Podcast: Honduras Plays the Blame Game in Turbulent Primaries
<p>Honduras awaits primary election results as monitors and the press report procedural failings. The Armed Forces and Supreme Electoral Council, the chief electoral institutions, shift blame. In Guatemala, Jose Rubén Zamora re-enters prison after an appellate court vacates months of proceedings.</p>
Roman Gressier Yuliana Ramazzini
CENTRAL AMERICA IN MINUTES, Ep. 21: The Sunday primaries in Honduras await results as civil society monitors criticize delayed ballot delivery and the press reports violations of the chain of custody of ballots by the Army. Ruling party Libre receives the most votes, according to projections.
Tension grows between the two main electoral institutions. Minister of Defense Rixi Moncada, who is also the Libre presidential candidate, deflects responsibility for the blunders to the National Electoral Council (CNE). The CNE, meanwhile, denounces a contractor for the ballot disarray.
In Guatemala, a judge orders journalist Jose Rubén Zamora back to prison and he re-enters Mariscal Zavala after an appellate court vacates months of proceedings. In the same breath, the judge denounces threats against his court and plaintiffs file yet another money laundering case against Zamora.
El Faro English translates Central America. Listen to Central America in Minutes every Friday on major podcast platforms.