HONDURAS-MARCH/TORCHES Thousands rally to demand the resignation of Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez

Record ID: 145475

  • Title: HONDURAS-MARCH/TORCHES Thousands rally to demand the resignation of Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez
  • Date: 1st August 2015
  • Summary: VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS MARCHING TO CALLE 13'S SONG 'LATINOAMERICA'
  • Embargoed: 16th August 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Honduras
  • Country: Honduras
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA9PEJCUVVCNTQBV419AVC61ITM
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: PLEASE NOTE: EDIT CONTAINS STRONG LANGUAGE IN SHOTS #1, 4, 6.
    Bearing torches, thousands of Hondurans marched in the capital city of Tegucigalpa on Friday (July 31) to demand the resignation of President Juan Orlando Hernandez. who is embroiled in a corruption scandal.
    The massive march has become a regular weekly event has maintained pressure on the government in a corruption scandal which triggered the house arrest of Hernandez's vice president, Lena Gutierrez.
    A coalition of opposition political groups is demanding an independent probe into a $200-million corruption scandal at the Honduran Institute of Social Security, where companies, some formed by institute officials, are accused of overcharging for services.
    The opposition groups want an independent prosecutor staffed by foreigners, similar to a United Nations-backed commission that has led corruption probes in neighbouring Guatemala.
    Hernandez has admitted his 2013 presidential campaign took some $150,000 from firms linked to the scandal, but said that he and his National Party did not know where the money was from.
    A conservative, Hernandez took office at the start of 2014 in what is one of the poorest nations in the Americas. The Central American country of around 8.5 million has had the world's highest murder rate for several years.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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