New head of state
First female president of Honduras: Xiomara Castro is sworn in
Xiomara Castro at her inauguration ceremony: “I inherit a bankrupt country”
© Inti Oncon / Picture Alliance
Now she is officially the first woman to lead Honduras. Well-known politicians such as Kamala Harris attended the inauguration of Xiomara Castro, because major tasks await the new head of state.
Left-wing politician Xiomara Castro became the first woman in the history of Honduras to take office as president. In her first speech as head of state on Thursday, the 62-year-old promised to reform the crime- and poverty-stricken Central American country into a “socialist and democratic state”. Around 29,000 people watched the inauguration in a stadium in the capital Tegucigalpa.
Kamala Harris attended the swearing-in ceremony
US Vice President Kamala Harris, Spanish King Felipe VI. and Taiwan’s Vice President William Lai attended the inauguration ceremony. In post-inauguration talks, Harris urged Castro to fight corruption, which is seen as a major driver of migration from Central America to the United States. The office of Joe Biden’s deputy said after the meeting that she welcomed the fact that the new head of state was prioritizing “fighting corruption and impunity”.
Castro succeeds President Juan Orlando Hernández, who was not allowed to run after two terms in office. Hernández is accused by US prosecutors of protecting drug dealers in exchange for bribes.
Xiomara Castro takes over a “bankrupt” country that must choose between the US and China
In her inaugural speech, Castro said she had inherited a “bankrupt” country from her predecessor. Castro needs international support to restructure the national debt of around eleven billion dollars (ten billion euros).
It will be interesting to see where it will position itself between Washington and Beijing in the future. Honduras is one of the last 14 countries to officially recognize Taiwan as a state. Taiwan, on the other hand, is viewed by Beijing as a breakaway province that should be reunited with the mainland by force if necessary. That is why there is currently great tension between Taiwan’s protecting power, the USA, and Beijing.
During the election campaign, Castro had announced that he would “immediately establish diplomatic and commercial relations with mainland China” if he won the election. According to Taipei sources, after her inauguration, Castro was to meet with Taiwan’s Vice President Lai “to exchange views on issues of mutual interest.”
The first woman at the head of Honduras
Castro had won the November 28 election by a clear margin. Their victory was only possible through an alliance with the PSH party, which was promised the post of speaker of parliament. There was a heated argument about this within her own Libre party. Dissenters from Castro’s own ranks appointed a rival parliamentary speaker, Jorge Cálix, to Castro-backed PSH deputy Luis Redondo.
Castro is the wife of President Manuel Zelaya, who was ousted in 2009. She announced that her son Héctor Zelaya would become private secretary in her cabinet and a nephew of her husband, José Manuel Zelaya, would become defense minister. There is no law against nepotism in Honduras.