The candidate of the National party, Nasry Asfura, recognized on Tuesday the victory of Xiomara Castro in the elections to the presidency of Honduras. Asfura not only publicly congratulated Castro, but visited her at her home this morning to personally congratulate her. Later, he appeared in a video where he said: “I have no enemies because the other candidates are and will be my friends,” said the defeated candidate. “I went to her home to personally congratulate her as president-elect. I hope that God enlightens her so that in her administration she does what is best for the country, “he added. The official candidate insisted that “the country needs reconciliation and unity, which is the path that will lead us to development.”

Almost at the same time on Tuesday, the United States also recognized the victory of the candidate of the Partido Libertad y Refundación (Libre). Secretary of State Anthony Blinken cited Xiomara Castro as “president-elect” and said that “we look forward to working together to strengthen democratic institutions, promote inclusive economic growth and fight corruption,” he wrote on Twitter.

The opposition recognition came almost 40 hours after the first official results were known and once the count reached 52.7% of the minutes. The page of the electoral body (CNE) reflected on the afternoon of Mars an advantage of almost 20 points for Xiomara Castro, who obtained 53.4% ​​of the votes compared to 34% for Nasry Asfura. The counting process, which was stopped on Monday, was slowly reactivated this Tuesday as the physical reports arrived from all over the country.

Before the National Party acknowledged its defeat, the former president and husband of Xiomara Castro, Manuel Zelaya, revealed that Asfura and Castro “had met” and that he had already acknowledged their defeat, the former president told the newspaper The Herald. He then assured that “the people spoke of going from a process of authoritarianism to democracy, from hatred and injustice to love so that Human Rights prevail.” Faced with such cordiality in managing the defeat, Zelaya himself said: “This looks like Costa Rica.”

Zelaya, who did not appear with his wife on election night, reported that he will not be part of the Cabinet. “I am just an advisor. The president will say in the next few hours which is the route to follow. I do not pretend to be in the public administration, I already had all the positions that I could have had in my life, “he clarified.

The arrival of Xiomara Castro to power at the end of January will put an end to twelve years of a conservative government led in the last stage by Juan Orlando Hernández, who ends his second term amid allegations of drug trafficking in the United States. Castro, wife of former President Manuel Zelaya (2006-2009), overthrown by a right-wing civic-military alliance due to his rapprochement with Hugo Chávez’s Venezuela, promised “a government of reconciliation.”

The elections held this Sunday reached an unprecedented turnout in a country hit by economic crises and natural disasters. The day was held in relative calm, but the European Union observation mission denounced the diversion of State resources This Tuesday the European Union observation mission pointed out in its conclusions, the elections were held in a calm environment, despite to previous fears of possible confrontations, given the possibility that one of the parties would reject the results. However, the elections were characterized “by highly politicized management, unprecedented levels of political violence and the evident abuse of state resources during the campaign,” said Zeljana Zovko, leader of the mission.

Sunday’s elections also leave the relay in the capital of the country. Starting in January of next year, the journalist Jorge Aldana will become the tenth mayor who governs the destinies of Tegucigalpa, which has been controlled for 40 years by the National Party except for two periods when the Liberals ruled. Aldana, candidate of the Libertad y Refundación (Libre) party, obtained 48.29% of the votes compared to 32.2% for David Chávez.

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