Important Elections Held in Three Countries
Elections held during the month of November in
Nicaragua, Venezuela and Honduras were an occasion
for the democratic forces of those countries to
affirm their desire to pursue their own sovereign
nation-building projects free from foreign
domination and interference. TML
congratulates the people of Nicaragua and
Venezuela for defending their revolutions in the
face of repeated coup attempts, brutal economic
sanctions, campaigns of lies, slanders and every
kind of pressure applied against them by the U.S.
imperialists and their Canadian appeasers to try
and bend their will. It did not work.
Our congratulations as well to the people of
Honduras for the victory they have won in the face
of a dirty campaign waged against the Liberty and
Refoundation (Libre) Party designed to
instill fear of "communism" in voters. It did not
deter citizens from coming out in record numbers
to vote on November 28 and to cast their ballot
for the (Libre) Party candidate for president,
Xiomara Castro. They did so to put an end to the
rule of the criminal, anti-national forces that
have been imposed on them through foreign
intervention, fraud and violence to plunder their
resources and keep their country in bondage to
foreign interests. For the last 12 years the
people of Honduras have never resigned themselves
to the fate assigned them by the neo-liberal
oligarchy of their country and the foreign masters
they serve. Following the 2009 coup against
President Manuel Zelaya, the people's forces
immediately mobilized and organized themselves to
resist, and have remained in action ever since,
forcefully asserting their rights under the most
difficult conditions and circumstances.
Nicaragua Stays the Course
In the November 7 general election in Nicaragua,
President Daniel Ortega and Vice President Rosario
Murillo of the Sandinista National Liberation
Front (FSLN) were re-elected by a large majority,
with 76 per cent of the vote. The FSLN also won 75
of 90 seats in the National Assembly (83 per cent)
and 15 of Nicaragua's 20 seats in the Central
American Parliament. Voter turnout was over 65 per
cent. From start to finish it was a sharp rebuke
to the coup forces and their U.S. patrons who have
ramped up their dirty war against the country
after they tried but failed to bring about the
violent overthrow of the Sandinistas in 2018.
Venezuela Continues to Resist
Regional and municipal "mega-elections" were held
on November 21 in Venezuela resulting in
candidates of the United Socialist Party of
Venezuela (PSUV) being elected as governors in 20
out of 23 states. A re-run of the election for
governor in Barinas state was ordered for January
9, 2022 after a complaint concerning the
eligibility of one of the candidates to stand for
election was upheld by the Supreme Court. The
majority of mayors and municipal councillors
elected were also candidates of the PSUV-led Great
Patriotic Pole. Voter turnout was 42.3 per cent,
an increase of 12 percentage points over last
December's legislative election. Indigenous
members of legislative and municipal councils in
eight states were elected separately in keeping
with their customs. With the exception of a few
holdouts, the participation of opposition parties
was more extensive than in any other election
since the parliamentary elections of 2015. Despite
increasing evidence of division in their ranks,
and rejection of the fictitious "interim
presidency" of Juan Guaidó, most opposition
parties ran under the banner of the reconstituted
Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD).
Big Win for the People in Honduras
The general election held in Honduras resulted in
a resounding victory for the Libre Party and
allied forces that joined it in an effort to
ensure the defeat of the neo-liberal National
Party installed in the wake of the 2009 coup, and
maintained in power after that by two fraudulent
elections.[1]
On December 10, with over 95 per cent of the votes
counted, Libre's candidate for president, Xiomara
Castro had received 50.6 per cent of eligible
votes, a commanding lead over the National Party
candidate's 36.5 per cent and the Liberal Party's
just under 10 per cent. Twelve other candidates
each received under one per cent. Voter turnout in
the election was a record-setting 68.5 per cent of
registered voters, with Castro receiving the
highest number of votes ever cast for president in
the country's history. Even the night of the
election, with only about a third of the votes
counted, the huge lead she had over the National
Party presidential candidate was deemed
irreversible, sparking jubilant celebrations
around the country and her declaration of victory.
Two days later, with just over half of the votes
tallied, and the trend continuing, the National
Party candidate officially conceded defeat and
congratulated Castro.
Castro will be the country's first woman
president. She said that her administration would
"work to recover the honour and dignity of the
Honduran people, which has faced violence and
state corruption since the 2009 U.S.-backed coup
d'état against President Manuel Zelaya. From now
on, the country's wealth will be in favour of our
people."
 In her
victory speech on November 28 Castro stressed that
she did not have enemies and intended to form a
government of reconciliation -- "a government of
peace and a government of justice. We are going to
initiate a process throughout all of Honduras to
guarantee a participatory democracy, a direct
democracy, because we are going to be consulting
the people. That will be a norm of governance at
the level of local governments, mayors, Congress
and the executive branch. Never again, Hondurans,
will there be abuse of power in this country. From
this moment on, the people will prevail eternally.
Onward toward a direct democracy! Onward toward a
participatory democracy!" She ended her speech
saying, "No more war! No more hate! No more death
squads! No more corruption! No more drug
trafficking and organized crime! No more ZEDES
[Special Economic Development Zones]! No more
poverty and misery in Honduras! Until the final
victory, united, the people, together we are going
to transform our country!"
As of December 11, a recount of votes for the
128-member National Congress had not yet been
completed. Indications are however that Libre and
its ally, the Salvador de Honduras (Saviour of
Honduras) Party will end up with a majority of
seats, doing away with the National Party's
ability to dominate the legislative agenda. Libre
is projected to hold 50 seats, the most of any
party.
On January 27, Xiomara Castro will be sworn in as
president for the next four years and President
Juan Orlando Hernández of the National Party will
finally leave the scene, reflecting the will of
Hondurans who since his fraudulent re-election in
2017 have united around the battle cry, "JOH Out!"
Note
1. See "Ten
Years After the 2009 Coup d'Etat," TML
Weekly, June 22, 2019.
This article was published in
Volume 51 Number 12 - December 12, 2021
Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/Tmlm2021/Articles/M5101214.HTM
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
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