HONDURAS-CORRUPTION Thousands march against Honduran president over corruption scandal

Record ID: 150417

  • Title: HONDURAS-CORRUPTION Thousands march against Honduran president over corruption scandal
  • Date: 6th June 2015
  • Summary: TEGUCIGALPA, HONDURAS (JUNE 5, 2015) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF SEVERAL THOUSAND PROTESTERS CARRYING BURNING TORCHES AND HONDURAN FLAGS BANNER IN SPANISH READING: "Prison for the scammers!"/ BANNER IN SPANISH READING: "No more delinquency, no more impunity." VARIOUS OF THOUSANDS OF PROTESTERS MARCHING, MANY CARRYING TORCHES (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PROTESTER, OSMAN BARRIENTOS, SAYI
  • Embargoed: 21st June 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Honduras
  • Country: Honduras
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA5IHKAM0B8W5H8SBGKT8PH354F
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: About 8,000 protesters marched through the Honduran capital on Friday (June 5) calling on President Juan Orlando Hernandez to resign after he admitted his 2013 presidential campaign took money from companies linked to a major corruption scandal.
    Bearing torches, demonstrators shouted "JOH out, JOH out" using Hernandez's initials, and marched through the centre of Tegucigalpa to local offices of the United Nations, where they demanded the creation of an anti-corruption commission.
    A U.N.-backed anti-corruption body has helped uncover corruption in Guatemala, where last month, several top officials were arrested in an anti-bribery probe and a number of ministers linked to media investigations into graft resigned.
    Investigations into the $200 million scandal that broke last year involving the Honduran Institute of Social Security (IHSS) have pointed to suspect campaign financing.
    "We are protesting against impunity and corruption, we will not stand for criminalisation and insecurity. This country is collapsing, public enterprise has been disarmed, this government cannot do anything, it must be removed," said protester Osman Barrientos.
    "The have stolen all the money, they don't give the explanations they ought to give, and aside from that, they are so cynical and say they never did it when everyone knows they did," added Claudia, a protester.
    President Hernandez made the admission on Wednesday, but said he and his National Party were unaware of where the money came from and hoped that an investigation would find those responsible. He also denied any personal involvement in the scandal.
    Hernandez, a conservative, 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.
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