BREAKING NEWS: REUTERS 27 JANUARY 2018
TEGUCIGALPA (Reuters) - Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez called for unity today after a bitterly disputed election last year, as he was sworn in for a second term, while Riot Police and Armed Troops skirmished with protesters in the streets.
Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez, was sworn in for a new term at an inauguration ceremony in Tegucigalpa, Honduras January 27, 2018. Hernandez, a conservative supported by the United States, appeared set to lose the Nov. 26 election until an abrupt halt in the vote count and a shift in the results took victory away from his center-left rival, Salvador Nasralla.
Allegations of fraud sparked protests that have since killed more than 30 people in the impoverished Central American country, which has also been plagued by battles between security forces, local gangs and drug traffickers.
Thousands of demonstrators clashed with Troops and Police, who fired tear gas to disperse the crowd that had gathered a couple of miles from the stadium where Hernandez took office.
The Organization of American States said the election was marred by irregularities and called for a new vote. But the result was eventually ratified by the country’s electoral tribunal and both Mexico and the United States backed the incumbent.
After Riot Police and Armed Troops dispersed the mass rally in the capital, groups of protesters moved into the narrow streets of the central district where they threw stones at security forces who fired back rounds of tear gas.
The Army was sent to break down blockades on highways mounted by demonstrators in four parts of the country and five people were arrested after a tractor trailer was set on fire, a Police spokesman said.
Following a contentious decision by the Supreme Court in 2015, Hernandez is the first president to be re-elected since the end of military rule nearly four decades ago.
Hernandez has pledged to maintain a hard-line strategy criticized by human rights groups in his fight against the country’s gangs. He was applauded by investors in his first term for cutting the deficit and boosting economic growth and he pledged to bring peace to Honduras and promote prosperity on Saturday.
About 60 percent of Hondurans live in poverty and much of the country is terrorized by gang violence, driving tens of thousands of people a year to flee for the United States.
REUTERS NEWS UPDATE ENDS
Demonstrators fought with Riot Police and Armed Troops on the main road right outside our Hotel! They looted the Petrol Station opposite and set it alight! Security Guards with Pump Action Shotguns protected the Hotel's locked gates. LQ Hotel was in Lockdown.
We couldn't leave!!
And the guys in the bar in Nicaragua had advised us to head for Tegucigalpa where we would be safe!!!
