The civilians of Honduras have been suffering both immense political and personal injustices for years, but today this Central American country is going through a turmoil so appalling that long-awaited and much-needed special attention must be brought to the eyes of the public immediately. Action to help these citizens needs to be taken at once.

Honduras has just recently gone through a long-awaited presidential election with opposing candidates Juan Orlando Hernandez, who is the current president running for a second term, and Salvador Nasralla, neck-to-neck in the elections. Hernandez has recently been accused of corruption and manipulating the results of this election by his political rival Nasralla. “They are out here offering poor people food, roof tiles or cement in exchange for their vote,” Nasralla said. There has been no rebuttal or response from Hernandez to these allegations.

After a recount of nearly 1,000 skeptical votes, the Honduran Supreme Electoral Commission decided against declaring the victor to the public and announced that the recount would take place this past Saturday, but was cancelled when Hernandez did not attend.

Peaceful demonstrations in support of Nasralla arose in Tegucigalpa the following day, and among the many marching was Salvador Nasralla himself, who was seen shaking the hands of protesters and kissing the cheeks of babies that joined their parents in this march. Many Honduran citizens are in support of Nasralla because they want the current president Hernandez out of office as soon as possible, and with the postponed election results and the allegations of corruption made against the incumbent, the people of Honduras are getting more and more anxious and irritated for these overdue results.

The restlessness and anxiety that filled the minds and hearts of so many civilians finally poured out into the streets of Honduras as major riots broke out. The people marching could be heard screaming out that Hernandez is a corrupt and unfit president who will only make the country continue to transform into a land of only poverty, murder, and constant gang violence. In between these screams were deafening shouts accusing the president of manipulating these election results as well.

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Nearly a dozen people have been killed and virtually 20 people were severely injured during these riots. Ebel Diaz, an official for the council of ministers, describes these barbarous outbreaks as a “wave of violence that has engulfed the country.”

Days later, Honduras was still in the same position — no declaration of a winner and a growing amount of protests that only grew more violent and louder. The peacefulness that was once what drove these protests burnt out and was instead replaced with constant looting, arson, and road blocking. The entire country was put under a state of emergency. Hernandez and the rest of the government decided to announce that a curfew between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. would be enforced as an attempt to help cease these riots, and also called onto the national police to help control the protests.

TeleSUR English tweeted today that the police refuse to implement the new curfew. They responded by stating that they “aren’t with a political ideology. [They] can’t keep confronting people, and [they] don’t want to repress and violate the rights of the Honduran people.”

Tension, outrage and confusion is in the Honduran air this December, and with every passing day, something new unfolds. In order to help the people of Honduras during these trying times, one must raise awareness to this current situation. A petition to help the people of Honduras gain justice can be found here. We, the privileged, must do everything in our power to help end the corruption that is embedded so deeply throughout Latin America.