Lobo leads Honduras presidential vote - exit polls

[Joanne98]

Source: Reuters

TEGUCIGALPA, Nov 29 (Reuters) - Honduran opposition candidate Porfirio Lobo is leading in a presidential election that could ease a five-month crisis following the June coup against President Manuel Zelaya, media exit polls said on Sunday.

Lobo, a conservative, won more than 55 percent of Sunday's vote and was well ahead of ruling Liberal Party candidate Elvin Santos, the HRN radio station said. A TV channel gave Lobo 51 percent.

Lobo was seen as more likely than Santos to persuade foreign governments to recognize Sunday's election. (Reporting by Mica Rosenberg; Editing by Kieran Murray) (([e-mail]; [phone]; Reuters Messaging: [e-mail]))


Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/hotStocksNews/idUSN2939499720091130

[Joanne98]

1. WSJ claims plays expectations game already!

In Elections, Honduras Defeats Chávez

Unless something monumental happens in the Western Hemisphere in the next 31 days, the big regional story for 2009 will be how tiny Honduras managed to beat back the colonial aspirations of its most powerful neighbors and preserve its constitution.

Yesterday's elections for president and Congress, held as scheduled and without incident, were the crowning achievement of that struggle.

National Party candidate Porfirio Lobo was the favorite to win in pre-election polls. Yet the name of the victor is almost beside the point. The completion of these elections is a national triumph in itself and a win for all people who yearn for liberty.

View Full Image

Getty Images

Casting a vote in Tegucigalpa, Nov. 29
.The fact that the U.S. has said it will recognize their legitimacy shows that this reality eventually made its way to the White House. If not Hugo Chávez's Waterloo, Honduras's stand at least marks a major setback for the Venezuelan strongman's expansionist agenda.

The losers in this drama also include Brazil, Argentina, Chile and Spain, which all did their level best to block the election. Egged on by their zeal, militants inside Honduras took to exploding small bombs around the country in the weeks leading to the vote. They hoped that terror might damp turnout and delegitimize the process. They failed. Yesterday's civic participation appeared to be at least as good as it was in the last presidential election. Some polling stations reportedly even ran short, for a time, of the indelible ink used to mark voter pinkies.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703939404574566150432623012.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_sections_opinion

Is there any newspaper more full of shit than the WSJ?

[SharonAnn]

2. This will be a triumph of the oligarchy who yearn for more wealth and power.

Oh, and a triumph for the U.S. military whifch wants to keep plenty of "presence" in the area.

[AlphaCentauri]

33. This propaganda shows the US road map in latin america

To block and sabotage any treaties or accords between nations. I would not be surprised if someone propose a new TLC with honduras next year to pursued them from joining Brazil, Chile or Venezuela

[L. Coyote]

41. Is there any newspaper more full of shit than the WSJ?

Probably the American Spectator, but the real concern is that almost all papers
are too often more filled with bullshit than fact on many issues,
polemical vehicles for political agendas instead of serving reader's democratic interests.

Boycott them and let them die a natural death!!

[The Doctor.]

67. Well... here's the picture they used;

Looks legit to me.

[YouTakeTheSkyway]

78. hahah nice

[EFerrari]

58. LOL. I didn't know Chavez was on the ticket!

What a pantload. Amnesty says the only violence came from police.

[DissedByBush]

86. Effectively, he was

It was a referendum on whether Honduras wants to become a puppet state of the emerging Venezuelan empire.

Kind of a rock-and-a-hard-place choice though.

[EFerrari]

88. Hilarious and outdated red baiting. Honduras is already a puppet state.

[DissedByBush]

93. Puppet state of whom?

The entrenched Honduran oligarchy?

That does not make for a puppet state.

They were our puppet when we were fighting the Sandinistas in Nicaragua. Where are they now?

[Joanne98]

3. The Greatest Elections Ever Held, and more golpista BS

Note CNN's insanely deceptive triumphalism, announcing well before the close of the polls a "High turnout for Honduras election." What does this really mean?

Deposed President Jose Manuel Zelaya had called for a boycott of Sunday's vote, yet electoral observers said that a turnout of more than 60 percent was expected.

Who are these observers? Golpistas, of course, looking to justify the continuation of the military dictatorship with their electoral farce. And what are the real numbers? Reports from international observers in San Pedro Sula right now (now that the polls have closed) are that around 35% of the electorate appear to have voted. Not massive abstention, but quite significant--well below anything that could lend legitimacy to the process.
http://www.quotha.net/node/595

[DissedByBush]

9. What military dictatorship? n/t

[EFerrari]

11. This one.

Military Delays One Hour Taking Its Head Shot Victim for Treatment but Not to the Closest Hospital

Military “takes responsibility” for shooting

by Julie Webb-Pullman with Rights Action in Honduras

Maria Elena Hernandez lies in a coma in Escuela Hospital today, election day, after being critically injured in Tegucigalpa yesterday. Maria Elena, a street vendor, was going about her business when a car driven by Angel Fabricio Selgado (see http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0911/S00318.htm) went out of control after he was shot in the head by soldiers outside the Military High Command, crashing into a barrier and also hitting her.

These two victims of the military dictatorship, who had never previously met, now lie side by side in the intensive care unit as a result of bullets from the same gun, one on life support and the other perhaps paralysed.

The nurses on duty today said they could not comment on the condition of either victim, and they were unaware that their two most critical patients were in their care as a result of the same incident. “We thought he was shot and she was in a car accident,” one commented, adding that is what they were told by the military ‘doctors’ who came yesterday. They were reluctant to talk, saying that even the staff are not safe. “We also receive threats,” they said. “It is time someone protected our human rights as well.”

http://hondurasoye.wordpress.com/2009/11/29/military-delays-one-hour-taking-its-head-shot-victim-for-treatment-but-not-to-the-closest-hospital/

[YouTakeTheSkyway]

64. This constitutes evidence of a military dictatorship?

[roody]

34. Did you just wake up from a 6 month sleep?

[DissedByBush]

68. No, I know what a military dictatorship is

And Honduras wasn't it.

You had three civilian branches of government plus the military.

The legislative and the judicial together threw out the executive.

The military enforced that decision when ordered by the civilian government to do so.

That is not a military dictatorship.

That is the same Honduran government, minus one president who committed illegal acts.

How good that remaining government under a new president was is a different matter.

[EFerrari]

74. Do you seriously believe that there are no courts or legislatures

in military dictatorships?

[YouTakeTheSkyway]

77. Military coups aren't typically ordered by Supreme Courts

and backed by Congress, that's all.

[DissedByBush]

82. This is the same court and the same legislature

As was under Zelaya. Are you saying Zelaya ran a military dictatorship?

[EFerrari]

83. Civilians don't run military dictatorships, btw.

And had he fronted one, he'd be in office today. Duh!

[DissedByBush]

85. Civilians were running this government

Civilians ousted Zelaya. Civilians ran the country after Zelaya.

I think you just love the word "military dictatorship" because they weren't socialists. Any pejorative phrase will do for you.

[EFerrari]

87. And after all these weeks, that's as far as you've gotten.

What a terrible waste of time.

[DissedByBush]

92. I got to the facts

That this is not a military dictatorship.

And that you will support any Latin government, no matter how bloody and abusive, as long as it's socialist.

[EFerrari]

48. And this is what Amnesty International say about detentions before and during Election Day:

PRESS RELEASE
November, 30 2009

Honduras: Authorities must reveal identities and whereabouts of people detained today

(Tegucigalpa) Amnesty International today urged the Honduran authorities to reveal the identities, whereabouts and charges against all people detained on the eve and day of the presidential elections.

In one of the most worrying cases, the whereabouts of Jensys Mario Umanzor Gutierrez remains unknown. He was last seen at 2:30am this morning in the custody of a Police Patrol whose identification number was recorded by witnesses.

After finding about the case, the Amnesty International delegation in Honduras assisted in the filing of an habeas corpus – a legal procedure to find the whereabouts and well being of someone detained by police — at the Juzgado Penal Francisco Morazan.

The Supreme Court, amongst several other courts, was closed and noone was available by phone either to receive the petition. The court should have a judge or other court appointed official always available to deal with such urgent matters.

http://hondurasoye.wordpress.com/2009/11/30/amnesty-intl-press-release-honduras-authorities-must-reveal-identities-and-whereabouts-of-people-detained/

[EFerrari]

65. What we have to do is compile the reports from the real human rights orgs

that were on the ground with the people. I posted one of them 'way down thread. Let's see if we can find more. Because we're watching a huge criminal revision here, backed by Hillary Clinton's state department.

[WriteDown]

4. Got to love this guy just for the name....

Lobo! AWESOME.

[Judi Lynn]

12. Absolutely. It means so much to have an "awesome" name. That's a powerful observation.

Porfirio "Pepe" Lobo.

[WriteDown]

17. Hungry.....like the wolf. nt

[a la izquierda]

14. Ewwww, I look at the first name and think..

DICTATOR (as in Porfirio Diaz, the dictator who ruled Mexico for 36 years).
Blech.

[WriteDown]

18. Lobo sounds like a lone wolf, living by his own rules.... :) nt

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

22. Allow me to deflate your hard-on: In Uruguay, a former leftist guerilla fighter won.

And in this case, it was FAIR AND SQUARE.

You can go buy Viagra now.

[WriteDown]

23. Was his name Aguila or Jaguar? nt

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

24. Leftists, not being infantilic morons like rightists, don't need "tough" names. We're not insecure.

He's caled José Mujica. His toughness isn't in his name, it's in his history.

[WriteDown]

25. Meh. Its alright.

He should go by Jorge Acero.

[bitchkitty]

38. LMAO! n/t

[AlphaCentauri]

35. There are always amazing names in politics like CASTRO

The spanish meaning of CASTRAR is to remove the testicles of a male, CASTRO is the past tense of CASTRAR.

I was always amazed how Fidel "CASTRO" the elites in Cuba

He did honor his last name.
:)

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

40. It's not past tense. It's plain present, "Yo castro" = "I castrate" (as in, now). -nt

[AlphaCentauri]

44. Oh! I see, he keeps doing it as today

that's why the elites still feel their wounds open

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

60. By the way, it WOULD be past tense if there was an accent over the "o".

Yo castro = I castrate

El castró = He castrated

[L. Coyote]

42. But, does he have the teeth to fill Pinochelettis shoes?

Let's hope not! :rofl:

[Warren Stupidity]

5. election widely held to be invalid. nt.

[murdoch]

6. Thanks Obama

I'm sure Biden is even more thrilled by this.

When this was happening in the 1980s in Central America, the left in the US was outraged.

The US is completely behind this, the US trained their military officers in Georgia and as I type the US is sending millions of dollars to Honduras. Obama is sending millions to Honduras.

This is why I voted Nader in 2000 and 2004. Maybe I should have done so in 2008 again. Disgusting. Biden must be smiling now.

[karynnj]

20. If that is why you voted for Nader in 2004, you are completely uninformed

During the late 1980s, there was no one in the Senate more against the Contras than John Kerry, who investigated their gun and drug running. Kerry risked his career fighting this. This was not a big Nader issue. (PS Kerry clearly tried to pull Obama to join the rest of the Americas in rejecting the coup. )

[roody]

36. The left is still outraged and active.

www.soaw.org

[Mudoria]

7. Congratulations President Lobo

[EFerrari]

10. Oh, yes. His huge 15% mandate will serve him and Honduras well.

[Freddie Stubbs]

13. It is larger than President Obama's 8% win

[harmonicon]

15. Obama won a legitimate election

That's a pretty big difference with this. I'm pretty sure that before the last US presidential election, the UN and OAS didn't both agree that the outcome would be invalid.

[Freddie Stubbs]

28. So, if the UN and OAS eventually recognize Lobo, will that make the election legitimate?

:shrug:

[AlphaCentauri]

30. Not the election but the Military coup

Lobo could as well program new elections ASP to include all parties who could not participate or were left out since the coup.

[Freddie Stubbs]

71. Which parties were not allowed to participate?

:shrug:

[roody]

37. No.

[EFerrari]

47. There were groups of thugs in white tee shirts going door to door in the cities

forcing people out to vote or face retaliation from the government. :shrug:

[YouTakeTheSkyway]

66. Source?

[Freddie Stubbs]

72. Sounds like what the Republicans believe that ACORN does

Is there any proof?

[EFerrari]

75. These were reports given to a human rights organization.

Amnesty International was alarmed enough to issue a press release about the violence, harassment and repression.

Two people are in the hospital with gunshot wounds to the head, one is expected to make it -- inflicted by military shooters in broad daylight. Reporters from several different international outlets were assaulted and detained.

This is no Republican fantasy.

[YouTakeTheSkyway]

79. Now don't get me wrong here

I agree that there are serious issues with repression involved in this election and Amnesty is right in raising concerns about the whereabouts of those who have been detained, the brutality of the police in seemingly extracting forced confessions in some instances, and police raids. I'm not asking for a source to be a dick, because honestly? I think what you're claiming about white shirted folks going door to door isn't that far-fetched. However, I still wouldn't mind seeing one and it seems I'm not alone on this.

Also, with regard to the military shooting, it seems to me that this wasn't directly a part of political repression in the country. Am I mistaken?

[WriteDown]

89. They made a movie about that....

It was called West Side Story. Man, those white tee thugs can dance.

[EFerrari]

16. No, Freddie, it isn't. The turnout for the entire electorate in Honduras

was only 30%. Of that, only 15% or so of the entire electorate voted for the golpista supporter Lobo.

In our election, the turnout was almost 62%. Obama got 53% of 62%. That means, more than 30% of the entire electorate cast a vote
for him.

IOW, 15% is Lobo's entire take, not his margin.

[Freddie Stubbs]

26. Turnout in Honduras was 62%:

Lobo won 52 percent of the votes, while Santos had 36 percent, according to electoral tribunal counts based on 62 percent of ballots. Voter turnout was 62 percent, electoral magistrate David Matamoros said.

more: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601086&sid=aQg5Ghx2LSsg

[EFerrari]

43. Voter turnout was not 62% by any credible measure.

Although, lol, the Election Board or whatever they call it yesterday did sequester themselves for more than five hours to get their story straight. Maybe that's how 30% became 62 per cent over night. :)

/oops

[Freddie Stubbs]

70. Where are you getting the 30% number from?

:shrug:

[EFerrari]

73. That was the number the LatAm media was giving last night.

DUer rabs and I were sitting up waiting for the returns.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=405x27223

And the reports from humanitarian groups all say "extremely low turn out." :shrug:

Maybe a whole bunch of people waited to vote until after the Elections Tribunal went into their five hour meeting. :shrug:

[YouTakeTheSkyway]

80. Is it possible that...

at some polling stations, particularly in areas where loyalty to Zeyala was high, turnout in this election was low, but in other areas it was not? It seems to me, your conclusions are based on what one or two individual reporters saw in front of them instead of on an overarching analysis. Wouldn't mind seeing something a little more thorough on this.

[WriteDown]

91. A lot of humanitarian groups have criticized people like Castro and Hugo though...

So can they really be trusted? Of course not.

[AlphaCentauri]

96. is that you Ted Kaczynski?

going after leftist again

[boppers]

8. More stories:

http://news.google.com/news/more?pz=1&cf=all&cf=all&ncl=dc6NcxiUjF8EdBMiuaMmpi-w_9dvM

[L. Coyote]

32. Sorted by date

http://news.google.com/news/search?pz=1&cf=all&ned=us&hl=en&q=honduran+election&cf=all&scoring=n

[EFerrari]

49. Honduran Elections Marred by Police Violence, Censorship

Honduran Elections Marred by Police Violence, Censorship, International Non-Recognition, CEPR Co-Director Says
Elections Won't Resolve Political Crisis; Democracy Must Be Restored Before Free Elections Can Be Held

WASHINGTON - November 30 - Elections conducted in a climate of fear, human rights violations, and international non-recognition won't resolve the political crisis in Honduras, said Mark Weisbrot, Co-Director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research.

"Only a few governments that the U.S. State Department can heavily influence will recognize these elections," said Weisbrot. "The rest of the world recognizes that you cannot carry out free or fair elections under a dictatorship that has overthrown the elected President by force and used violence, repression, and media censorship against political opponents for the entire campaign period leading up the vote, including election day."

In Tegucigalpa, the Washington-based human rights organization Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL) noted: "On election day, November 29, there were a number of incidents that confirmed the climate of repression in which the electoral process took place, which represented the consolidation of the coup d'etat of June 28th."

CEJIL described "a climate of harassment, violence, and violation of the rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly" on election day, and called for the release of people arrested by security forces.

http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2009/11/30-8

[Odin2005]

19. Not legitimate.

I wonder if this was the plan all along, to make sure the Conservatives get elected.

[AlphaCentauri]

27. There were no other choices, only conservatives.

all the small parties and leftist were out with the military coup

[Freddie Stubbs]

29. Both candidates were nominated BEFORE Zelaya was thrown out of office

[AlphaCentauri]

31. and the coup, media and money gave them all the advantage over other candidates n/t

[EFerrari]

50. And opposition candidates have been shot, detained or dropped out of the election. n/t

[NuttyFluffers]

21. you mean the ballot stuffing is almost over? right after thanksgiving?

well, i guess Honduras gets a turkey for all its efforts...

[Zorra]

39. Reality check: Latin America. Fascists overthrew the government.

The fascist candidate is winning.

What are the chances that this is a legitimate election?

Around 1 in 10,000,000,000.

[L. Coyote]

45. AND, the militarized the election by decree, giving the military possession of the ballots

as if that matters when all the candidates are conservatives anyway, and the liberal media is shut down by the Junta.

[DissedByBush]

84. You think the military running the election invalidates it? n/t

[EFerrari]

46. The LatAm media was reporting 30-35% turnout and that miraculously changed

over night to 60+%!

[rabs]

51. Monkey business last night

The Supreme Electoral Tribunal met for five hours in emergency session after the polls closed. The military high command was there and Globo reported last night that Llorens was there too. (What the military and the U.S. Embassy were doing there likely will come out sooner or later.)

Lobo's victory margin according to earlier exit polls give him a 25 point lead over Santos.

After the tribunal met, that margin was sliced to 17 percent. The apparent reason was that a 25 point lead would have meant the death of the Liberal Party and in effect a one-party rule by the National Party.

The tribunal held a news conference late last night and admitted there had been a "technical glitch" that had prevented the "digitizing" of the election results that had been transmitted from around the country via cell phones. (The tribunal may have had a problem in manipulation of the abstention figures is what Globo analysts said.)

Globo is off the air online at the moment after being on earlier this morning. CholusatSur also off the air too so am not getting up to date info. Do not know yet whether the golpistas have censored it.

Resistance has scheduled a "victory" caravan for 3 p.m. Honduran time today in Tegucigalpa and that could provoke more repression from the golpista police and military.

[SuperTrouper]

52. Zelaya is destroying whatever little credibility he had. Even leftist anchorwoman Patricia Janiot of

CNN Espanol called him to his face "the night's biggest loser". Honduras has spoken with over 60% showing to vote and now we have a new president, Pepe Lobo

[WriteDown]

53. You in Honduras?

Did you vote for "The Wolf?"

[rabs]

54. CNN en Espanol had the reputation in Latam of being the Spanish version of Faux News

And now there is president-elect (gorilobo)

And an illegimate golpista president (goriletti)

And an overthrown democratically elected president (Zelaya)

Puts hillary/obama in a quandry.

[EFerrari]

56. This has nothing to do with Zelaya but with a rigged election.

[AlphaCentauri]

94. What? Patricia a leftist? LOL

http://armandodemagdalena.blogspot.com/2009/08/dominacion-era-la-de-antes-terrorismo.html

http://www.radiomundial.com.ve/yvke/noticia.php?15293

[Judi Lynn]

55. You'd think Ambassador Hugo Llorens would want to protect the US image, such as it is,

and refrain from huddling after hours like this with the military and the Election Tribunal.

It must be our shadow government believes it's too big now to be stopped, and has no need to be cautious.

No doubt there will be a huge police/military presence at that caravan. Best wishes for the people's survival.

Thank you, rabs, for getting the bigger story behind the manufactured official story and sharing it.

[flamingdem]

57. Oh so Hugo Cuban American Llorens is pulling the strings, should've known nt

[AlphaCentauri]

95. of course, other wise he would be useless to -la causa-

http://www.everydaycitizen.com/2009/09/rep_ileana_roslehtinen_has_som.html

[a la izquierda]

59. welp, Honduras will continue further down the

shithole, driven by a conservative oligarch, with the military lurking behind the corner and the US sitting on its flippin' hands. great.
in other news, Uruguay has a new leftist President, a former urban guerrilla no less. that's pretty cool.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

61. Uruguay >>> Honduras -nt

[EFerrari]

62. The US didn't sit on its hands. The fingerprints are all over this subversion

up to an including Llorens helping the Elections Tribunal cook the turn out and the results.

And as DUer magbana reported a week or so ago, the Honduran firm Harris is getting millions in defense contracts.

Business as usual.

ETA: Hugo Llorens served as Director of Andean Affairs on the National Security Councilin 2002, fyi. He's filthy.

[a la izquierda]

69. That's not what I meant...

but I know what you're saying. I meant as the Honduran population suffers in their miserable poverty, the US government, complicit in a variety of fucked up plots for more than a century, does jack shit for the people.

Why the FUCK should I expect anything less? For our country or theirs?

[EFerrari]

76. Gotcha. The US has done a LOT for the Harris corporation this year

a Honduran based defense contractor who has scored nearly a billion dollars in new contracts. :shrug:

[EFerrari]

63. Quixote Center Delegation documents terror and repression during elections

Quixote Center Delegation documents terror and repression during elections

Mon, 11/30/2009 - 1:26pm | jennya

Reports coming in from Quixote Center delegates who deployed to four different regions of the country during the last week to observe the electoral climate and the human rights situation point to a systemic pattern of militarization, intimidation, human rights violations and generalized repression. This, coupled with extremely low voter turnout.

Delegates in San Pedro Sula were caught in the midst of a military and police attack on peaceful protestors who were singing the Honduran national anthem and chanting, “We are not afraid” when they were attacked with tear gas, pepper spray, high pressure water cannons and clubs.

http://www.quixote.org/quixote-center-delegation-documents-terror-and-repression-during-elections

(video at link)

[New Dawn]

81. US-backed military dictatorship selects preferred right-wing presidential candidate.

That would be a more accurate headline for this thread.

[WriteDown]

90. All part of Obama's plan....

Or maybe it's Coke Zero's. :eyes:

[L. Coyote]

97. New LATEST thread: Honduras: More Evidence of Election Fraud

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4167920