform involves security and safety of Honduran citizens. He thinks the current police force is not doing a good job and that the solution is to create a military police force and give them a lot of power and position them in public places all over the country.

Xiomara’s main platform involves the security and safety of Honduran citizens, but her ideas involve social programs and getting the bad guys off the streets. Either person in the presidency would mean changes to the patterns of violence in this country, hopefully.

The government of Honduras has a pretty stinky record for honest politics, but there is honestly hope for this election. People are nervous that Juan Orlando would try to seize too much power through the military police, and they are nervous that Xiomara would try to seize too much power by either rewriting the constitution like her husband, or by finding away to give her husband power again.

"...more like hasta luego..."

The results: After yesterday’s election, the two main candidates both claim to have won the presidency. The official results have not been completed, but both parties think they have won. They also both seem ready to protest the results when they are released. Remember the whole “I demand a recount!” thing in the States in 2000? Well, it’s pretty much guaranteed to happen here in the next few days. So it’ll be  some time before we know for sure who the winner is.

Best strategy: follow this guy's lead

As non-citizen and Christians, our community tries to support the people we serve, meaning the students. It gets interesting because some of the students’ parents are officials in some of the political parties, and some students are close relatives of the presidential candidates. As a church, we pray for God to use the situation and have His will no matter the outcome. We also take precautions like not leaving our safe community on days like today when there might be protests or violence.

Thanks for reading and educating yourself about the situation. Please stay updated, let me know what you think about the fun times in Honduras, and also please pray for the safety of everyone in this country, and for the next leader to rule with responsibility, honesty, and integrity, rather than following the current pattern of corruption, selfishness, and lies.

 Here's an article (in English) about the whole situation, written by someone who actually knows about all this political stuff: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/the-center-for-constitutional-rights/keep-a-close-eye-on-hondu_b_4324409.html

If the election were based on mustaches, Mauricio VIlleda would win.