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Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal published an article about the upcoming elections that repeated threats from Christopher Landau, the Deputy Secretary of the U.S. State Department, that President Trump “will respond swiftly and decisively to anyone who undermines the integrity” of the elections.
Given the tense situation with U.S. warships in the Caribbean, this polarizing rhetoric is obviously aimed at inciting fears of Honduras suffering the same military attacks as Venezuela from the U.S. if the LIBRE party is elected.
We do not see any of this as coincidental; it is part of a deliberate, broader campaign to undermine and manipulate voters and the electoral process.
Since at least March 2025, there have been other attempts to undermine the democratic process. The National Electoral Council (CNE), the electoral authority responsible for overseeing and managing the elections, is highly politicized and headed by three counselors, each representing one of the major political parties. Conflicts within the Council have caused concerns for the election.
During the March 2025 primary elections, some polling stations in the two largest cities were left without any ballots, while others received the materials many hours late. There were accusations made that the military had not done its job of ensuring that election materials were delivered. There were also accusations that the CNE representative for the National Party, Cossette Lopez Osorio, contracted a private transportation company to deliver ballot boxes, but some deliveries were not made. The conservative pro-2009 coup press then used the crisis to undermine public confidence in the electoral infrastructure and institutions. These multi-faceted and sophisticated efforts continue today.
In late October 2025, information was released by the Attorney General on the existence of audio files of conversations between a major leader of the right wing National Party and current congressional representative Tomás Zambrano and the CNE National Party counselor Cossette Lopez-Osorio.
The audio files describe strategies – some involving sectors of the military, the media, and the U.S. Embassy – to undermine ballot box transportation and to generate doubt about the electoral results. Zambrano and Lopez claim that the audio files are AI generated, but the discussed strategies are characteristic of the primary election scandal and past strategies being employed by the opposition.
What happens in Honduras is important to people in the United States as well as in the region.
Across Latin America, the U.S. government historically works against governments that insist on their sovereignty, especially those that have reform-minded or radical programs for their own socio-economic development often seen as threatening U.S. interests.
This has escalated again in recent years with support for right-wing governments and parties (Honduras’ 2009 coup, Bukele in El Salvador, right-wing candidates in elections in Argentina, Chile, Bolivia). Now the Trump/Rubio administration is both blatantly interfering in elections and economic policy and is escalating to military action threatening Venezuela and Colombia murdering more than 83 people and threatening more violence.
An electoral crisis and instability in Honduras would increase the refugee crisis of Hondurans desperately seeking safety in the U.S. as it would deepen the economic and social crises in Honduras and likely lead to more political violence.
For people in the U.S., the threats of war and political interference by Trump’s government in Latin America and in the Honduran elections also raise the specter of more militarization and political repression inside the U.S. from an administration that has already carried out armed military-style actions in major U.S. cities.
Electoral observation mission
The HSN is supporting an electoral observation mission led by Global Exchange and the Center for Democracy Studies (CESPAD). Follow our coverage from Honduras:
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