Chief of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the Armed Forces of Honduras, General Roosevelt Leonel Hernández Aguilar, has vowed to facilitate an "orderly transition and alternation of power" in Honduras, once the nation's National Electoral Council verifies the presidential election results.
The election took place on November 30, and a declared winner has yet to be named, sparking protests and accusations of fraud and misuse of ballots from candidates.
On late Saturday, the ruling liberal LIBRE party of President Xiomara Castro and her named heir to the liberal movement, Rixi Moncada, formally filed a legal motion requesting to annul the election results, which placed Moncada in a disappointing third place behind the centrist candidate, Salvador Nasralla, and U.S.-backed conservative, Nasry “Tito” Asfura.
Castro loyalists and Moncada supporters of the left-wing Liberty & Refoundation Party have jointly launched allegations of fraud by her right-wing opponents, and have asserted claims of a U.S.-orchestrated "electoral coup" by the Trump administration.
The "Trump Push" for Asfura sparked controversy in the Central American nation when President Trump also warned a cessation of aid funds if the liberal Moncada was victorious.
As of Dec. 8, Asfura has a 2%-3% point lead over runner-up centrist, Nasralla, who says President Trump's intervention buried his lead over both candidates. Over 88% of the election's votes have been counted, with Moncada refusing to recognize the results.
General Roosevelt Leonel Hernández Aguilar, who oversees a military bound by the constitution that outlaws the interference of the Honduran Armed Forces, is cognizant of the nation's long and troubled history of unnatural disruptions in the transition of executive power.
In 2009, liberal President Manuel Zelaya, husband of current President Xiomara Castro, plunged the nation into a constitutional crisis after he attempted to hold a popular referendum to either rewrite the nation's constitution or create a new one entirely, in a bid to extend his tenure in power.
On June 28, the Honduran Armed Forces staged a coup and ousted Zelaya from power after soldiers stormed the Presidential Palace in the capital of Tegucigalpa, sending him into exile in Panama.
General Roosevelt Hernández has made clear that once the CNE (Consejo Nacional Electoral), or National Electoral Council, makes its official declaration and verifies the results of the presidential election, there will be an "orderly transition and alternation of power in Honduras."
