(ANTIMEDIA) — In 2009, a U.S.-backed coup ousted the democratically elected government of Honduras and replaced it with the regime currently in power. Last Sunday, Hondurans went to the polls to elect a new leader. The contest was primarily between the current President Juan Orlando Hernández and Opposition Alliance candidate Salvador Nasralla.

As BBC summarized:

“Monday 27 November, 02:00 local time with 57.2% of votes counted:

Salvador Nasralla leads by 5 percentage points (93,975 votes).

Tuesday 28 November, 18:15 local time with 65.7% of votes counted:

Salvador Nasralla leads by 3.3 percentage points (72,697 votes).

Wednesday 29 November, 16:58 local time with 82.9% of votes counted:

Juan Orlando Hernández leads by 0.1 percentage points (2,911 votes).

Thursday 30 November, 05:00 local time with 88.8% of votes counted:

Juan Orlando Hernández leads by 0.8 percentage points (22,677 votes).”

Thursday’s updated vote tally inspired Salvador Nasralla to accuse the electoral court of manipulating the results. “They take us for idiots and want to steal our victory,” he claimed before calling on Hondurans to take to the streets in protest. Nasralla said he will not accept the poll count.

U.S. Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky issued the following statement in response to the presidential election that took place in Honduras on Sunday:

“Confusion and chaos reign in Honduras following Sunday’s presidential election. I am deeply troubled by the delays and lack of transparency that we have seen from the Honduran Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE). I have serious concerns that they are engaging in election tampering and falsifying the results of the election. I am joining the European Union’s electoral observer mission and the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights in Tegucigalpa in calling for the TSE to be fully transparent and immediately offer clear, detailed updates on the results of the election. I hope that our State Department can for once put aside their blind support for President Juan Orlando Hernandez and evaluate this election fairly and objectively. We owe it to the Honduran people to put our support behind free and fair elections – not our candidate of choice. The eyes of the world are on Honduras. Democracy must prevail.” [emphasis added]

Following the release of the disputed results and their candidate’s call for protest, Nasralla’s supporters filled the streets. They claim to have evidence of vote tampering and are refusing to end their protests until the electoral court hears their grievances.

Clashes quickly resulted in the use of tear gas against protesters on Thursday before descending into chaos Friday night after senior government official Ebal Diaz announced on television that the Honduran government had suspended constitutional rights, giving the army and police more power to crush the protests.

“The suspension of constitutional guarantees was approved so that the armed forces and the national police can contain this wave of violence that has engulfed the country,” Diaz said.

Government minister Jorge Ramon Hernandez announced in a statement simultaneously broadcast to TV and radio that beginning immediately, a nationwide curfew would run from 6 pm to 6 am and would continue for 10 days. Under the decree, all local authorities must obey the orders of the army and national police.

On Saturday, Anti-Media readers in Honduras contacted the outlet in an attempt to share their perspective of the grim situation with the world. Hondurans have claimed that state-funded media is neglecting to inform both Hondurans and the world of the violence the army and national police are using against protesters during the suspension of constitutional rights.

The violence includes the use of tear gas, batons, and lethal fire that has resulted in the deaths of multiple Hondurans, which can be seen in the raw video shared with Anti Media below.

(WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT BELOW)

#ToqueDeQueda| Esto se está viviendo ahorita en la López Donde policía y militares matan a la población sin excusa alguna. #Viralizar #Compartir #FueraJOH ¿Hasta cuándo nosotrxs pondremos los muertos? Posted by UNAH Estudiantes on Saturday, December 2, 2017

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