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Ruling party candidate leads in Honduras vote

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras — The two top presidential candidates continued to claim victory Monday in a hotly contested presidential race, as Hondurans awaited final results and only small protest crowds gathered in the streets.

With about 60 percent of the vote tallied, Juan Orlando Hernandez of the governing National Party had just over 34 percent of the votes, giving him the edge over Xiomara Castro, who had almost 29 percent. Castro’s husband Manuel Zelaya was ousted in a 2009 coup that has left the country politically unstable.

Zelaya said his party would not accept the results. ‘‘We will defend our triumph, and if it’s necessary, we will do it in the streets,’’ he said.

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The rest of the world started to line up behind Hernandez as the winner, given his comfortable 5-point lead, sending congratulations. Even President Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua, an ally of Zelaya and staunch critic of the coup, congratulated Hernandez Monday as the newly elected president, according to his spokeswoman and wife, Rosario Murillo.

‘‘If they have doubts about the process, go to the court and report them,’’ Hernandez said of his opponents. ‘‘The process was transparent.’’

Hernandez and Castro went into Sunday’s election neck-and-neck in opinion polls, and expectations of a close finish raised fears that a disputed result would produce more instability and protests. Voting went off peacefully amid a heavy turnout, however, and the uncertainty of the final results plus a cold, rainy night kept the streets quiet.

Associated Press