Rixi Moncada denounces media manipulation and narco-political financing behind the ongoing fraud. In an interview with teleSUR, Rixi Moncada, the candidate of the Libre Party and a member of the progressive project led by President Xiomara Castro, described in detail the technical irregularities, media manipulation and external interference in the presidential elections held in Honduras, where transnational right-wing forces are orchestrating an unprecedented fraud in recent Latin American history.

During the conversation, she told journalist Jorge Gestoso that Honduras is undergoing “an electoral coup” designed to preserve a U.S.-backed oligarchic and narco-political power structure.

GESTOSO: You said, “I reiterate my denunciation of foreign interference in the electoral process by U.S. President Donald Trump. With his interference and his pardon of Juan Orlando Hernandez, the desperate bipartisan establishment is imposing an electoral coup against me.” Is this an electoral coup?

MONCADA: This has been completely an electoral coup. An electoral coup that is underway. Three direct messages from the U.S. president, practically against me and my platform. But with an additional component: releasing former President Juan Orlando Hernandez, who was sentenced by U.S. courts to 45 years in prison for trafficking more than 400 tons of cocaine to the U.S., in the middle of general elections to define a new government. It is an ongoing electoral coup.

GESTOSO: You have also said that “the elections are not yet lost,” that “the bipartisan establishment did not impose its electoral scheme,” and that there is “a trap in the vote transmission system.” You even describe it as a “sinister plan by the bipartisan system.” The question is: Didn’t you see this coming?

MONCADA: Of course we saw it coming, and it was reported. Remember that Honduras began rebuilding its institutions after the U.S.-backed coup d’etat in 2009. We have a whole history of violent coups. A president was ousted in 2009 by force of arms. There was foreign participation. And now, this electoral coup in progress. Of course we saw it coming, and it was reported at the time.

I reaffirm that I do not accept the vote-transmission system because it is a rigged and compromised. It contains internal mechanisms preventing a transparent and democratic election.

And if we add that interference—violating all international protocols, all international law, the OAS Democratic Charter, agreements signed by states to respect principles—using social media platforms to send three messages, with the U.S. president saying “Do not vote for candidate Moncada, I cannot work with her, she is a communist,” that is direct, brutal interference that harms the interests of the Honduran people.

GESTOSO: You also said, “Let us remain standing and fighting until the final count; the elections are not lost.” And from there comes the question: When all ballots have been counted, are you willing to accept the result?

MONCADA: I am always willing to respect the Honduran people’s will. But when we have a transmission system through which results from each polling station are sent, and we learn that on election night more than 3,300 presidential-level tally sheets with vote results were stuck in the system and were never published… and then a preliminary result is announced.

We also learned that thousands of tally sheets did not go through the biometric fingerprint identity-verification system. That decision was made by the bipartisan establishment inside the National Electoral Council (CNE).

So there is no doubt about these strategies in the transmission system that amount to real adulteration or a trap in counting the popular will. That is why I stand firm and continue the fight alongside the people who went to the polls to vote for me.

So, I will accept the results that appear in 100% of the tally sheets we receive through our party’s system, once they are verified against the data held by the National Electoral Council. That transmission system has no credibility at any of the three electoral levels.

GESTOSO: A relevant fact: On the night of the election, an exit poll was published placing you in first place with 37%, followed by your rival with 32%, Nasralla, and candidate Nasry Asfura with 26%. However, the first official preliminary results did not match. How did you react?

MONCADA: The impact is more than that. Throughout November, we maintained our lead in various polls. But 82 hours before the elections, Trump issued his first message: “She is a communist, do not vote for her.” And he did not come alone.

He was accompanied by millions of messages sent to Honduran phones saying, “If Rixi Moncada wins, December remittances will not arrive.” Honduras has approximately 2.5 million people who receive remittances from the United States. That is extortion, coercion, blackmail.

In my view, it is an interference mechanism being tested in Honduras to see what results it yields, especially with elections upcoming in Chile and Colombia. Never before has interference of this magnitude been seen.

So I am not only facing two candidates, I am facing the oligarchy. My proposal to democratize the economy, make everyone pay taxes, and end privileges enjoyed by a small group of powerful actors in this country—this is not only about me; bringing benefits to social sectors deeply affected especially since the coup—this is not just about the two candidates. I faced the oligarchy and interference by the U.S. establishment.

GESTOSO: You have also said that this campaign was financed by drug trafficking, referring to the bipartisan establishment.

MONCADA: Without any doubt. There is overwhelming evidence: more than 50 politicians, businesspeople and legislators from the bipartisan establishment have been convicted in the United States, including former President Juan Orlando Hernandez.

And now, in the middle of an election, Trump grants a pardon to someone sentenced to 45 years. How can a judicial ruling against a drug lord accused of bringing more than 400 tons of cocaine into the U.S. be overturned, granting him a pardon during an election? That has nothing to do with justice, democracy, or the fight against drug trafficking. It is politics of interests, nothing more.

GESTOSO: Do you believe this election has been a struggle between drug-trafficking groups?

MONCADA: There is drug-trafficking financing. We have had it in the past and we have evidence. Entire municipalities were financed with narco money. The bipartisan establishment governed for 12 years and 7 months with explicit U.S. tolerance. Washington knew it was a mafia connected to cartels. The very day Xiomara Castro assumed the presidency, the United States presented charges against Juan Orlando Hernandez. Five years later, he is freed.

GESTOSO: What do you think of the role of the National Electoral Council?

MONCADA: I have no suspicions—I am certain they are not impartial referees. Since the 2009 coup, this democracy has been overseen by the United States. There is a deeply rooted oligarchy here that does not pay taxes and controls the economy. Those are the interests that have prevailed, and those are the ones I faced.

GESTOSO: The playing field is marked, slanted and full of holes. And that is the trap underway. Did you know the field was completely tilted, and if so, why did you decide to take on the challenge?

MONCADA: These are the challenges and struggles our peoples must fight constantly—not only in Honduras but across the region. These are important liberation processes that build collective awareness. For me, the two-year political campaign has been an extraordinary campaign. What did I learn? It allowed me to travel the country, understand different dynamics, and get closer to people in regions I did not fully know.

The campaign was extraordinary, beautiful, and joyful. Those who turned out to vote for me gave votes of gold that are there, despite all the foreign interference, including the message 72 hours before the election saying Moncada is a communist. Even with that, people went to the polls, and their vote is sacred to me.

GESTOSO: What mechanisms do you plan to use to reverse this scenario?

MONCADA: All available ones: technical, legal, judicial, and political. We will listen to people in different regions, how they are handling the scrutiny process, and how we interpret contradictions between the two oligarchic candidates. Even they cannot reconcile their numbers.

GESTOSO: What do you expect from the international community and election observers?

MONCADA: I expect clear statements from the OAS and the European Union. Trump’s interference 72 hours before the election cannot be ignored. He violated the Democratic Charter, sovereignty, and the self-determination of peoples. If observers remain silent, they will be ignoring their own principles.

GESTOSO: You have also spoken about media control in Honduras.