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\"The people are in a critical state,\" Salvador Nasralla, Castro's running mate and Hernández's opponent in 2017, told ABC News. \"I do not dismiss the possibility of a civil war in the country.\"

In the 2017 elections, Nasralla was ahead in the polls and largely expected to win, making the Supreme Electoral Tribunal's declaration that Hernández won after a delayed count that much more suspicious to many Hondurans. But the Trump administration backed Hernández's claim to victory, dismissing concerns from the OAS and other international election observers about irregularities.

This time around, Nasralla, a popular former sportscaster, said he felt compelled to join Castro's ticket to try to ensure a left-wing victory.

\"It wouldn't be winning if I subtracted votes from the opposition, and that would've made me a bad Honduran,\" he told ABC News in his only interview with an English-language outlet.

Castro herself has become a force in Honduran politics, leading the movement against the 2009 coup where the military deposed her husband Manuel Zelaya after he pushed a referendum to change the constitution and abolish its one-term limit.

Backed by her new liberal party, she has been ahead in the polls in recent weeks, especially after Nasralla's surprising endorsement.

\"PHOTO:
U.S. Embassy of Honduras/Handout via AFP via Getty Images
PHOTO: The U.S. Dept. of State Assistant Secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs Brian A. Nichols (2nd R) shakes hands with the president of the Honduran Council of Private Enterprise (COHEP) Juan Carlos Sikaffy in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, Nov. 22, 2021.
>

But Asfura remains a potent opponent, boosted by his own party's hold on government and promises \"to create jobs and opportunities so that people can bring food to their homes, health, and education,\" as he said in a recent rally.

Asfura's popularity comes despite allegations against him in the recent Pandora Papers which revealed he used offshore tax loopholes, and local officials accused him of embezzling funds from the capital city's municipal government.

They're not the first charges against the ruling National Party's leaders. Hernández was named by a U.S. federal court as a co-conspirator in a huge narcotics trafficking case that saw his brother, former congressman Tony Hernández, sentenced to life in prison. The president has denied wrongdoing and has not faced criminal charges.

Despite those allegations, the Biden administration has tried to work with Hernández and other Central American governments to stem migration from the region, which has surged during his presidency. Nearly 1.7 million migrants reached the southern U.S. border in fiscal year 2021, which covers October 2020 through September 2021, and one-fifth of them -- 308,931 in total -- were Honduran.

\"Honduras doesn't guarantee its citizens a dignified life within its territory, and it forces them to flee,\" said López, the Tegucigalpa voter who is backing Castro's campaign.

During his own 2020 U.S. presidential campaign, Biden pledged to invest $4 billion in Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala -- sometimes called the Northern Triangle countries -- to improve the quality of life, including the rule of law and countering corruption, and give their citizens reasons to stay in their communities.

\"PHOTO:
Gustavo Amador/EPA via Shutterstock
PHOTO: The president of the National Electoral Council of Honduras, Kevin Izaguirre (R), and the Chief of the Armed Forces of that country, Tito Livio Moreno, carry a box with electoral material for the elections in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, Nov. 23, 2021.
>

While that money has started to flow, corrupt and increasingly power-grabbing political leaders in all three countries have made it difficult for the U.S. to find partners to work with.

Free and fair elections, a peaceful transfer of power and a new leadership partner in Honduras are important to Biden's agenda, particularly because if the situation deteriorates, even more Hondurans could flee in search of a better life to the north.

\"Everything is at stake here. For the first time, you have a very clearly differentiated path that is being put forward by the proposals of both parties,\" said Sergio Bahr, a Honduran sociologist. \"This election will define the direction in which the country goes in the next 10 to 20 years.\"

That's why the State Department deployed its top diplomat for the region to Honduras. Nichols, the assistant secretary for Western Hemisphere affairs, met with Honduras' national electoral council, its chief of defense, and its attorney general, among others, saying he was assured they're taking \"all measures necessary\" to secure the election and prevent violence like 2017.

\"We certainly will be looking to Honduran electoral authorities to carry out their responsibilities professionally and transparently, and they've assured their own people as well as the international community of the same,\" he told ABC News.

For voters like Ela Rubio, that's all that they want, she said.

\"We want democracy. We want transparent elections,\" said Rubio, an Asfura supporter.\" We don't want to regress. We want to move forward. We want to keep going, and to show the world that not everything in Honduras is bad.\"

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