Man shot dead at protest over Honduras’ disputed election

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras – A man has been shot dead at a protest over Honduras’ disputed presidential election a week after President Juan Orlando Hernandez was sworn in for a new term.

Hugo Maldonado is co-ordinator of the Committee on Human Rights. He identifies the victim as 40-year-old Guadalupe Ismael Hernandez.

Maldonado says witnesses reported Hernandez was killed Monday as military police fired live rounds to clear demonstrators from a highway near the country’s Caribbean coast.

Police spokesman Jair Meza says the incident is under investigation.

The protest lasted some four hours on the road between Choloma and San Pedro Sula, Honduras’ second-largest city.

Opposition candidate Salvador Nasralla alleges there was fraud in the Nov. 26 election, which was marred by numerous irregularities. At least 31 people have died in political unrest since then.