Honduras protesters stage biggest march yet to demand president resign
Estimated 60,000 Hondurans gather in capital Tegucigalpa for a sixth week, calling for Juan Orlando Hernández to step down over corruption claims
Protesters march on the Presidential House on Friday.
Protesters march on the Presidential House on Friday. Photograph: Fernando Antonio/AP
Reuters
Saturday 4 July 2015 04.50 BST Last modified on Saturday 4 July 2015 04.54 BST
Tens of thousands Hondurans poured onto the streets of the capital Tegucigalpa on Friday to demand the resignation of the president, Juan Orlando Hernández, in the biggest demonstration yet against the country’s leader over allegations of corruption.
An estimated 60,000 demonstrators, many holding torches, took part in the noisy protest that converged on the presidential palace for what was the sixth Friday-evening march in a row.
“No more corruption, JOH out,” protesters called, chanting the president’s initials.
A coalition of opposition political groups is demanding an independent probe into a $200m corruption scandal at the Honduran Institute of Social Security, where companies, some formed by institute officials, overcharged for services.
The opposition groups want an independent prosecutorial team 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 $150,000 from firms linked to the scandal, but said that he and his party did not know where the money was from.
