Honduras to Swear in New President
Xiomara Castro will today be sworn in as Honduras’ new president.
The ceremony comes after Castro’s Liberty and Refoundation Party, also known as the Libre Party, won 50 seats in the 128-seat Congress in last November’s elections. Castro, Honduras’s first elected female president, campaigned on stamping out pervasive corruption and organized crime which contributed to the continued mass exodus of Hondurans fleeing to the US. To pass legislation the Party will still require support from allied parties.
Castro’s plans to fulfill a campaign promise to the Honduras Salvation Party this week failed as members of her own party deprived them control of the congressional speaker seat. The dispute now threatens to split her own party as well as its alliance with the party of the Vice President Salvador Nasralla, jeopardizing her ability to pass legislation and appoint officials before she takes office.
While Castro will be officially inaugurated today, it is likely that the Libre party division will continue making it difficult to form a coalition and meet Castro’s ambitious progressive social agenda. If Castro fails to meet the desire for change among Hondurans, it will likely lead to more citizens fleeing to the US border in the medium-term while political instability remains.
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