Former Honduras first lady Xiomara Castro, whose husband was ousted in a coup 12 years ago, has been elected the Central American nation’s first woman president.
The leftist opposition leader’s victory in Sunday’s election was sealed when Nasry Asfura, the mayor of the capital Tegucigalpa and candidate of the ruling National Party, conceded the election during a visit with Castro Tuesday at her home.
In a tweet that accompanied a photo of the two candidates, Castro praised Mayor Asfura for accepting “the will of the people.”
“People, I will not fail you!” she ended in a triumphant note. “With my promises we will return to the democratic order.”
The most recent electoral results show Castro with 53% of the votes and Asfura with just 34%, with over half of all the votes counted.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken offered his congratulations to Castro as well as the Honduran people for exercising “their power to vote in a free and fair election.” He said the Biden administration looks forward to working with the incoming president “to strengthen democratic institutions, promote inclusive economic growth, and fight corruption.”
Castro campaigned on a platform of ending the corruption that had clouded the 12-year rule of the right-wing National Party, which took power after her husband Manuel Zelaya was overthrown by the military. She has also vowed to impose taxes on the country’s richest citizens and has talked of switching diplomatic relations from Taiwan to China, which claims the self-ruled as part of its territory and has pushed to isolate Taipei from the international community.
Some information for this report came from the Associated Press and Reuters.
