Hondurans cast ballots amid US threat

TEGUCIGALPA:

Hondurans cast ballots for their next president on Sunday amid threats by US President Donald Trump to cut aid to the country if his preferred candidate loses.

Honduras could be the next country in Latin America, after Argentina and Bolivia, to swing right after years of leftist rule.

Polls show three candidates neck-and-neck in the race to succeed leftist President Xiomara Castro, whose husband, Manuel Zelaya, also led the country before being toppled in a 2009 coup. Trump's favorite is 67-year-old Nasry "Tito" Asfura of the right-wing National Party.

His main challengers are 60-year-old lawyer Rixi Moncada from the ruling Libre party and 72-year-old TV host Salvador Nasralla of the Liberal Party.

Polls opened at 7:00 am (1300 GMT) for 10 hours of voting, with the first results expected late Sunday.

Trump has conditioned continued US support for one of Latin America's poorest countries on Asfura winning.