On June 29, the National Congress of Honduras decided to reelect Óscar Chinchilla, the current Attorney General of Honduras, despite not having been included in the list of five candidates selected by the Nominating Committee. In fact, Chinchilla had declined to run during the preselection process. In addition, for the role of Deputy Attorney General, Congress appointed a candidate that was on the list for the top position but had eventually been voted out during the process. Both the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers had called for Honduras to follow international standards during this important election.
How can we understand the reelection of Chinchilla in terms of both Honduran national law and international law? How did this situation develop through the selection process and how did it lead to this unexpected outcome? What message does it send to the region? What are the lessons to be learned?
Read our analysis and the chronicle of a reelection un-foretold here.