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Tegucigalpa, Honduras – When first woman president Xiomara Castro of Honduras will step down on January 27 and face some of the most daunting challenges: recovering the country’s damaged democratic institutions, tackling widespread corruption, and recovering from COVID-19 and last year’s crises. devastating hurricanes.
“We need to understand that a country that is being completely destroyed is being picked up, and getting out of that hole will not be an easy task,” Honduran researcher and activist Leonardo Pineda told Al Jazeera.
But apparently most Hondurans think it’s in full swing. With about 86% of the vote on December 6, Castro, a left-wing Free Party, won more than half of the vote by 14 points. his closest opponent – Giving a strong mandate to make the drastic changes that many Hondurans want to see.
“We believe he can get us out of a divided and devastated country,” Victor Carbajal, a 34-year-old supporter of Castro, told Al Jazeera in Tegucigalpa, the capital, in a rally celebrating his victory.
Since 12 years In the 2009 coup Castro’s husband, Manuel Zelaya, was removed from office by successive Conservative governments, dismantling social programs, increasing militarization and systematically attacking human rights and the environment.
Under the current president Juan Orlando Hernandez, the Hondurans have it he ran away a lot To the United States of crushing poverty, violence and disasters driven by climate change – it all inspires hope, especially among young people in the country.
The accusation was supported by the National Government Party drug traffickers and looted public funds have further exacerbated public frustration by pushing Castro to the presidency.
“The election shows that the current government must leave and start a process of rebuilding the country,” said Julio Raudales, an economist at Honduran National University, Al Jazeera.
It is clear that the Hondurans want change, but that will be Castro’s challenge.
‘Reconciliation Government’
In a celebratory speech late last month, Castro vowed to “form a reconciliation government” and “ensure a participatory and just democracy.”
Pineda said cabinet appointments will be a key indicator of his direction for the government, and stressed the importance of whether he chooses ministers over the interests of the parties. The composition of the congress, which has not yet been finalized, will also determine its success, he added.
Projections based on a preliminary count predict that the Free Party will have the most seats in Congress, but it will the need to ally with other opposition parties achieving a simple majority, which could make it difficult to govern, Pineda said. And it is not until 2023 that the government will appoint a new Supreme Court judge and a new chief prosecutor.
“He will not be able to govern freely,” Pineda said, adding that Castro could benefit from a few easy victories at first, such as the creation of a United Nations-sponsored anti-corruption commission in Honduras. campaign trajectory. A similar commission acted in Honduras from 2016 to 2020, when the government decided not to renew its mandate, when investigations began to threaten powerful allies.
But the UN may be reluctant to invest resources in an anti-corruption commission to suspend it if political will disappears, said Carlos Hernandez, director of a more just society for the Honduran NGO Association.
“There has to be an effort where there is participation, not just government,” he told Al Jazeera. “It needs to be built with other sectors so that there is sustainability.”
About half of Honduras ’population lived on less than $ 5.50 a day in 2019, according to the World Bank, and conditions have only worsened since the COVID-19 pandemic. [Jose Cabezas/Reuters]Articulate a strategy
Castro will also need to improve the average conditions in Honduras when poverty, gender-based violence and the health care system are falling. About half of the population lived on less than $ 5.50 a day in 2019, according to the World Bank, and conditions worsened with the COVID-19 pandemic, as the economy shrank by about 9 percent.
Castro has promised to increase spending on health care and improve access to education.
In the field of health, 27-year-old nurse Christopher Rodriguez said he hopes the new government will have basic supplies in all hospitals. “This government’s management of the health care system and the COVID-19 emergency budget left us with a bad taste in our mouths,” Al Jazeera said. “It simply came to our notice then [Castro] he has a better way of doing things and he keeps his promises. ”
On women’s rights, Castro has promised to alleviate the country a strict ban on abortion and enact legislation to combat gender-based violence.
Honduras, which has the highest rate of feminicide in the region, needs a “coordinated, articulated strategy between the various powers of the state” for the prevention, care, punishment and reparation of gender violence, said Regina Fonseca, director of the Center. Women’s Rights, Al Jazeera said. He is optimistic that Castro will work to achieve this goal.
In addition, if Castro addresses the problems facing young people in the country, his actions could affect the U.S. border, Pineda said: “A young Honduran has a place to study and a decent job when they graduate. good salary, why should they go? ‘
With widespread support across the country, analysts predict that Castro will have at least a few months of goodwill before citizens start demanding faster results. “Honduras has given democracy another chance,” Raudales said. “But everyone has a limit.”
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