Page 11 - ARUBA TODAY

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WORLD NEWS Friday 1 december 2017

Protests rise as vote count in Honduras drags on

By FREDDY CUEVAS tinued Thursday with rock
Associated Press throwers facing off against
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras police armed with tear gas
(AP) — Protests were grow- and water cannons as calls
ing in Honduras Thursday to maintain calm were in-
as incumbent President creasingly unheeded.
Juan Orlando Hernandez David Matamoros, presi-
emerged with a growing dent of the electoral court,
lead for re-election follow- said Thursday that officials
ing a reported computer had not finished counting
glitch that shut down vote in part because overnight
counting for several hours. they had to evacuate af-
Challenger Salvador Nas- ter tear gas drifted into the
ralla has alleged fraud building.He said that about
and said he won’t re- 2,000 electoral reports from
spect the official results. polling sites contained “in-
He’s watched an initial consistencies,” including
five-point lead diminish lacking signatures from
in recent days as official members of the polling
results have trickled out. sites or not having seals.
On Thursday, Hernandez Those will most likely re-
was ahead by more than quire a special count and
35,000 votes, with nearly 91 it was unclear how many Supporters of Libre Alliance presidential candidate Salvador Nasralla chant the national anthem
percent of Sunday’s votes votes were at play in those during a protest outside the National Institute of Professional Training, where election ballots are
processed. He had 42.7 cases, he said.Representa- stored, in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, Thursday, Nov. 30, 2017.
percent of the vote to Nas- tives of the Organization of (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
ralla’s 41.5 percent. American States called for tear gas closed two central end to keep students out of tinue to protest peacefully
Opposition supporters transparency in the count. boulevards. Vehicles with harm’s way. The Associa- and not be provoked into
protested through the Protesters from the coun- water cannons for crowd tion of Banking Institutions violence. Luis Zelaya, can-
night outside the electoral try’s interior gathered on control were visible. recommended branches didate for the Liberal Party,
court’s facilities, setting up the capital’s outskirts Thurs- Many schools and uni- close Thursday afternoon who was running a distant
some highway roadblocks day, preparing to march versities in the capital an- in anticipation of street third in the tally, called for
and lighting fires in the in protest. Riot police nounced they would be clashes.Nasralla via Twitter his supporters to “defend
streets. Street protests con- equipped with batons and closed through the week- asked his supporters to con- democracy.”q
Relatives of Argentina sub crew want probe of disappearance

By A. CALATRAVA Nov. 15 despite an inten- the snorkel and caused contained, the navy says. said this week that the blast
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina sive multinational search one of the submarine’s Some hours later, an explo- could have been triggered
(AP) — Some relatives of in the South Atlantic. Hope batteries to short circuit. sion was detected near the by a “concentration of
crew members on a miss- for survivors has faded be- The captain later commu- time and place where the hydrogen” caused by the
ing Argentine submarine cause experts say the 44 nicated by satellite phone San Juan was last heard battery problem reported
are asking to be plaintiffs sailors had only enough ox- that the problem had been from. A navy spokesman by the captain. q
in a judicial investigation ygen to last up to 10 days
of the disappearance, say- if the sub remained sub-
ing they want to ensure the merged and undamaged.
case is fully studied. “Until a bolt from the sub-
Luis Tagliapietra said Thurs- marine appears, they
day that he joined the case could be anywhere, in any
because he believes the situation,” said Tagliapi-
navy has withheld informa- etra, the father of 27-year-
tion and lied to the families old crewman Alejandro
of crew members such as Tagliapietra.“Of course,
his son. He said seven other the days pass by and the
families have asked to join anguish, fear and despera-
as plaintiffs. tion rise. But in a way, I’m
The group wants judicial channeling all of this with
authorities to safeguard this struggle, so that no
any evidence related to matter what, we can find
the voyage of the ARA San out the truth.”The navy has
Juan, which hasn’t been said the vessel’s captain re-
seen or heard from since ported that water entered