This Sunday, November 28, Hondurans are being called to the polls for general elections: they must elect their mayors, their deputies and their president. Juan Orlando Hernandez does not represent himself. Reelected in 2017 on charges of fraud, the outgoing head of state is also suspected by the United States of being involved in drug trafficking. The electoral campaign, which ended Thursday, was particularly violent in this Central American country where more than half of the 10 million inhabitants live below the poverty line.
Twenty-nine political assassinations, 14 attacks, 12 assaults and one kidnapping. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights takes stock of the violence that has punctuated the electoral campaign since the announcement of the primaries in September 2020. She calls for elections ” peaceful and transparent ” in this context ” tense and polarized “.
Honduras is plagued by widespread violence: it has one of the highest homicide rates in the world, outside of militarized conflict. The country is plagued by gangs, the maras, which control drug trafficking, organized crime and extort the population.
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A spike in disinformation
Caught between extreme poverty and ultra violence, thousands of Hondurans flee their country every year, often towards the United States.
Violence fueled by social networks during the campaign, according to the Observatory of Disinformation in Honduras.
Over the past two months, the latter has recorded hundreds of hate messages per day on Facebook, with a spike in disinformation in recent days, according to the Honduran press. The identities of famous media accounts and journalists have been spoofed to widely disseminate false information.