Hondurans to elect new president in close race under the shadow of Trump's surprise intervention

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TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AP) — Hondurans will elect a new president Sunday while still grappling with U.S. Donald Trump’s sudden intervention in what was expected to be a close contest, the latest signal of the United States’ renewed interest in Latin America.

Among the five presidential candidates on the ballot, polls indicated three had a chance to win and were finishing in close competition.

They are Rixi Moncada, 60, who served as finance and later as defense secretary in the current administration of President Xiomara Castro before leaving to run for president for the social democrat LIBRE or Liberty and Re-foundation party; Salvador Nasralla, who is making his fourth bid for the presidency, this time as the candidate for the conservative Liberal Party; and former Tegucigalpa Mayor Nasry “Tito” Asfura, who carries the mantle of the also conservative National Party.

Castro promises to “democratize” an economy still defined by extreme wealth and poverty. Nasralla casts himself as the outsider who can clean up the country’s endemic corruption. And Asfura is trying to restore the National Party as a pro-business force tarnished by previous bouts of presidential corruption.

Honduras’ security situation has improved in recent years as homicides across the region continue to fall, but it still has Central America’s highest homicide rate. Hondurans say security and jobs remain their top priorities, despite an economy that has strengthened during Castro’s administration.

The presidential contest had mostly focused on candidates trading accusations of plans to manipulate the vote until this past week when Trump endorsed Asfura while attacking his opponents. Then Trump shocked Hondurans by announcing Friday that he would pardon ex-President Juan Orlando Hernández, who was serving a 45-year sentence in a U.S. prison for helping drug traffickers moving cocaine to the United States.

It was unclear what impact Trump would have on the election, but it was the latest show of the U.S. government’s willingness to directly involve itself in the region and came at a time of already heightened tensions because of the U.S. military buildup in the Caribbean and Trump’s threats against Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro.

Hondurans were left unnerved by the sudden U.S. attention, and hoping at a minimum for peaceful elections. Voters will also elect a new Congress and hundreds of mayors and city council members.