Honduran President Inaugurated

Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez gives a press conference in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2017.
Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez gives a press conference in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2017. AP Photo/Fernando Antonio
Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez gives a press conference in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2017.
Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez gives a press conference in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2017. AP Photo/Fernando Antonio

Honduran President Inaugurated

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Juan Orlando Hernández, the president of Honduras, is expected to be sworn for a second term on Saturday.

The national election commission declared him the winner of last November’s presidential election, even though the country’s constitution forbids re-election. Supporters of opposition candidate Salvador Nasralla have been protesting across the country with calls for a re-vote. The Organization of American States also call for a re-vote, but the U.S. rejected the call, opting instead to support Hernández.

As many as 40 protesters have been killed from riot police using weapons armed with live ammunition. Hernández first term was plagued with corruption and human rights abuses. Berta Cáceres, a Goldman prize-winning environmental and indigenous activist, was just one of many critics of Hernández that have been assassinated in recent years.

Matt Ginsberg-Jaeckle is an interpreter, community organizer, and member of La Voz de Los de Abajo, based in Chicago. He was in Honduras to observe the 2017 presidential election. La Voz de Los de Abajo is hosting a teach-in and day of solidarity with other victims of state violence on the day of the inauguration. It’s taking place at Grace Place, 637 S. Dearborn, at 10:30 a.m.