Madame president? Former first lady Xiomara Castro claims victory in Honduras election
- A Xiomara Castro victory would make her the nation’s first female president and end 12 years of conservative rule
- Crime, poverty and natural disasters have made Honduras one of the main sources of migration at the US southern border
Honduran presidential candidate Xiomara Castro headed for a landslide win in Sunday’s election, declaring victory as supporters danced outside her offices to celebrate the left’s return to power 12 years after her husband was ousted in a coup.
The election, set to give Honduras its first female president, seemed to have run smoothly, a contrast to four years ago when a close outcome led to a contested result and deadly protests after widespread allegations of irregularities.
With half the ballots counted, Castro, the wife of former president Manuel Zelaya, held a nearly 20-point lead over Nasry Asfura, the capital’s mayor and ruling National Party hopeful, who won 34 per cent, according to a preliminary tally on Monday.
Jubilant celebrations broke out at Castro’s campaign headquarters as the vote count poured in and her lead held up. The offices of Asfura’s ruling conservative National Party were deserted.
A self-proclaimed democratic socialist in a country where few women hold public office, Castro won support of a broad swathe of Hondurans tired of corruption and the concentration of power that grew under the National Party.