a feeling of exhilaration and relief

Nearly losing the good we have in our lives truly makes us value it.

viva Honduras! viva Honduras! viva Honduras!

Today is election day. 4.6 million Hondurans are eligible to vote in what is without a doubt one of the most important elections ever in our nation's history. Today we are not only selecting a new president, a new congress, and new local officials, but we are also sending a message to the world. That message is that we love and cherish our democracy and our freedom. I'm hoping for a strong turnout as it will confirm to the international community that the silent majority of Hondurans has been supporting the courageous defenders of our democracy all along.

Photo courtesy of El Heraldo

Micheletti: Chavez will not stop trying to boycott Honduran freedom

TEGUCIGALPA .- President Roberto Micheletti said today that the ruler of Venezuela, Hugo Chávez, will not stop in his aim to "boycott" the freedom of Hondurans.

"Don Hugo Chávez is not going to stop, not now, not later, he will continue trying to boycott the right we Hondurans have to be free," said Mr. Micheletti to HRN radio.

Chavez's actions, according to Micheletti, will continue "through (Daniel) Ortega," the president of Nicaragua, whose government has closed the three land borders with Honduras for 48 hours for the elections tomorrow.

Chavez will also attempt to boycott Honduras "through any other leader of South American countries under his aegis," said Micheletti.

"They will continue, and faced with this, I say to Hondurans, let's go vote en masse, let's select a new president, but we must support him because there will be enormous influences trying to boycott the process and boycott precisely the new presidential mandate," he added.

Translated from La Tribuna

Santos: if I win, I will withdraw Honduras from ALBA

Tegucigalpa, Honduras.  The presidential candidate for the Liberal Party (PL), Elvin Santos said he will withdraw Honduras from the Bolivarian Alliance of the Americas (ALBA) if he's elected at the polls this Sunday.

"I do not believe that (Honduras) should remain in the alliance because it has not been proven to have benefits for the country," Santos said in a press conference.

In fact, the accession of Honduras to the bloc championed by President Hugo Chávez "has created a huge problem that today has our society polarized," he said.

Honduras is part of the Alliance since August 2008, when then-deposed president Manuel Zelaya shifted to the left after being elected by the Liberal Party.

Translated from El Heraldo

The Honduran Liberal Party, despite its name, is actually a right of center party. Even though Elvin Santos is behind in the polls, this eleventh hour announcement could make fence-sitters decide to vote for him tomorrow. As a result of the nightmarish situation we've had to live through these past several months after Manuel Zelaya sold out to Hugo Chavez and attempted to force a socialist form of government on us, Hondurans have a strong aversion to ALBA and everything Chavez-related. This was a genius move by Mr. Santos.

Llorens: "Honduran electoral process has much legitimacy"

Tegucigalpa - The U.S. ambassador in Honduras, Hugo Llorens, said that the elections being held tomorrow in this Central American country "have much legitimacy."

Speaking to Radio America which broadcasts from Tegucigalpa, U.S. Ambassador Hugo Llorens said Sunday's general elections are legitimate because they were called before the June 28 removal from power of now former President Manuel Zelaya.

"We know that the Honduran electoral process has much legitimacy because it was launched long before 28 June," he said in his statements.

Llorens said that candidates who participate in the contest also are legitimate, as "they were chosen in primaries held last year."

The diplomat also recognized that all political parties participating in the elections "are democratic institutions with long trajectories in Honduras" and that the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) "is an autonomous body from the Government and its magistrates were selected before 28 June. "

All this, he added, "gives the process a lot of legitimacy."

Translated from Proceso Digital

WashPost: U.S. position on Honduras is "correct"

Polls show that Hondurans are eager for the elections to occur. They have little taste for Mr. Zelaya, who embraced the leftist populism of Hugo Chávez while in office and was trying to follow the Venezuelan's model for dismantling democratic institutions. Last month, Mr. Zelaya accepted a U.S.-brokered deal that endorsed the elections while providing for the Honduran Congress to vote on whether to restore him to office for the remainder of his term. Yet when he was not immediately returned to power, Mr. Zelaya repudiated the plan. Now he and his supporters claim the election must be regarded as illegitimate, because Congress will not vote on his status until next week. Hondurans understandably wonder whether Mr. Zelaya's intention all along was to disrupt a democratic process that will send him to a well-deserved retirement.

Unfortunately, Mr. Zelaya has the backing not only of Mr. Chávez and his satellites but also of governments such as Brazil -- with which the Obama administration hoped to forge a regional partnership. The lesson of the Honduran crisis is that the United States cannot always pursue such multilateralism and also support democracy. Too many Latin American governments are more interested in backing leaders who share their political inclinations than in upholding the rule of law. While loudly denouncing the "coup" against Mr. Zelaya, they have ignored the rigging of elections and the violent suppression of opposition by fellow leftists. In rejecting their attempt to nullify Honduras's democratic vote this Sunday, the Obama administration has taken a relatively isolated stance -- and a correct one.

- Washington Post

the front-runner

Opinion polls in Honduras indicate conservative candidate Porfirio "Pepe" Lobo is the clear front-runner in Sunday's controversial presidential election.

Polls give Mr. Lobo of the opposition National Party a 16-point lead over Elvin Santos of the ruling Liberal Party, which ousted its own leader, Manuel Zelaya, as Honduran president in June.

Both Mr. Lobo and Mr. Santos support Mr. Zelaya's removal from power, a move that brought international isolation to the poor Central American nation.

- VOAnews.com

"an election consistent with the constitutional mandate"

Latin American nations, so fearful of coups that they didn't stop to consider the facts, blundered in trying to bring the de facto government to its knees by kicking it out of the Organization of American States. When the Hondurans refused to bow to OAS pressure, the hemispheric body, led by its ham-handed secretary-general, José Miguel Insulza, was left with no negotiating leverage.

Only the United States responded with a calibrated approach, siding with the Latin American countries over how Zelaya was removed but being understanding enough to seek a mediated solution. For once, bipartisanship thrives. A group of Senate Republicans backed off from their blind thrashing at Chávez ghosts, and now the democracy institutes of both parties are sending election observers.

The elections were scheduled, the candidates were chosen and the electoral commission was appointed while Zelaya was still in office. As Assistant Secretary of State Arturo Valenzuela told an OAS commission this week, "this is an election consistent with the constitutional mandate to elect the president and Congress."

- Edward Schumacher-Matos, Washington Post

Germany comes to the good side

Berlin, Germany. The German parliament decided to recognize the Honduran elections and the president that emerges from them, while rejecting the "Chavista and undemocratic" attitude of deposed president Manuel Zelaya.

The two government parties, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and Liberal (FDP), joined the Social Democrats (SPD) in rejecting two motions tabled by the opposition on Honduras.

Translated from El Heraldo.

the sentiment in Honduras today

At the time of this post, according to El Heraldo's election countdown clock, there is only one day, eight hours, and 9 minutes remaining until polls open for the elections that will mark the beginning of a bright new future for Honduras.

Costa Rica joins the good guys

Costa Rica announced today that it will recognize the winner of Sunday's elections.