Gustavo Palencia and David Alire Garcia

TEGUCIGALPA, Reuters – The Honduran country was left in suspense after a long delay in counting votes for the Sunday Honduran presidential elections. Tuesday came just as the Leftist Candidate Xiomara Cruz seemed to have won a decisive victory.

Castro was able to take a lead of almost 20 points over her closest opponent with nearly half of the vote counted. However, Castro and her supporter had to wait for the results after they were unexpectedly stopped at dawn on the morning after the election.

Castro, who if she is confirmed the winner would become Honduras’s first woman president and bring the left back to power after a period of 12 years that had followed her ex-husband Manuel Zelaya’s ousting in a coup.

Luis Guillermo Solis (OAS chief election observer mission) told Reuters that he hoped there wasn’t a delay of more than ten days.

This delay has brought back memories from the 2017 election when opposition candidates suddenly lost ground after an extended suspension caused by the electoral council to restart the count.

Although there were accusations of fraud, deadly demonstrations and unrest, so far there has not been any. The voters saw Castro’s bigger lead this time, as a guarantee that Castro would win.

Election in this impoverished country marks the latest in a series of political battles in Central America. There, chronic joblessness, crime and corruption have all contributed to record-breaking migration to the United States.

Castro was the winner of nearly 54%, while the candidate for the National Party, Nasry Asfura, came second at 34%.

Castro (NYSE:) tweeted a celebration of a “resounding win in the entire country”, after her followers had cheered, danced, and waved flags as they celebrated the impending departure from Juan Orlando Hernandez, the conservative president.

Hernandez is highly disliked and was implicated in a U.S. Federal Drug Trafficking Case. Although Hernandez has denied wrongdoing, he could be charged with indictment after he leaves office.

Solis, an OAS chief and a former President of Costa Rica said he anticipated the electoral council clearing up the count shortly. However, rural votes are often more complicated to count.

He noted Sunday’s historical turnout and the absence of any violence on Monday as positive developments and stated that Castro received early congratulations from other sectors than her base of support, such as business leaders.

He said that he had seen statements by key sectors which have acknowledged the victory of Libre. This was in reference to Castro’s leftist party’s lead.

He said, “But I believe we still have missing documents and total votes to scrutinize.”