Honduran demonstrators rally in capital, demand resignation of president
Thousands of people have taken to the streets in the capital of Honduras,Tegucigalpa, demanding the resignation of President Juan Orlando Hernandez and the installation of a United Nation (UN) commission to investigate corruption allegations against the president and his administration.
Simultaneous marches were held on Friday from four different locations in the capital, three marches ending near the presidential palace, and the fourth rally ending at the UN headquarters in Tegucigalpa.
Demonstrators chanted “Get out JOH!” using the initials of the president, and, “We want the CICIH (International Commission against Impunity).”
Meanwhile, Hernandez has called for an “inclusive” national dialogue with the opposition to resolve political issues.
Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS) Luis Almagro, a Uruguayan, is presently in Tegucigalpa, to mediate between the government and the opposition.
The president also called on the UN to support and facilitate national dialogue.
However, the popular “Indignados” movement, which has organized numerous anti-government rallies since May, was not included in the government’s list of the opposition groups to participate in the national dialog.
For their part, the Indignados (Indignant Ones) say they will not engage in talks with the government until the president resigns and the CICIH is set up to investigate the ruling party’s alleged crimes.
The opposition alleges that more than $300 million has been skimmed from the poverty-stricken country’s limited public health budget through the country’s social security institute (IHSS).
Some of the alleged money is said to have been used to finance the right-wing National Party (PN), which has governed Honduras since 2010.
The IHSS scandal came as a huge blow to Hernandez, who is widely accused of using government funds to illegally finance his 2013 presidential campaign.
Hernandez has admitted that his ruling National Party had accepted $94,000 in electoral campaign contributions misappropriated from the IHSS.
He has pledged to combat corruption and impunity “no matter who falls.”
Former Honduran Attorney General Edmundo Orellana has said, “If people in the president’s inner circle are implicated in the social security corruption, what is needed is not dialogue but impeachment.”
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