HONDURAN police fired tear gas at public-sector workers on Friday at a rally opposing the US-backed regime’s plans to privatise health and education services.

Trade unions issued a call for a national strike, fearing the proposals approved in parliament last week will lead to major job losses in the public sector.

The Honduran Medical Association (HMA) and Union of Public Education Employees (Siempe) have held a number of protests amid rising anger over the government plans and calls for the resignation of President Juan Orlando Hernandez (JOH), who won a second term of office in 2017 in a vote branded “the most corrupt election in history.”