Ada Peralta

And now this may seem odd because the U.S.

has had major problems with the National Party.

The last National Party president, Juan Orlando Hernández, was extradited to the U.S.

and convicted of drug trafficking.

But just before this election, Trump pardoned Hernández and endorsed his ally, Nasri Asfura.

In a statement yesterday, the State Department congratulated Asfura and said that they looked forward to working with the new Honduran government.

In a post on Truth Social, President Trump endorsed conservative Tito Asfura for president, and he also said he would issue a pardon to former President Juan Orlando Hernandez.

Hernandez was convicted of drug trafficking in a federal court in the United States.

And he was also implicated in huge corruption scandals at home.

Asfura took the National Party reins from Hernández, and he lost to a leftist candidate in 2021.

In his post, Trump threatened to pull USA to Honduras if Asfura doesn't win.

The most recent polls show three candidates are in a dead heat for the presidency.

Ed Peralta, NPR News, Mexico City.

What happened here is a small town mayor was murdered at the beginning of November.

And this mayor, he was the mayor of Uruapan, Michoacan.

And he had taken a full frontal approach to fighting organized crime.

in his city.

And what he said is, you know, we're going to shoot first and ask questions later.

And then November 1st, on Day of the Dead, he was shot dead in the middle of his town in front of a large crowd.

And protests erupted almost immediately in his town.