Original article: “No nos intimida Trump”: expresidente de Honduras acusa injerencia extranjera y denuncia “golpe electoral” contra Rixi Moncada

Trump’s Foreign Interference Ignites Electoral Coup Allegations in Honduras, Claims Ex-President Zelaya

Former Honduran President Manuel Zelaya accused U.S. President Donald Trump of foreign interference in the recent general elections held in the Central American country, claiming a «electoral coup» against Rixi Moncada, the candidate from the ruling Libertad y Refundación (LIBRE) party.

In a message posted on his social media account on platform X, Zelaya alleged that there is an ongoing maneuver to distort the will of the people.

“With Donald Trump’s interference and his pardon to JOH (former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández), the desperate bipartisan system is imposing an electoral coup against Rixi. But they are mistaken about history,” he stated.

As the general coordinator of the LIBRE party, he emphasized that the official party maintains strong support, and that his wife, current President of Honduras Xiomara Castro, holds significant public approval.

“Xiomara enjoys over 55% support due to her effective governance; Honduras respects her and the world acknowledges her,” he noted, while asserting that the interference aims to sabotage Moncada’s candidacy to hinder LIBRE’s political project.

“LIBRE presents an impeccable candidate, honest, sensitive, capable, strong-willed, and running a profoundly democratic campaign based on an economic proposal that liberates the people and breaks the privileges of the elites. That’s why they resort to interference: because they cannot win fairly,” he argued.

Zelaya described the maneuver as «blatantly» unjust and malicious foreign intervention to twist the popular will and thwart Rixi’s efforts.

“But they make the same mistake as always: underestimating the Honduran people, Rixi, and our ability to fight,” warned Zelaya, who himself was a victim of a coup in 2009.

«Mr. Donald Trump, We Are Not Intimidated»

In his message, the former president also directly addressed Donald Trump, asserting that the Honduran people will not yield to external pressures.

“Mr. Donald Trump, we are not intimidated; we have resisted coups, monumental frauds, political assassinations, and persecution. If we survived a narco dictatorship, do you believe a tweet from you will bend us?” he expressed on X.

“You can call us communists, socialists, insurgents, whatever you like. We are free Hondurans fighting for the self-determination of our people and for a worthy, just, and independent homeland. Neither Washington nor the oligarchy can decide for us. Mr. Donald Trump, those of us fighting for freedom stand tall; we are patriots, and no one surrenders,” he emphasized.

It is worth noting that just before the general elections in Honduras, the Republican mogul publicly endorsed right-wing businessman and National Party candidate Nasry Asfura, stating that if he won the election, his government would pardon former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández, who has been convicted of drug trafficking in the United States.

The far-right figure also threatened not to collaborate with Honduras if Rixi Moncada were elected.

Honduras Elections: Uncertainty, Delays, and Allegations of Irregularities

The Honduran electoral process has been engulfed in uncertainty, delays, and allegations of various irregularities that reinforce claims of an electoral fraud warned about by candidate Rixi Moncada during a press conference last Monday.

Her allegations are supported by concrete evidence: a series of leaked audio recordings in which, according to the Public Ministry’s investigation, National Party election advisor Cossette López and other actors were planning to manipulate the process. The scheme, as outlined by Moncada, included interrupting data transmission, pressuring the U.S. embassy not to recognize a LIBRE victory, and announcing partial results favorable to create a «pretext for challenging and suspending the process.» This is not just a simple irregularity; it is a modern technique of a coup d’état, transferred to the electoral arena, where there is an attempt to control dissemination and consensus agencies to create false legality.

Marlos Ochoa, an advisor to Honduras’ National Electoral Council (CNE), confirmed these irregularities, stating that the results provided by the TREP system do not «maintain certainty or consistency,» while denouncing the lack of public access to preliminary results.