When Xiomara Castro became Honduras' first female president in 2022, she was seen as a ray of hope. But her record so far is poor.
President Xiomara Castro in an appearance in 2021 Photo: José Cabezas/Reuters
TEGUCIGALPA taz | Fernando García thinks positively. The former Minister of Economy is part of President Xiomara Castro's extensive advisory team and, like thousands of others, the 76-year-old man took to the streets of Tegucigalpa on January 27 to participate in the demonstration called by Libre, the party of the president. Fans arrived in hundreds of buses in their red printed shirts, the atmosphere was good and the match provided drinks and food. Images reminiscent of Cuban marches and the speeches of Xiomara Castro, who never tires of them, seemed equally full-bodied. Refund to offer the perspective of the reestablishment of the Republic of Honduras.
But two years after he took office, there is very little to see. Castro's government repeatedly faced a united opposition that blocked reforms and acted in anything but a constructive manner.
“In particular, the conservative National Party of former president Juan Orlando Hernández has committed to a policy of blockade that has caused many initiatives to fail,” Father Melo analyzes. The Jesuit priest from El Progreso, a medium-sized town between the industrial metropolis of San Pedro Sula and the capital Tegucigalpa, is a well-known critical spirit. For years he not only ran ERIC-SJ, a political think tank and research institute, but also Radio Progreso, the popular radio station that repeatedly critically examines the country's structures.
Nothing has changed and Xiomara Castro's government is sensitive to this: “We have no contact with those responsible for government communication and we are excluded. There is only 'with us' or 'against us,'” says Father Melo, criticizing the government's unprogressive communication strategy. Furthermore, it fails to convey the government's successes or its problems, it does not reach its voters and it polarizes unnecessarily, criticizes the popular father.
Corruption is still part of everyday life
Ismael Moreno, the father's real name, is not alone in this assessment. Journalists like Dina Meza and lawyers like Rita Romero, who represents the environmental activists of Guapinol, also attest that the government has closed its doors and is sensitive to criticism. But this is inevitable, because Xiomara Castro's government entered the electoral campaign with many promises, many of which are still waiting to be implemented or have already been discarded.
The latter applies to the January 2022 announcement to leave the Central American country mining-free, similar to neighboring Costa Rica. “But here the opposite happens. “Here mining is tacitly tolerated in a protected area and a power plant is also being planned that will take advantage of heavy oil waste to generate energy,” criticizes environmental activist Reinaldo Domínguez de Guapinol. Two of his brothers were murdered in 2023 and since then, like many other activists, he has retreated to the safety of El Progreso, where Jesuit Father Melo is trying to help.
In fact, the Ministry of Human Rights, the Secretariat of Human Rights, would be responsible for this. But he has painted a devastating picture since he took office. In mid-January, 45 human rights organizations identified the shortfalls in an open letter and called for a change in personnel. Natalie Roque, a friend of the president's family, should go. Not likely in a country where cliques, patronage systems and corruption have been part of everyday political life for decades.
Enrique Barrientos leaves no doubts about it. The mustachioed man is glad that the government has not been shaken by a corruption scandal so far. “That's positive, before there was one every week. Today the health system works reasonably well. Only when it comes to drug supplies is there a low tide,” complains this man who takes his mother to dialysis twice a week, earns his money by driving taxis and hopes that a breakthrough will finally occur in the third year of government.
Mass emigration continues
The course is not so bad for this, because the budgets to repair the deteriorated infrastructure have been approved, in the Free Parliament a coalition has been negotiated with the Liberal Party or parts of it and from now on it will have a simple majority and, therefore Therefore, he will be more capable of acting than in the last two years. That could solve the delay in reforms, and that is also what the president's supporters, who like to advertise 21st century socialism, hope.
This was also the case on January 27, when tens of thousands carrying bright red Libre flags and t-shirts marched through downtown Tegucigalpa and celebrated their president. They barely know what is happening in the country, they criticize others who, disappointed, have turned their backs on the first woman in the presidential palace because she did not deliver as quickly or as promised. “Where are the judicial reform, the UN Commission against Impunity and Corruption, which was agreed with the United Nations, or the social programs to stop emigration?” Criticizes social worker Nidia, who prefers not to reveal her last name. her. Promises that Xiomara Castro made during the electoral campaign and by which she will be measured in the country of 10.4 million inhabitants.
Almost 200,000 people left the country for the United States in 2023. The constant bloodshed is already reflected in the lack of picker workers in regions like Marcala during the coffee harvest. In some villages, coffee cherries on Arabica bushes are in danger of drying out. The disaster for the coffee growers.
But there is a lack of programs to generate jobs in the producing regions during the harvest phase. The general directors of the coffee cooperatives, who prefer to remain anonymous, suspect that the cause is the lack of qualified personnel to develop such programs. Coffee is the country's most important export product.
Justice reform is a long time coming
This depresses the mood in the country, which is also contributed by the fact that the government only hesitates and often only partially reports on the progress of negotiations with the United Nations, which has created a commission to combat corruption. and impunity similar to that of 2007 to send to Guatemala.
Many Hondurans see foreign aid as the only chance to get the paralyzed justice system working again. But this does not interest everyone, as demonstrated by the replacement of the Public Ministry: between August and October, parliamentarians had discussions that even led to fistfights because they could not agree on one of the five candidates.
An interim candidate, Johel Zelaya, has held office since November 1 of last year. The man of the Free environment is considered honest and qualified. This is immense progress after the eight years of his highly corrupt predecessor.
But the first reforms are still slow to arrive, so the country is still waiting for the UN Commission. According to experts, it will arrive this year, but it is not entirely clear when.