Honduran president sees 'electoral coup'

Honduran President Xiomara Castro on Tuesday denounced what she called an "electoral coup" unfolding amid a chaotic vote count from the November 30 presidential election - marked by technical failures, unsubstantiated fraud claims and a shadow cast by U.S. President Donald Trump.



"We are seeing a process marked by threats, coercion, manipulation of the TREP (vote transmission system) and adulteration of the popular will," Castro, of the leftist LIBRE Party, said at a press conference.



She also condemned Trump's intervention in the race on behalf of conservative Nasry Asfura of the National Party.



"These actions constitute an electoral coup that is under way and we will denounce them," Castro said.



Castro's comments could add fuel to an already combustible moment in Honduras, while election officials have urged calm.



Asfura leads the ballot count by 1.32 percentage points, or roughly 40,000 votes, with 99.4% of the tally sheets counted.



But 14.5% of those tally sheets have inconsistencies and will be reviewed in a special count by the Honduran electoral authority, along with party representatives and international observers.



Trump has strongly thrown his support behind Asfura, the 67-year-old former mayor of the capital Tegucigalpa, and signaled that he might cut funding to the Central American nation if Asfura loses.