Honduras presidential candidate alleges election has been 'stolen'

The centrist candidate in Honduras's knife-edge presidential election, Salvador Nasralla, has accused "corrupt people" of manipulating the vote count in the Central American nation.

Nine days after the election, the electoral council has still not declared a winner but the latest results suggest that Nasry "Tito" Asfura, the conservative candidate backed by US President Donald Trump, has a narrow lead.

Nasralla, who had been leading earlier on in the count before dropping into second place, declared on social media: "This is theft."

The left-wing candidate who is trailing in third place, Rixi Moncada, has called for the vote to be annulled and accused Trump of interfering in the election.

With 98.77% of votes counted, Asfura had 40.53% of the vote, ahead of Nasralla with 39.16% and Moncada with 19.32%, according to the National Electoral Council's (CNE) update at 03:00 GMT on Tuesday.

Frustration has been growing over the last week as the counting stalled several times, sometimes for days on end.

Officials from the CNE blamed "technical problems" for the delays.

They have also warned that thousands of voting records with "inconsistencies" still need to be reviewed.

The run-up to the election was dominated by Trump's endorsement of Nasry "Tito" Asfura.

Just days before the vote, Trump backed the former mayor of Tegucigalpa saying that "Tito and I can work together to fight the Narcocommunists".

In an apparent reference to US aid to Honduras, Trump added that "we will be very supportive" should Asfura win, but that "the United States will not be throwing good money after bad, because a wrong Leader can only bring catastrophic results".

In a surprise move two days before the 30 November election, Trump also pardoned jailed former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernández, who stems from the same party as Asfura.

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https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cp39v8wd7glo