The candidate is presented with a center-left political stance. Her adversaries criticize her, saying that she is on the line of Venezuela and Cuba.
After the general elections last Sunday in Honduras, the count of the presidential elections this Monday afternoon reached 52% of the vote, but it already gave a wide advantage to the candidate Xiomara Castro de Zelaya (Free Party), with 53% , against the ruling Nasry Asfura (National Party), with 33%. In Honduras there is no second round and the candidate with the most votes wins.
The wife of former President Manuel Zelaya, who was overthrown in a coup in 2009, was emerging as the favorite in a country with great political and social disputes, mainly notorious in recent years for the involvement of President Juan Orlando Hernández in corruption cases. and drug trafficking, investigated by the US justice, his brother was sentenced to life imprisonment for drug trafficking in the North American country.
“Good evening, we won,” Castro, 62, said Sunday night in front of his supporters. He also promised a government of reconciliation: “I reach out to my opponents, because I have no enemies, I will call for a dialogue (…) with all sectors.”
If his triumph is confirmed, Xiomara Castro will end a twelve-year hegemony of the National Party and replace the right-wing Hernández.
“At this point (the trend) is irreversible,” he told the AFP the former president of the National Electoral Tribunal (today CNE) Augusto Aguilar. “There is such a difference, never seen in the history of this country,” he said.
Thank you people! We turned 12 years of tears and pain into joy. The sacrifice of our martyrs was not in vain. We will initiate an era of prosperity of solidarity through dialogue with all sectors, without discrimination and without sectarianism. ???????? ❤️
– Xiomara Castro de Zelaya (@XiomaraCastroZ) November 29, 2021
However, when he announced the first results on Sunday night, the president of the CNE, Kelvin Aguirre, said that no one “can declare himself the winner until the last act is processed.”
But the wide difference in votes that favors Castro led his voters to celebrate in the streets, launch fireworks and set up caravans.
A “historical” participation of 3.2 million citizens of the more than 5 million enabled is also highlighted. According to the CNE, it represents 68% of the electorate. For decades, Honduras did not have a vote that exceeded 65%.
Apparently the whole process proceeded normally. Although civil organizations told BBC that there was “a lack of electoral material, flaws in the voting system and other minor problems.”
The ruling party, which on Sunday night still hoped to reverse the score, has been silent ever since.
In these elections, 128 deputies, 298 mayors and 20 representatives of the Central American Parliament are also elected. The electoral body has 30 days to announce the general results of the elections.
Congratulations from the left
“Our commitment is to guarantee young people that here in their homeland they will find what they need to generate opportunities and well-being for their family. It is a guarantee and a promise that we have made, “said Castro.
The candidate promotes a “democratic socialism” with an agenda that includes the legalization of abortion on grounds such as rape and that is open to discussing equal marriage.
It has been branded by its rivals as “communist”, collects AFP.
The Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA) celebrated its foreseeable victory, which it considered “an example of resistance and courage,” according to EFE.
He also celebrated that Castro is “the first president of Honduras,” although there are still no official results.
“Congratulations to the president-elect, Xiomara Castro. Latin America and the Caribbean also celebrate with Honduras, ”wrote Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel on Twitter.
Even the Venezuelan Nicolás Maduro and his wife congratulated her. The same did Daniel Ortega from Nicaragua.
Castró arrived at the general elections leading a de facto alliance, only for the presidential formula, with the National Opposition Union of Honduras (UNOH), led by Salvador Nasralla – who claims that the 2017 election was stolen from him -, of which he also formed Part of the Innovation and Social Democratic Unity Party (PINU-SD).
Among Castro’s proposals are to reform laws and modify the Constitution with a Constituent Assembly.
“We are going to form a government of reconciliation and justice, we are going to initiate a process throughout Honduras to guarantee a participatory democracy with popular consultations, because these will be a rule to govern through local governments, mayors and deputies. Never again will power be abused in this country, “said the former Honduran first lady firmly.
Libre’s candidate, wife of former president Manuel Zelaya, who was overthrown on June 28, 2009 when he promoted constitutional reforms ignoring legal impediments. From that fact, she became the voice of the protests in favor of her husband and a political leader of her country.
He also noted that he will strive to “build a different, equitable and just homeland with the ability to respond to so many needs of the people”, in a country where, according to various sources, poverty affects more than 70% of its population. (I)
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