In national elections on Nov. 28, Honduran voters elected their first female president, and ousted the National Party which has held power in the turbulent and impoverished Central American nation for the last 12 years.
Victorious candidate Xiomara Castro of the Libre party, will return to the office of president 12 years after her husband Manuel Zelaya was overthrown in a U.S.-backed coup in 2009.
Outgoing National Party President Juan Orlando Hernandez and his right-wing regime were deeply unpopular, and dogged by allegations of corruption and implicated in a narco-trafficking case in the U.S. Castro and her new administration will face major challenges in Honduras, where unemployment, crime, corruption and violent drug gangs have led many in her country to migrate to the U.S.
President-elect Castro who will take office on Jan. 27, 2022, has proposed establishing an anti-corruption commission backed by the UN, wants to update to the Honduran Constitution and suggested easing the country’s law prohibiting all abortions. Between The Lines’ Scott Harris spoke with Suyapa Portillo Villeda, associate professor of Chicanx, Latinx and Transnational Studies at Pitzer College. Here, she talks about the groundbreaking nature of Castro’s victory and the many challenges she’ll face after taking office.
