Honduras: Salvador Nasralla Forms New Party Amid Anniversary of Coup Against Zelaya

Former Honduran presidential candidate, Salvador Nasralla, announced Friday that he's creating a new party, which will be called the Salvador de Honduras.

RELATED: 
Honduras Marks Anniversary of Coup Against Manuel Zelaya

Nasralla, who in 2011 established the Anti-Corruption Party or PAC, appeared with some of his advisers, activists, and supporters before the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) to begin the registration process of the political group.

If registration is successful, Salvador de Honduras will become the ninth political party in the Central American country.

The announcement of the new political party comes on the ninth anniversary of the United States-backed coup against former Honduran President Manuel Zelaya. His ouster came as he tried to gear the Central American country to join the Leftist Block on the Latin American continent by forging ties with progressive Latin American governments — Venezuela, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Cuba and Bolivia — while also joining the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America, ALBA.

In 2009, Zelaya also arranged plans to hold a popular referendum to convene a national constituent assembly with the intention of amending the constitution of 1981, intended to empower historically-marginalized groups — like Black, Indigenous and LGBT people — and workers. 

Nasralla pointed out that his new party is open to form alliances with other political groups and social movements that agree with his stance to fight corruption, according to EFE.

Additionally, he reiterated that Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernandez, who was re-elected on November 26, co-opted and, eventually, stole the PAC. Nasralla continues to claim that fraud was responsible for the Orlando Hernandez's re-election in 2017 and does not recognize his mandate.

He said the next elections should be pushed forward to 2019 to remove Orlando Hernandez from power.

According to Nasralla, his support base amounts to at least 1.5 million people, and he hopes they will be the force behind his electoral victory whenever the next presidential elections are held.