Thousands protest in Honduras cities following scandal
Thousands protest in Honduras cities following scandal
Jun 1, 5:11 PM EDT
By ALBERTO ARCE
Associated Press
MEXICO CITY (AP) -- A protest movement organized over social media in Honduras has led to large demonstrations in cities around the Central American country.
The protesters are upset over a scandal involving a purported multimillion-dollar embezzlement of Social Security funds, with some of the money allegedly going to finance the governing political party. Among other things, they are calling for President Juan Orlando Hernandez to resign.
"The Social Security case is the occasion that has fed up the Honduran people, and that funds from Social Security would be used to finance political campaigns has been the catalyst for this movement," activist Gabriela Blen said Monday.
Organized via Twitter with hashtags including one that translates as "resign JOH" - a reference to the president's initials - the movement began recently as just a couple dozen people at a torchlight vigil in the capital. It gradually picked up steam, and thousands marched through Tegucigalpa on Friday with similarly large protests in San Pedro Sula, Siguatepeque, Choluteca and Comayagua during the weekend.
The Honduran Public Ministry has said a network led by the then-director of the Social Security Institute, Mario Zelaya, fraudulently misspent at least $120 million during the 2010-14 presidency of Porfirio Lobo.
More:
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/L/LT_HONDURAS_PROTESTS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2015-06-01-17-11-29
