Honduras President Claims Coup Attempt to Overthrow Government
Castro asserted via social media that former President Juan Orlando Hernández, who faced conviction on drug trafficking charges in the US last year before receiving a pardon from President Donald Trump, intends to return to Honduras to proclaim his party's nominee victorious in the 2025 general election.
"I report with historical responsibility that, based on verified intelligence information, Juan Orlando Hernández, pardoned in the United States, is planning his entry into the country to proclaim the winner of the elections, at a time when an aggression is underway aimed at breaking the constitutional and democratic order through a coup against my government," Castro wrote on US social media company X.
Hernández, who served as president from 2018 to 2022, previously held office within the Honduran National Party, the same political organization to which Nasry Asfura belongs—the presidential contender and apparent victor of the 2025 elections.
Current tallies through Tuesday position Asfura with a lead of 1.3 million votes, placing him 43,185 votes ahead of Salvador Nasralla of the Liberal Party with 1,261,849 votes.
Castro's statements amplify existing fraud accusations. The governing LIBRE party has consistently rejected the election results, charging the National Electoral Council (CNE) with orchestrating vote count manipulation favoring Asfura and the National Party.
"I call on the people, social movements, collectives, grassroots organizations, party militants, and citizens to urgently and peacefully gather in Tegucigalpa to defend the popular mandate, reject any coup attempt, and make visible to the world that a new coup is being forged here," said Castro.
Hernández refuted Castro's allegations and declared he holds the president and her administration accountable for any threats against his life or his family's safety.
"The accusation made by President Xiomara Castro is completely false. There is no plan for my entry into the country, nor any attempt to break the constitutional order. This narrative only seeks to spread panic, distract the public, and create chaos—a tactic well known among the leaders of LIBRE," he wrote on X.
Meanwhile, the chief of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the Honduran Armed Forces, Gen. Roosevelt Hernández, stated there would be no coup and affirmed his allegiance to Castro.
"We guarantee the stability of the government. We will guarantee the continuation of the government until January 27, 2026, to ensure democratic alternation. There will be no coup here," Hernández emphasized.
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