A bomb exploded on Saturday at the offices of the opposition, center-right National Party in the northern city of El Progreso, causing damage to the main gate but no injuries.The blast left the gate "destroyed," Ricardo Bermudez, a National Party congressional candidate, told HRN radio.
At the time of the explosion, which occurred at around 7:45 a.m. local time (1345 GMT), "none of our activists was inside the building" and the guard had gone out for breakfast, he said.
Bermudez added that, according to preliminary reports by the National Police, the bomb, hurled by unknown assailants, was made of a "plastic explosive."
The candidate said the perpetrators of the attack, rather than seeking to cause material damage, were trying to "intimidate citizens" into staying away from the Nov. 29 general elections, the first since a June 28 coup ousted elected President Mel Zelaya.
"Those few (who reject the elections) are trying to intimidate people from going to the polling stations, but that won't happen; the Honduran people won't let themselves be intimidated, they like to live in peace," he said.
Several bombs have exploded in recent weeks in Honduras, although no one has been injured and no arrests have been made in connection with the attacks.
The leader of the Honduran de facto government installed by the coup, Roberto Micheletti, said Thursday he will step down for a week on either side of the election to choose a successor to Zelaya.
Honduran opponents of the coup, backed by most of the international community, say a free and fair vote is impossible given the repression imposed by the de facto regime, which is blamed for at least a dozen deaths and numerous other human rights abuses.
Zelaya dismissed Micheletti's plan to temporarily step down as a machination "to deceive fools."
Hours before Micheletti's announcement, Zelaya urged Hondurans to continue peaceful resistance to the coup and suggested delaying the elections at least until after Dec. 2, when Congress is to begin debate on reinstating the ousted president, whose terms ends in late January.