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1 1 (November 23, 2021)

handle is hein.crs/goveewn0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Congressional SResearch Service 2021 Elections in Honduras Updated November 23, 2021 Honduras is scheduled to hold presidential, congressional, and municipal elections on November 28, 2021. The elections come at a difficult moment for Honduras, as many Hondurans have lost confidence in their democratic institutions and the country faces a protracted recovery from the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, two hurricanes, and a deep recession. Depending on their perceived legitimacy, the elections could help foster stability in Honduras or could exacerbate the country's challenges. The elections also will determine whether the U.S. government will have credible Honduran partners, with whom it can work to address migration, drug trafficking, and other policy concerns, and may influence congressional foreign assistance decisions. Domestic Context President Juan Orlando Hernindez (2014-present) of the conservative National Party (PN) is nearing the end of his second term and is not seeking a third. Many Hondurans maintain his 2017 reelection was unconstitutional and the result of electoral fraud. Over the past eight years, Hernindez and the PN- controlled congress have enacted business-friendly economic policies and a series of security- and justice- sector reforms while consolidating their influence over the supreme court and other nominally independent institutions. In September 2021, 74% of Hondurans surveyed thought the country was on the wrong track. They identified corruption as the principal problem facing Honduras and unemployment, COVID-19, and crime as top concerns for their families. Corruption. Perceptions of corruption have increased as President Hernindez and other current and former government officials have been implicated in various corrupt activities, including drug trafficking. Although the Honduran government enacted some anti-corruption measures during Hernindez's first term, it has rolled them back over the past two years as prosecutors have investigated the president and his congressional allies. Unemployment. The Honduran economy contracted by an estimated 9% in 2020 due to a pandemic-driven recession and the damage wrought by two hurricanes. From 2019 to 2020, the unemployment rate increased from 5.7% to 10.9% and the underemployment rate increased from 60.6% to 70.7%. In September 2021, an estimated 3.3 million people (a third of Hondurans) were contending with acute food insecurity. Congressional Research Service https://crsreports.congress.gov IN11795 CRS INSIGHT Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress