US President Donald Trump accused Honduras on Monday (local time) of trying to change the results of its presidential election and warned that “there will be hell to pay” if that happens.
In a post on Truth Social, the US president said: “It looks like Honduras is trying to change the results of their presidential election. If they do, there will be hell for it! The people of Honduras voted in overwhelming numbers on November 30th. The National Electoral Commission, the official body charged with counting the votes, suddenly stopped counting at midnight on November 3rd.”
“Their count showed a close race between Tito Asfura and Salvador Nasralla, with Asfura holding a narrow lead of 500 votes. Their count was stopped when only 47 percent of the votes had been counted. It is imperative that the Commission complete the vote count. Hundreds of thousands of Hondurans must have their votes counted. Democracy must win!” Trump added further.
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It comes as the US president seeks to meddle in elections around the world, having launched an appeal to voters in other foreign countries to vote for his right-wing friends.
Trump himself recently endorsed Nasry Asfura, the right-wing Honduran candidate, calling him “the only true friend of freedom” and promising to work with him.
Thomas Carothers, director of the program on democracy, conflict and governance at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, told AFP. “I can’t think of a time, at least in modern history, when an American president has been willing to be so open about his preferences in a foreign election.”
Trump feels increasingly emboldened to intervene in Latin American politics.
Marco Rubio, the US defense secretary, earlier called Colombia’s leftist president-elect, Gustavo Petro, “a fool.” He also sanctified a judge in Brazil for prosecuting former president Jair Bolsonaro, a far-right politician.
The same was seen in Argentina, where Trump promised $20 billion to help their struggling economy, but with the condition that it be delivered if right-wing President Javier Milei wins legislative elections. Milei’s party eventually won the polls.
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“It’s a consistent attempt to influence politics, to reinforce what I think they already see as a shift to the right that’s gaining strength throughout the region,” Will Freeman, Latin America fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, told AFP.
The full force of Trump’s anger is directed at Venezuela, where he has threatened to use the US military to topple the leftist government of Nicolas Maduro.
The US is trying to influence Europe
The US government is also trying to influence European elections, with Homeland Security chief Kristi Noem openly supporting conservative presidential candidate Karol Kawrocki, who later won the polls.
Trump’s deputy JD Vance also publicly criticized the German government during a visit to the country for restrictions imposed on the far-right AfD party.
He also called on the Israeli president to pardon Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
