Honduran President Warns of Coup Attempt

(MENAFN) Honduran President Xiomara Castro declared on Tuesday that an effort to overthrow her administration is in progress and called on citizens to unite in defense of democracy, as the outcome of the election remains uncertain two weeks after voting.

Castro claimed on social media that former President Juan Orlando Hernández, who was convicted on drug trafficking charges in the United States last year and later pardoned by President Donald Trump, is preparing to return to Honduras to officially announce his party’s candidate as the victor of the 2025 general election.

“I report with historical responsibility that, based on verified intelligence information, Juan Orlando Hernández, pardoned in the United States, is planning his entry into the country to proclaim the winner of the elections, at a time when an aggression is underway aimed at breaking the constitutional and democratic order through a coup against my government,” Castro posted on US social media company X.

Hernández, who led the country from 2018 to 2022, is a former member of the Honduran National Party, the same party to which Nasry Asfura—the presidential candidate currently projected as the 2025 elections’ winner—belongs.

As of Tuesday, preliminary results show Asfura holding a lead of 1.3 million votes, ahead of Salvador Nasralla of the Liberal Party by 43,185 votes, with Nasralla tallying 1,261,849 votes.

Castro’s statements amplify existing fraud allegations. The ruling LIBRE party has repeatedly rejected the election outcomes, accusing the National Electoral Council (CNE) of attempting to manipulate vote counts in favor of Asfura and the National Party.

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