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| New Left-Wing Party in Honduras Cries Foul | New Left-Wing Party in Honduras Cries Foul |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras — Nine dejected foot soldiers of a would-be revolution were sitting on the stoop of a local campaign headquarters in the Colonia Kennedy neighborhood on Monday afternoon, drinking soda out of small plastic cups and debating what comes next. | TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras — Nine dejected foot soldiers of a would-be revolution were sitting on the stoop of a local campaign headquarters in the Colonia Kennedy neighborhood on Monday afternoon, drinking soda out of small plastic cups and debating what comes next. |
| The vote count in the Honduran presidential election on Sunday was not going their way. Their new left-wing party, Libre, appeared to be headed for defeat, dashing their hopes for the transformative victory they thought would end the dominance of the country’s tight-knit political and business elite. | The vote count in the Honduran presidential election on Sunday was not going their way. Their new left-wing party, Libre, appeared to be headed for defeat, dashing their hopes for the transformative victory they thought would end the dominance of the country’s tight-knit political and business elite. |
| “The laws they make in Congress only benefit their small groups,” said Hector Núñez, 43, a woodworker and handyman, listening to news of the election on a radio. “That’s why we need to re-found the country.” | “The laws they make in Congress only benefit their small groups,” said Hector Núñez, 43, a woodworker and handyman, listening to news of the election on a radio. “That’s why we need to re-found the country.” |
| The totals from the electoral tribunal, with results from about 68 percent of polling places, showed the governing conservative party’s candidate, Juan Orlando Hernández, still leading Libre’s candidate, Xiomara Castro, by about five percentage points. | |
| Libre, however, has rejected the official results as fraudulent. What happens next will hinge on decisions by the party’s leader, the former President Manuel Zelaya, who is Ms. Castro’s husband. It will depend, as well, on how supporters like those in lower-middle-class Colonia Kennedy, who have been loyal to Mr. Zelaya since he was ousted in a coup four years ago, respond to his summons. | Libre, however, has rejected the official results as fraudulent. What happens next will hinge on decisions by the party’s leader, the former President Manuel Zelaya, who is Ms. Castro’s husband. It will depend, as well, on how supporters like those in lower-middle-class Colonia Kennedy, who have been loyal to Mr. Zelaya since he was ousted in a coup four years ago, respond to his summons. |
| “If Xiomara doesn’t call us out onto the streets, we’re going to go anyway,” Mr. Núñez said. | “If Xiomara doesn’t call us out onto the streets, we’re going to go anyway,” Mr. Núñez said. |
| Mr. Zelaya was defiant on Monday at a news conference that was packed with noisy Libre activists — all except for Ms. Castro, who was absent. | Mr. Zelaya was defiant on Monday at a news conference that was packed with noisy Libre activists — all except for Ms. Castro, who was absent. |
| “We don’t accept the tribunal’s results until they show us otherwise, ballot box by ballot box, town by town,” he said, as supporters blew horns and cheered. Mr. Zelaya promised that “if it is necessary to take to the streets to defend our victory, then we will take to the streets.” | “We don’t accept the tribunal’s results until they show us otherwise, ballot box by ballot box, town by town,” he said, as supporters blew horns and cheered. Mr. Zelaya promised that “if it is necessary to take to the streets to defend our victory, then we will take to the streets.” |
| Almost a million people had voted for the party’s proposal to rewrite the Constitution, he said, citing unconfirmed figures, “and we do not expect, nor do we want, nor will we renounce, what people are demanding at the polls.” | Almost a million people had voted for the party’s proposal to rewrite the Constitution, he said, citing unconfirmed figures, “and we do not expect, nor do we want, nor will we renounce, what people are demanding at the polls.” |
| International and national observers closely watched the election, and the parties themselves were in charge of the vote counting. Although Ricci Moncada, Libre’s secretary of electoral affairs, said Sunday night that at least 1,900 of the vote-tally sheets showed “irregularities,” the party offered no additional proof of fraud on Monday. | International and national observers closely watched the election, and the parties themselves were in charge of the vote counting. Although Ricci Moncada, Libre’s secretary of electoral affairs, said Sunday night that at least 1,900 of the vote-tally sheets showed “irregularities,” the party offered no additional proof of fraud on Monday. |
| The coup that removed Mr. Zelaya, a scion of the Honduran landed elite, revealed a vast divide in Honduras, one of Latin America’s poorest countries, with vast economic disparities. For decades political and economic power was concentrated in two parties, the National and Liberal Parties, and their business allies. But the labor, peasant and student groups that backed Mr. Zelaya articulated the demands of the dispossessed for a greater say in the country’s affairs. | The coup that removed Mr. Zelaya, a scion of the Honduran landed elite, revealed a vast divide in Honduras, one of Latin America’s poorest countries, with vast economic disparities. For decades political and economic power was concentrated in two parties, the National and Liberal Parties, and their business allies. But the labor, peasant and student groups that backed Mr. Zelaya articulated the demands of the dispossessed for a greater say in the country’s affairs. |
| Leo Valladares, a former human rights commissioner and a pro-democracy activist, said that the election results — despite Mr. Hernández’s advantage as a candidate of the governing party and the power he exerted as a former president of Congress — had turned Libre into the country’s second political force. | Leo Valladares, a former human rights commissioner and a pro-democracy activist, said that the election results — despite Mr. Hernández’s advantage as a candidate of the governing party and the power he exerted as a former president of Congress — had turned Libre into the country’s second political force. |
| “They are no longer outside the system,” he said. | “They are no longer outside the system,” he said. |
| But that was not how Libre supporters in Colonia Kennedy saw it on Monday. Ms. Castro won overwhelmingly in this neighborhood, where laundry hangs outside small concrete houses. The group clustered outside the party’s campaign headquarters was convinced that there had been election fraud. | But that was not how Libre supporters in Colonia Kennedy saw it on Monday. Ms. Castro won overwhelmingly in this neighborhood, where laundry hangs outside small concrete houses. The group clustered outside the party’s campaign headquarters was convinced that there had been election fraud. |
| Alba Xiomara Fúnez, 35, a psychologist, sounded as if she was ready to give up on voting altogether. “We accepted to go through this process democratically, to show we want to live in democracy,” she said. But the traditional political elite “showed no respect for our decision.” | Alba Xiomara Fúnez, 35, a psychologist, sounded as if she was ready to give up on voting altogether. “We accepted to go through this process democratically, to show we want to live in democracy,” she said. But the traditional political elite “showed no respect for our decision.” |
Nicholas Phillips reported from Tegucigalpa, and Elisabeth Malkin from Mexico City. | Nicholas Phillips reported from Tegucigalpa, and Elisabeth Malkin from Mexico City. |