Left retakes power in Honduras

With more than 50% of the votes counted, the leftist Xiomara Castro, Manuel Zelaya's wife, has been recognized by her main adversary Nasry Asfura

The wife of former President Manuel Zelaya, Xiomara Castro, of the Libertad y Refundación party, officially became the president of Honduras on Tuesday, representing a left-wing return to power in the Central American country after 12 years.

The ruling party candidate, Nasry Asfura Zablah of the National Party recognized the victory of the female, despite the fact that the National Electoral Council has not formally declared the triumph of Castro.

The elections were held last Sunday, and until this Tuesday the total of the votes is still not known, however, Xiomara Castro so far has added 53.49%, surpassing his main adversary Nasry Asfura, who barely has 33, 98%, of 52.07% of the votes counted.

According to what was expressed by the National Electoral Council of Honduras, the vote counting process has been slow due to the fact that the missing material reaches the computer center in physical form, contrary to the first half of the total that arrived in digital format.

The European Union observer mission, during the presentation of its preliminary report, pointed out that the elections were carried out in an atmosphere of tranquility, and the voters flocked to the polling stations, which in their opinion shows a commitment of the citizens with democracy.

However, the leader of the European Union mission, Zeljana Zovko, pointed out during the reading of the report that the campaign was highly politicized, with high levels of political violence, and the abuse of state resources was evidenced during the Bell.

Since Sunday night, Castro was already considered the winner, since according to what was reported by local media he had a wide advantage, for which he affirmed that he would form a government "of reconciliation, peace and justice", and he asserted that he will work to guarantee participatory and direct democracy in the country.

Likewise, he promised to call for a dialogue with all sectors of society, with the aim of establishing the bases for his government, and closed his speech with the phrase: "until victory always", which is used by the communist and socialist governments of Cuba and Venezuela, respectively.

Is communism coming to Honduras?

Throughout the campaign, the now president of Honduras was accused of being a communist because of her ties to the government of Hugo Chávez and Fidel Castro, when her husband, Manuel Zelaya, was president of the nation in 2006.

Political scientists fear this turn to power from the left in Honduras, and have analyzed the speeches of the president, who has assured that she will deepen her relations with China, so they have wondered if this will bring further backwardness to the Central American country, since they follow the example of Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela.

Despite this, his opponent, Nasry Asfura, throughout the campaign promoted the slogan: "homeland yes, communism no", likewise, the secretary of the Central Committee of the National Party, Kilvett Bertrand, warned the winners to be careful to leave for "the wrong path and flirting with other ideologies", for which he argued that his political organization will be the guarantor that elections are held in the country every four years.

Strategic alliances and changes in the Constitution

In her fight to retake power, the 62-year-old candidate made a pact with the candidate of the National Union of Honduras party, led by Salvador Nasralla, who is part of the presidential formula, as well as with other key parties that declined in his favor, with the objective of ending the government of Juan Orlando Hernández.

Furthermore, he invited the Honduran people to re-found the country, and proposed the idea of convening a National Constituent Assembly to modify the nation's Constitution. He also promised to end corruption and drug trafficking.

On the other hand, the leftist has proposed to legalize abortion, and deepen social programs. Similarly, he has said that he will repeal the Organic Law of the Employment and Economic Development Zones (ZEDE).

He asserted that for the country to generate employment it is not necessary to sell sovereignty, since the aforementioned law establishes areas of the territory subject to a special regime where investors are at the forefront of fiscal policy, security and conflict resolution ; He added that his government will be in charge of generating the jobs that the people require.

Who is Xiomara Castro?

The one who will sit in the presidential chair of Honduras, Xiomara Castro was born in Tegucigalpa, on September 30, 1959. At the age of 16 she married her cousin Manuel Zelaya, with whom she moved to the Olancho region, together they have five children. He studied Business Administration.

His name was known when Manuel Zelaya began his campaign in 2005 for the presidential elections; at that time Castro was in charge of leading the female branch of the Liberal Party of Honduras. Later with the triumph of her husband, she becomes the first lady of the nation.

In 2012 the woman decided to put her name as a candidate for the presidency, after her husband was unable to run for office, she lost the election, the same as happened in 2017.

From that moment he became one of the first criticisms of the government of Juan Orlando Hernández, whom he accused of establishing a dictatorship in the country.

At the end of 2020, Xiomara Castro announced his aspirations for the presidency, which was achieved on Sunday, November 28.