Our international election observation delegation has now returned from Honduras, but the crisis they witnessed continues to deepen. The outcome of this election, and the powerful forces shaping it, will reverberate not only across Honduras but throughout the Americas and beyond.
Since Hondurans went to the polls on November 30, uncertainty about the electoral results has grown, under the heavy shadow of direct U.S. interference from President Donald Trump and his cronies, like Roger Stone. And in a dramatic escalation, on December 8, the governing LIBRE party formally petitioned electoral authorities to annul the presidential election results altogether, arguing that the November 30 vote had been irreparably compromised by irregularities, technological failures, and manipulation, and outside interference.
Nearly a week after election day, Honduran authorities still have not delivered a trustworthy result. After a 48-hour blackout in the reporting of results, the National Electoral Council (CNE) resumed updates with 89% of ballots counted, showing Trump-backed National Party candidate Nasry Asfura barely ahead of Liberal Party candidate Salvador Nasralla by just over 20,000 votes, while Libre’s Rixi Moncada trails in third.
Around 14% of tally sheets have been flagged for “inconsistencies” and pulled aside for review, even while it remains unclear if the electronic system can even be trusted to identify such inconsistencies. The irregular pauses, technical “failures” in the tabulation system, and unexplained swings in the count have fueled public distrust and led both Nasralla and Moncada to denounce fraud, call for legal challenges and marches, and question the legitimacy of the entire process.
Honduras is once again reliving the trauma of 2017, when protests over a widely denounced election were met with brutal repression, and dozens were killed.
This is not simply a “technical” electoral problem. What is happening in Honduras is the result of an extraordinary catalog of U.S. interference amounting to an electoral coup.
In the weeks before and after the vote, Trump openly endorsed National Party presidential candidate, Nasry “Tito” Asfura as his preferred candidate, threatened Hondurans with economic punishment by suggesting that U.S. aid and even remittances to more than 2.5 million Hondurans could be at risk if Libre won, declared that there would be “hell to pay” if the vote count shifted. Trump even pardoned former president Juan Orlando Hernández—convicted of drug trafficking in the United States—in the middle of the electoral process, sending a clear political signal of support for the National Party machine behind Asfura.
Interviews with Honduran voters show that Trump’s comments and threats directly influenced how many people voted, especially those most dependent on remittances and fearful of U.S. retaliation.
In any other country, this level of interference, from a foreign head of state openly trying to shape the outcome of an election, would be front-page scandal. In Honduras, it is being normalized.
Despite all this, the Organization of American States (OAS) and European Union observation missions have so far refused to name Trump’s role in their public statements on the election. Libre candidate Rixi Moncada has sharply criticized the OAS and EU for omitting any reference to U.S. interference in their bulletins, calling their silence “bordering on complacency.”
Trump’s actions appear to violate Article 19 of the OAS Charter, which explicitly prohibits any state from intervening in the internal affairs of another. Yet the very organization bound by that charter is failing to defend it.
By refusing to name the problem, Trump’s intervention and Washington’s historic role in shaping Honduran politics, the OAS and other official observers risk turning “electoral observation” into a stamp of legitimacy on a deeply manipulated process.
Meanwhile, Honduran election officials are blaming the private company managing the tabulation platform for the chaos, while an electoral official has alleged deliberate manipulation and internal sabotage inside the CNE, what he calls “monumental fraud.”
Honduras is now a country on edge: a razor-thin vote is unfolding through a results system that many no longer trust, a U.S. president is openly pressuring Honduran institutions and voters, and the OAS observation mission has so far been unwilling to confront the most powerful actor interfering in the election.
This is not just about who will be the next president of Honduras. It is about whether powerful governments can once again decide the future of Central America, overriding the will of the people, while regional institutions look away.
Our delegation, organized with Honduran partners, was one part of a broader effort to defend democratic space in Honduras. Even though our observers are now home, we remain in close contact with social movements, human rights organizations, and independent media on the ground as they monitor the count, challenge fraud, and mobilize to defend their votes and denounce U.S. interference.
In the coming days, we will:
- Organize a webinar in the coming week to discuss the current unfolding situation in Honduras. For more information, see
- Share statements and analyses from our Honduran partners and our observation team;
- Amplify calls for transparency, non-repression, and respect for Hondurans’ right to choose their own government;
- Press U.S. officials and multilateral bodies not to rubber-stamp an election tainted by foreign interference.
We invite you to stay engaged:
- Follow the Honduras Solidarity Network and CESPAD for rapid updates and action alerts.
- Stay connected with Global Exchange on email and social media as we publish analysis, webinars, and concrete ways to act.
- Help us sustain this work—from election observation to cross-border organizing—by supporting Global Exchange if you’re able.
Honduras has been here before: a coup in 2009, stolen elections in 2013 and 2017, and years of U.S.-backed repression. But it has also been home to extraordinary resistance—and the determination of ordinary people to defend life, land, and democracy.
We stand with them and we hope you do too.