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| Conservative Candidate Leads in Presidential Race in Honduras | Conservative Candidate Leads in Presidential Race in Honduras |
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| TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras — The vote count in Honduras’s presidential election showed Juan Orlando Hernández, the conservative candidate of the governing National Party, with a clear lead on Monday, but leaders of the left-wing Libre party, whose candidate, Xiomara Castro, was trailing, said they would contest the results. | TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras — The vote count in Honduras’s presidential election showed Juan Orlando Hernández, the conservative candidate of the governing National Party, with a clear lead on Monday, but leaders of the left-wing Libre party, whose candidate, Xiomara Castro, was trailing, said they would contest the results. |
| Hondurans face days of political uncertainty and the prospect of unrest as the count from Sunday’s elections continues and the Libre party, led by the former president, Manuel Zelaya, determines its next move. | Hondurans face days of political uncertainty and the prospect of unrest as the count from Sunday’s elections continues and the Libre party, led by the former president, Manuel Zelaya, determines its next move. |
| Just after 11 p.m., as a group of civic organizations at a hotel here checked the results of trends shown by a quick count based on a sample of votes, Mr. Zelaya, who is Ms. Castro’s husband, and several members of his party walked into a hotel conference area where reporters swarmed him. Making his way to television cameras, with soldiers standing by, Mr. Zelaya said that Libre rejected the work of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, Honduras’s official electoral body. | |
| There was no sign of Ms. Castro. Earlier in the evening, as television exit polls showed Mr. Hernández with a lead, Ms. Castro announced to supporters that her party’s count showed that she had won. “I will not let you down,” she said, in what sounded like a victory speech. | There was no sign of Ms. Castro. Earlier in the evening, as television exit polls showed Mr. Hernández with a lead, Ms. Castro announced to supporters that her party’s count showed that she had won. “I will not let you down,” she said, in what sounded like a victory speech. |
| Mr. Hernández quickly followed, telling supporters that he had begun receiving congratulatory calls from Latin American leaders, promising to get right to work and releasing a Twitter picture of his family praying to give thanks for the electoral victory. | Mr. Hernández quickly followed, telling supporters that he had begun receiving congratulatory calls from Latin American leaders, promising to get right to work and releasing a Twitter picture of his family praying to give thanks for the electoral victory. |
| A postelection challenge by Libre will reopen the divide between the Honduran political establishment and the opposition movement that emerged after Mr. Zelaya was ousted in a coup in 2009. Mr. Zelaya’s supporters, who organized months of protests after he was expelled from the country, later joined with labor and peasant groups to form Libre. Ms. Castro had led in all the early polls for the 2013 election, breaking open the country’s ossified political system, in which two parties had traded power and privilege for decades. | A postelection challenge by Libre will reopen the divide between the Honduran political establishment and the opposition movement that emerged after Mr. Zelaya was ousted in a coup in 2009. Mr. Zelaya’s supporters, who organized months of protests after he was expelled from the country, later joined with labor and peasant groups to form Libre. Ms. Castro had led in all the early polls for the 2013 election, breaking open the country’s ossified political system, in which two parties had traded power and privilege for decades. |
| Iris Medina, 40, voting in Comayagüela, near the capital, Tegucigalpa, said that this election was different. “There are a lot more people who have entered into politics, and we think maybe they can offer us something new,” she said Sunday. | Iris Medina, 40, voting in Comayagüela, near the capital, Tegucigalpa, said that this election was different. “There are a lot more people who have entered into politics, and we think maybe they can offer us something new,” she said Sunday. |
| polling places counted, Mr. Hernández led Ms. Castro by more than five percentage points. The quick count, conducted by a Honduran group, Hagamos Democracia, along with church groups and the National Democratic Institute, an organization that is largely supported by United States government agencies, gave Mr. Hernández a bigger margin over Ms. Castro — 36 percent to 28 percent — and noted that both Libre and the National Party had representatives at almost all the voting places. The group’s quick count has proved accurate in past elections. | polling places counted, Mr. Hernández led Ms. Castro by more than five percentage points. The quick count, conducted by a Honduran group, Hagamos Democracia, along with church groups and the National Democratic Institute, an organization that is largely supported by United States government agencies, gave Mr. Hernández a bigger margin over Ms. Castro — 36 percent to 28 percent — and noted that both Libre and the National Party had representatives at almost all the voting places. The group’s quick count has proved accurate in past elections. |
| Enrique Reina, a Libre vice-presidential candidate, said there were “serious inconsistencies’ with at least 20 percent of the vote tally sheets. He said that the results had been “manipulated to favor certain candidates.” | Enrique Reina, a Libre vice-presidential candidate, said there were “serious inconsistencies’ with at least 20 percent of the vote tally sheets. He said that the results had been “manipulated to favor certain candidates.” |
| Omar Rivera, the director of the pro-democracy Civil Society Group, said that Libre’s distrust stemmed in part from the political composition of the electoral tribunal. The suspicion is that “the other parties have conspired to manipulate the process.” | Omar Rivera, the director of the pro-democracy Civil Society Group, said that Libre’s distrust stemmed in part from the political composition of the electoral tribunal. The suspicion is that “the other parties have conspired to manipulate the process.” |
| It would take time for the tribunal to finish its count and for the parties to match it up with their own, he said. Past elections have sometimes taken a week to resolve. “It’s always been this way in Honduras,” Mr. Rivera said. | It would take time for the tribunal to finish its count and for the parties to match it up with their own, he said. Past elections have sometimes taken a week to resolve. “It’s always been this way in Honduras,” Mr. Rivera said. |
| The race between Ms. Castro and Mr. Hernández, a former president of the national Congress, was dominated by personality and ideology rather than specific proposals. | The race between Ms. Castro and Mr. Hernández, a former president of the national Congress, was dominated by personality and ideology rather than specific proposals. |
| One of Latin America’s most economically unequal countries, Honduras is besieged by crime that has decimated the slums of its major cities, where residents face constant gang violence, police corruption and drug trafficking. | One of Latin America’s most economically unequal countries, Honduras is besieged by crime that has decimated the slums of its major cities, where residents face constant gang violence, police corruption and drug trafficking. |
| Ms. Castro, 54, ran as a candidate of change, renewing her husband’s promise to rewrite the Constitution to give the country’s impoverished majority a greater role. Mr. Hernández, 45, focused on security, pinning his campaign on a new military police force that began to patrol the most violent neighborhoods five weeks ago. | Ms. Castro, 54, ran as a candidate of change, renewing her husband’s promise to rewrite the Constitution to give the country’s impoverished majority a greater role. Mr. Hernández, 45, focused on security, pinning his campaign on a new military police force that began to patrol the most violent neighborhoods five weeks ago. |
| The rest of the vote was divided among six other candidates, led by Mauricio Villeda, a leader of the traditional Liberal Party, who had about 21 percent of the vote in early results. Salvador Nasralla, a television host running on an anticorruption platform, was in fourth place. He said in a radio interview late Sunday that he rejected the official results. | The rest of the vote was divided among six other candidates, led by Mauricio Villeda, a leader of the traditional Liberal Party, who had about 21 percent of the vote in early results. Salvador Nasralla, a television host running on an anticorruption platform, was in fourth place. He said in a radio interview late Sunday that he rejected the official results. |
| It was clear that Honduran politics was entering a new, potentially messy, period, when multiple parties would have to negotiate to get laws passed and new voices representing the country’s marginalized poor would get a hearing. | It was clear that Honduran politics was entering a new, potentially messy, period, when multiple parties would have to negotiate to get laws passed and new voices representing the country’s marginalized poor would get a hearing. |
| Although there were irregularities reported in Sunday’s vote, including intimidation by armed men in some rural areas, the postelection dispute may raise questions about campaign spending. The leading candidates held giant rallies, flooded television with ads and blanketed cities with posters. With no campaign finance oversight, it was unclear how the candidates — particularly Mr. Hernández, with the largest presence — were paying for it all. | Although there were irregularities reported in Sunday’s vote, including intimidation by armed men in some rural areas, the postelection dispute may raise questions about campaign spending. The leading candidates held giant rallies, flooded television with ads and blanketed cities with posters. With no campaign finance oversight, it was unclear how the candidates — particularly Mr. Hernández, with the largest presence — were paying for it all. |
| Behind the music and noisy flag-waving at political rallies, there was also violence and intimidation. The National Autonomous University of Honduras said last week that 17 members of Ms. Castro’s Libre party and 16 people from the two traditional parties — the National Party and the Liberal Party — had been killed since May 2012. | Behind the music and noisy flag-waving at political rallies, there was also violence and intimidation. The National Autonomous University of Honduras said last week that 17 members of Ms. Castro’s Libre party and 16 people from the two traditional parties — the National Party and the Liberal Party — had been killed since May 2012. |
| Human rights groups said Sunday that two rural organizers, both Libre activists, were ambushed and killed Saturday night on their way home from electoral training in Cantarranas, a municipality in the central department of Francisco Morazán. Both victims were involved in a struggle over land rights. | Human rights groups said Sunday that two rural organizers, both Libre activists, were ambushed and killed Saturday night on their way home from electoral training in Cantarranas, a municipality in the central department of Francisco Morazán. Both victims were involved in a struggle over land rights. |
| There is no second round, so Honduras’s next president will have a weak mandate, having probably captured less than 40 percent of the vote. Voters also cast ballots for 128 members of Congress, and the results, which have not yet been announced, will most likely return a fractured legislature. | There is no second round, so Honduras’s next president will have a weak mandate, having probably captured less than 40 percent of the vote. Voters also cast ballots for 128 members of Congress, and the results, which have not yet been announced, will most likely return a fractured legislature. |
Nicholas Phillips reported from Tegucigalpa, Honduras, and Elisabeth Malkin from Mexico City. | Nicholas Phillips reported from Tegucigalpa, Honduras, and Elisabeth Malkin from Mexico City. |