TEGUCIGALPA, Nov 24, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - The three main presidential candidates in Honduras traded fraud accusations as they wrapped up campaigning on Sunday ahead of the November 30 election, amid international fears about ensuring a free and fair vote.

More than six million people are eligible to cast ballots in the Central American country to pick a successor to leftist President Xiomara Castro.

Lawmakers and mayors will also be elected in the fiercely polarized nation, which is one of the most violent countries in Latin America, mainly due to drug trafficking and gang activity.

The presidential contest is one round only, and the three hopefuls -- Rixi Moncada of Castro's ruling Libre party, along with right-wingers Nasry Asfura of the National Party and Salvador Nasralla of the Liberal Party -- are locked in a statistical dead heat.

The 66-year-old Castro, in power since 2022, is barred by the constitution from seeking a second consecutive term.

"The fight on Sunday the 30th is between two models: oligarchy and the democratic socialism" espoused by Castro, Moncada told a crowd of supporters at her final campaign rally in the capital Tegucigalpa.

Moncada, a lawyer by training, has pledged to pursue the policies put in place by Castro, the wife of former president Manuel Zelaya, who was ousted in a 2009 coup.

Asfura, who had a career in construction before moving into politics and serving as the mayor of Tegucigalpa, urged his supporters late Saturday to turn out en masse at polling stations.

"We're not going to accept failed ideologies," he said, referring to Moncada.

Nasralla, a popular television host and a civil engineer by training, denounced alleged attacks on a caravan of vehicles carrying his supporters, and canceled his speech at his final rally in the capital.

He blamed Moncada's party for "acts of vandalism" and accused her of buying votes and encouraging fraud.

Nasralla also claimed she had the backing of the Cuban and Venezuelan governments.

Both Asfura and Nasralla have suggested that Moncada could enlist the military to help her commit election fraud, while Moncada has warned that her rivals have the backing of those who forced Zelaya from power.

Amid the rapid-fire accusations, the National Electoral Council started shipping ballot materials nationwide on Thursday under military guard, as required by law.

The winner of Sunday's election will succeed Castro, the first woman president of Honduras, on January 27, 2026.

The European Union and the Organization of American States have dispatched election monitors, while nine members of the US Congress -- seven Republicans and two Democrats -- will be on hand to observe the vote.