Honduran president seeks re-election despite ban

Associated Press

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras

Less than a decade ago, even talk of re-election was enough to get a Honduran president overthrown.

Now Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez appears likely to win a second term on Sunday as well as bolstering the strength of his conservative National Party across the board.

“Hernandez is not just trying to win presidential re-election, he’s trying to expand his power from top to bottom, including in the legislature and at the mayoral level,” said James Bosworth, the founder of Hxagon, a consulting firm that does predictive analysis in emerging markets.

Fears of just that sort of consolidation – but by leftist rivals – led Hernandez’s own party to back a military coup in 2009 against a president it accused of plotting to violate Honduras’ seemingly iron-clad constitutional ban on re-election.

The country’s highest court backed the 2009 ouster of Manuel Zelaya. But the current court – packed with Hernandez’ supporters – ruled in 2015 that the constitution could not prevent him from running again – outraging opposition leaders.

“This ruling was a betrayal of the country,” said union leader Carlos H. Reyes. “It is humiliating to live in a country where a dictatorship that answers to the oligarchy is trying to install itself.”