Competing interests in U.S.'s Honduras response (Dec. 14, 2017)
Honduras has been in crisis since a disputed election nearly three weeks ago -- tarnished by allegations of fraud and still without an accepted winner. Yesterday U.N. Secretary General António Guterres called on Honduran authorities to uphold the rule of law and respect for human rights following the presidential election.
Earlier this week Human Rights Watch condemned the “strong indications of election fraud” in the elections. "... the claims need to be investigated and the voter’s will respected," said America's Division director José Miguel Vivanco. "At the same time, Honduran authorities need to maintain the right to freedom of assembly and refrain from using unnecessary or disproportionate force."
But the schisms present in the crisis are not new, explains the New York Times. "The country has lived through a version of this turmoil before. Eight years ago, a leftist president was ousted by a coup in a fight over what his opponents said was a plan to overturn the constitutional ban on a second presidential term. The resistance movement that sprang up to support him has endured, and the discord that split Honduran society then still defines today’s divisions." Stability in the country is important to the United States, which seeks support in stemming drugs and migrants flowing north. "The question is whether the United States is willing to overlook a possibly fraudulent election to ensure that outcome," writes Elizabeth Malkin.
The Los Angeles Times also cites criticisms that the U.S. is prioritizing migration and drug smuggling concerns over democratic concerns. And notes that the Trump administration has been more critical of leftist governments in the region, like Bolivia and Cuba, than violations carried out by the friendly Hernández administration.
This week opposition challenger Salvador Nasralla handed over a USB drive containing 14,364 tally sheets to OAS and EU observers, proof of fraud, he said according to EFE.
And NACLA focuses on the underlying tensions expressed in the crisis, especially the refusal of security forces to repress protests. "On the surface, what’s going on in Honduras is an electoral crisis, and irregularities and widespread allegations of electoral fraud have certainly been the spark and ongoing explicit focus of the crisis. But its roots run deeper. The events of the last two weeks have brought years of contradictions and frustrations bubbling to the surface. The nationwide popular uprising against fraud is also an uprising against increasing authoritarianism and unpopular neoliberal policies. In turn, the violent response to the protests has exposed ongoing tensions within the state, in the form of discontent among security forces."
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