The Honduran government has suspended constitutional rights to give the army and police more powers and imposed a dusk-to-dawn curfew to contain unrest triggered by a contested election, a senior government official said on Friday.

Ebal Diaz, a high official for the council of ministers, announced the move on television shortly after the country’s electoral tribune said it would aim to resume counting votes on Saturday.



“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.

He said the order would take effect at 1200 ET (0500 GMT), but did not give details of what rights would be suspended.

At least one person has died and 20 others injured in protests and looting prompted by opposition fears that the incumbent government of Juan Orlando Hernandez was trying to steal last Sunday’s presidential election.

International concern has grown about the electoral crisis in the poor Central American country, which struggles with violent drug gangs and one of the world’s highest murder rates.

The nationwide curfew will run from 6pm to 6am for 10 days starting on Friday night, government minister Jorge Ramon Hernandez read out in a statement simultaneously broadcast to TV and radio stations.

Under the decree, all local authorities must submit to the authority of the army and national police, which are authorized to break up blockades of roads, bridges and public buildings.

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In a widely criticised vote count, the early lead of television host turned opposition candidate Salvador Nasralla was reversed in favour of Hernandez.

Earlier on Friday, Nasralla said government infiltrators were behind the unrest, which he warned would be used to justify military curfews.

Businesses closed early and Hondurans lined up for panic purchases as groups of looters carried off televisions and washing machines from shopping centres, TV images showed.

Plumes of smoke from burning tyres at barricades drifted over the San Pedro Sula, the country’s second city. Police used tear gas to disperse crowds.

Police sources said at least one man had been shot and killed at a protest in the city of La Ceiba, while about 12 members of the military and police force had been injured in demonstrations that snarled traffic outside Honduras’ main port on Friday and around the country.

At least 10 protesters were injured in the capital of Tegucigalpa, according to the city’s Hospital Escuela.

More than 100 people were also arrested on suspicion of looting in San Pedro Sula on Friday, a police spokesman said, and local media carried footage of shops being plundered.



On Friday people stocked up on food and provisions as roads and supply routes were blocked across the country by angry protesters.

Honduras was due to publish the final result of the election at 9pm local time (0300 GMT) on Friday, the electoral tribunal said, but opposition complaints about the count meant the result was delayed.



Election results initially had Nasralla leading by five points with more than half the votes counted. They then swung in favor of US-backed Hernandez after the count came to a halt on Monday and resumed over a day later, sparking protests.

The tribunal has said it will hand-count some 1,031 outstanding ballot boxes with irregularities – or nearly 6% of the total – after the count halted with Hernandez ahead by less than 50,000 votes, or about 1.5 percentage points.

However, Nasralla’s center-left alliance has called for votes to be recounted in three of Honduras’ 18 departments, or regions, and refused to recognise the tribunal’s special count until its demands for a wider review were met.

“If Juan Orlando wins, we’re ready to accept that, but we know that wasn’t the case, we know that Salvador won and that’s why they’re refusing the transparency demands,” said Marlon Ochoa, campaign manager of Nasralla’s alliance.