Caribbean & Central America - January 2017 (ISSN 1741-4458)

On 15 January, the Honduran left-wing opposition party Libertad y Refundación (Libre) ratified former president Manuel Zelaya (2006-2009) as its leader (‘general coordinator’) and confirmed an alliance for the 2018 general election with two left-leaning minority parties, Partido Anti Corrupción (PAC) and Partido Innovación y Unidad Social Demócrata (PINUSD).

The LIBRE-PAC-PINUSD alliance aims to put a stop to the second-term ambitions of the incumbent, Juan Orlando Hernández of the conservative traditional Partido Nacional (PN). Hernández is running anew after the Honduran supreme court in April 2015 ruled “inapplicable” the constitutional ban on re-election on the grounds that it breached the right to seek election. The electoral court later accepted this ruling. The rest of the political parties in the country remain united in their opposition to re-election and have yet to accept the supreme court’s move, arguing that it has no legitimacy because the specific articles banning re-election can only be reformed or removed via constituent assembly, and not by the supreme court or the legislature. Furthermore, there is a question as to whether enabling legislation for the supreme court ruling needs to be approved by the unicameral national congress, in which the PN lacks a majority. The PN at one point suggested that no such legislation was required to give the supreme court ruling effect. The opposition strongly argued the contrary and the issue still remains unresolved. As such, there is some question over the entire 2017 presidential process, with some legal experts warning that the contest could yet be subject to legal challenge.

Nonetheless, despite the legal ambiguities around the presidential contest preparations continue apace for the scheduled (but non-obligatory) March primaries to select the candidates for the 26 November ballot, in which the electorate will also select 128 new national deputies to represent the country’s 18 departments, 298 new municipal mayors and 20 representatives to the Central American Parliament (Parlacen).

Libre has already put forward Zelaya’s wife, Xiomara Castro, as its preferred presidential nominee. Clearly a proxy candidate for her husband, Castro, a political novice who has never held office, came second to Hernández in the 2013 contest. Meanwhile the leader of the PAC, Salvador Nasralla, who also ran in 2013, also has fresh ambitions this year. It is unclear as yet whether the new alliance will come together behind a single ticket. While Libre has more national deputies, who therefore will want to see Castro on top of the ticket, opinion polls indicate decent support for Nasralla, a TV personality who turned to politics in protest at the entrenched corruption in the country. Speculation also continues as to Zelaya’s plans. Currently the outspoken Libre bench leader in congress, he had threatened to run again to challenge Hernández if the latter decided on a second bid. All will be revealed in March.

Accompanied by the visiting secretary general of the Organization of American States (OAS), Luis Almagro, on 17 January President Hernández promulgated the new campaign financing law (Ley de Fiscalización, Transparencia y Financiamiento de Partidos Políticos). Approved by congress in October last and backed by the OAS-sponsored Mission to Support the Fight against Corruption and Impunity in Honduras (Maccih), the law creates an independent financial control unit to monitor campaign finances, sets limits on campaign spending, and puts a ceiling on private donations, in addition to other measures aimed at keeping ‘dirty money’ out of politics. Hernández declared it “a historic day for transparency” and “an important step in strengthening democracy in the country”, noting that there was wide consultation in drafting the legislation. Yet as Honduras heads into its 10^th general election since the return to democracy in 1982, the functioning of its system remains under considerable question.

• Another high-profile assassination

In a 17 January statement, the security ministry suggested the involvement of criminals and mara gangs in the death of another journalist in the country. A reporter for the independent TV news channel Hable Como Hable (HCH), Igor Padilla, 38, was assassinated in the crime-ridden northern city of San Pedro Sula, that same day. A cameraman accompanying Padilla said he was shot by men in police uniform. Eduardo Maldonado, director of HCH, said that Padilla – who covered police in the city – was sprayed with at least 20 bullets and demanded that the Hernández government respond. The well-known Padilla also hosted a children’s TV program on HCH and was a popular media figure. According to the Honduran national human-rights commission, 69 journalists or media workers have been killed in Honduras since 2003, with only four cases investigated.