Sixty percent of Honduran voters turned out 29 November to elect a new president, and they chose centre-right National Party candidate Porfirio Lobo over the former president Manuel Zelaya. Lobo is expected to play a unifying role, with support from several members of Zelaya’s own Liberal Party. Zelaya lost support when he began to move further left and closer to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Bolivian President Evo Morales. Zelaya was forced out of the country into exile for several weeks but returned secretly in September. He has since been living in the Brazilian embassy. Lobo was defeated by Zelaya in elections in 2005. There were some clashes between police and protestors, but they appear to have been limited. Interim President Roberto Micheletti had banned gatherings before the election, to avoid violence.
Links to other sites: BBC, Voice of America
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News story, GenevaLunch, 30 November 2009.
Filed under: World news
Tags: election, Honduras, Manuel Zelaya, Porfirio Lobo, president