For the first time in its history, Honduras, a small country in Central America, will be ruled by a leftist woman. The victory last Sunday of Xiomara Castro, the wife of former President Manuel Zelaya, now seems to have been confirmed. A consecration for this former first lady, head of the Free Party, who had already run for the presidential election in 2013.
Hondurans know her wearing a white cowboy hat, dressed in red. Xiomara Castro, former first lady who became president of one of the most violent countries in the world. She had chosen the fight against corruption as the central theme of her campaign. A strategy that has proven to be a winning one while his rival Nasry Asfura is rightly accused of embezzlement of public funds. It is more than 20% ahead of the latter and should logically reach the top position.
Violence and poverty: the two challenges
Victory smacks of revenge. ” Twelve years of resistance have not been in vain », She underlined during her first speech, an allusion to the coup of 2009, which ousted from power her husband, President Manuel Zelaya. It was also at this time that Xiomara Castro decided to enter the political scene, defending the colors of the Liberdad y Refundacion (Free) party, founded by her husband. Without political experience, she ran in the 2013 presidential election but lost it to Juan Orlando Hernandez. Her victory today, she also owes it to a large coalition of left and center-left parties that she was able to unite behind her candidacy.
Mother of four children and 62 years old, she does not hesitate to call in her program for the legalization of therapeutic abortion and same-sex marriage. Ultra sensitive themes in a very conservative country where the vast majority of the inhabitants are Catholics or Evangelicals.
But the biggest challenge for the new president, close to the Venezuelan government, will be to fight against extreme poverty and violence, two endemic scourges that push thousands of Hondurans into exile every year. As a candidate, she had promised to work with the Biden administration to tackle the causes of migration in her country. We will see what form this collaboration will take when Washington takes a very negative view of the new left government’s plan to move closer to China.
Private sector favors
Xiomara Castro should also revive diplomatic relations with Venezuela, relations undermined by his predecessor Juan Orlando Hernandez who recognized the opponent Juan Guaido as legitimate president. Close to Nicolas Maduro, Xiomara Castro does not however wish to copy “socialist models” such as Cuba, Venezuela or Nicaragua.
Rather, she defends a ” Honduran democratic socialism “. In any case, the one that has been denounced as a ” Communist By his political opponents is well received by the business community. The private sector quickly lined up behind Xiomara Castro and said it was ready to work with her. Employers’ organizations hope that the new president will be able to keep her promises to make the country more attractive to investors.