Leftist Shellacks Foe In Honduran Election

Leftist opposition candidate Xiomara Castro held a commanding lead early Monday as Hondurans appeared poised to remove the conservative National Party from power after 12 years of continuous rule.

Photo Insert: Newly elected Honduran President Xiomara Castro

Castro declared herself the winner despite orders from the National Electoral Council to political parties to await official results, Christopher Sherman reported for the Associated Press (AP).

“We win! We win!” Castro, Honduras’ former first lady who is making her third presidential run, told cheering Liberty and Re-foundation party supporters when only a fraction of the ballots had been tallied.

“Today the people have obtained justice. We have reversed authoritarianism.” The National Party also quickly declared victory for its candidate, Tegucigalpa Mayor Nasry Asfura, but the early returns were not promising.

By early Monday, Castro’s wide early lead was holding up. With 51% of the polling station tallies in, Castro had 53% of the votes and Asfura 33%, according to the National Electoral Council preliminary count.

With more than 1.8 million votes counted, Castro held a margin of more than 350,000 votes. The council said turnout was more than 68%.

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