Voters Choose President; Gang Violence Key Issue
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Hondurans voted for a new president, choosing between hard-liner Porfirio Lobo, who wants to reinstate the death penalty to curb gang slayings, and logging magnate Manuel Zelaya, who proposed life sentences and more police to stop the violence.
Clamping down on tattooed youth gang members known as “maras,” who are behind a wave of beheadings, eye gougings, rapes and other violence, is the key election issue in the poor Central American nation.
An exit poll released by two TV stations showed Zelaya ahead by 6 percentage points. He declared himself the winner, but Lobo did not concede.
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