FILE PHOTO: Honduras President and National Party candidate Juan Orlando Hernandez gestures as he addresses the media at the Presidential House in Tegucigalpa, Honduras on December 5, 2017. REUTERS/Jorge Cabrera/File Photo
December 22, 2017
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States on Friday backed the re-election of Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez, a U.S. ally, who was certified the winner in last month’s presidential contest in Honduras despite allegations of fraud by the opposition.
“We congratulate President Juan Orlando Hernandez on his victory in the November 26 presidential elections, as declared by the Honduran Supreme Electoral Tribunal,” U.S. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a statement, adding Honduras should pursue a “long-term effort to heal the political divide in the country and … electoral reforms.”
(Writing by Makini Brice; Editing by Susan Heavey and Chizu Nomiyama)
