Hondurans choose a new president and congress today as the world's highest rate of violent crimes hurts the economic growth due to the former president, Manuel Zelaya. Polls show the race in a statistical tie between the ruling National Party’s Juan Orlando Hernandez, 45, and Zelaya’s wife, Xiomara Castro Both candidates vowed that they would improve the safety of their citizens after an increase in murders due to drug gangs linked to Mexican cartels.
Castro, 54, is seeking to break a century-long grip on the presidential palace by the country’s two traditional parties. She has tapped into frustration from the coup, during which she led protests to have her husband returned from bannishment. Hernandez led the national assembly when Zelaya was driven out for backing a vote to change the constitution.
“It’s going to be difficult for whoever wins to govern,” said Geoff Thale, director of the Washington Office on Latin America.
Economic growth in the $19 billion economy has slowed to an average 3.2 percent per year since the 2009 coup, compared with a 5.7 percent average in the four years before, according to the International Monetary Fund. The final opinion poll showed a tie between Hernandez, with 28 percent support, and Castro with 27 percent.
Investors wary of Zelaya’s former alliance with late Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez have fueled a rally in Honduran bonds since September as polls showed Hernandez gaining on Castro, who led earlier this year.
Honduras dollar bonds have returned 2.5 percent this month, compared with a 2.9 percent decline in Latin American debt over the same period.
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