Central America
Xiomara Castro becomes first woman president of Honduras
AFP
Leftist Xiomara Castro was sworn in Thursday as the first woman president of Honduras, vowing to reform the crime- and poverty-stricken nation into a “socialist and democratic state.”
Castro, 62, took the oath at a massive ceremony attended by international dignitaries after an embarrassing week of fighting within her party that challenged her authority.
In her first official address at the Tegucigalpa National Stadium, Castro denounced “the social and economic tragedy confronting Honduras” and promised to make work of improving education, healthcare, security and employment.
She said she was inheriting a “bankrupt” country which she intended to reshape into a “socialist and democratic state.”
Honduras’s public debt is about $17 billion.
The oath was sworn before Judge Karla Romero, flanked by Castro’s choice of Congress president, Luis Redondo, who draped the presidential sash over his new boss before a crowd of about 29,000.
The guests included US Vice President Kamala Harris, King Felipe VI of Spain and Taiwan Vice President William Lai.
– ’12 years of struggle’ –
Castro’s election last November brought an end to 12 years of right-wing National Party (PN) rule that followed the ousting of her husband Manuel Zelaya as president in a 2009 coup.
“Twelve years of struggle, 12 years of resistance. Today the people’s government begins,” Castro said on Twitter Thursday.
But the lead-up to the swearing-in was marred by a disruptive rivalry within her Libre party, which is in a majority alliance in Congress.
Libre factions split on who should be the legislature’s new president, coming to blows in the Congress chamber and then holding rival inaugural sittings.
Castro accused supporters of Redondo’s rival for the Congress presidency, Jorge Calix, of being in cahoots with the PN and other forces she said wanted to undermine her anti-corruption drive.
Juan Orlando Hernandez of the PN, her predecessor, is accused by US prosecutors of protecting drug traffickers in exchange for bribes.
– ‘Everyone wants to leave’ –
Castro assumes office with a full load of tasks ahead of her.
Hondurans are fleeing the country in droves, often to the United States, in search of work and a better life.
Castro spoke of a poverty rate of 74 percent, a figure she said “in itself explains the caravans of thousands of people of all ages fleeing to the north — Mexico and the United States — looking for a place and a way to survive in spite of the risk to their lives” from gangs and smugglers along the way.
“Everyone wants to leave because there’s no work. If there were more job opportunities here, there would be no need to look for another country,” university student Jensi Davila told AFP in Tegucigalpa.
Adding to the exodus, Honduras’s murder rate is nearly 40 per 100,000 inhabitants.
Among the crowd celebrating Castro’s inauguration, seamstress Esther Lopez expressed hope that the situation “is going to change, because Xiomara has been supporting the cause of the poor for many years and because of ‘Mel’ Zelaya, who was a good president.”
– Migration talks –
Harris urged Castro to fight corruption, seen as a root cause of Central American migration, in talks after the inauguration ceremony.
The first foreign official to have a bilateral meeting with Castro, Harris welcomed the priority the new president had placed “on countering corruption and impunity, including her intent to request the assistance of the United Nations in establishing an international anti-corruption commission,” a readout from Harris’s office said.
Castro needs international support to renegotiate foreign debt of $11 billion.
It is an issue, according to former prime minister Edgardo Paz, which requires agreement “with the multilateral institutions where Washington has a lot of influence.”
Castro also held a meeting with Lai, who conveyed Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen’s congratulations to Castro on becoming Honduras’s first woman leader, according to a statement from Tsai’s office.
Honduras is one of just 14 countries to recognize Taiwan.
China, which considers Taiwan part of its territory, has spent decades encouraging the island’s allies to switch sides, with much success.
On the election campaign, Castro vowed to “immediately open diplomatic and commercial relations with mainland China” if she won.
According to the presidential statement, Lai — who came bearing a consignment of Covid-19 prevention supplies — said he invited Castro to visit the self-ruled island, adding that a meeting between Taiwan and Honduras’s first woman presidents would be a historic moment.
Separately, Harris and Lai had a brief exchange at the inauguration, Taiwan’s Central News Agency said, an encounter that will likely stoke US-China tensions.
They shared “a simple greeting” in which both “spoke briefly,” the agency said.
Their conversation was the first public interaction between US and Taiwanese vice presidents since Washington switched diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979, according to Fan Shih-ping, a political analyst at Taiwan’s National Normal University.
Castro announced part of her cabinet Thursday, with her son Hector Zelaya as private secretary and Jose Manuel Zelaya — her husband’s nephew — as defense minister.
Central America
Panama confirms drug contamination of El Salvador coffee shipment occurred on its territory
A container originating from El Salvador and carrying coffee for export was contaminated with more than 1,152 packages of drugs while in transit through Panama, according to official information confirmed by the Panamanian government this Tuesday.
The case, which had previously generated political controversy in April 2025 after opposition sectors attempted to link the Salvadoran government to drug trafficking, has now been clarified through renewed investigations.
Authorities confirmed that the container departed from the port of Acajutla after being properly inspected, with no illicit substances detected at the time of export.
According to statements previously provided by El Salvador’s Minister of Defense, René Merino Monroy, the shipment traveled first to the port of Balboa in Panama, where it remained stored for several days before being transferred to another vessel bound for Manzanillo in Colón.
It was at that terminal that Panamanian authorities discovered the drugs and identified tampering with the container seals, indicating that the illicit alteration occurred during its transit in Panama rather than in Salvadoran territory.
The findings align with earlier explanations provided by Salvadoran officials and confirm that the contamination of the cargo took place outside of El Salvador’s jurisdiction.
Central America
Uber Eats adds Puntarenas and Turrialba to growing Costa Rica network
Uber Eats announced that it is continuing to expand its presence in Costa Rica with the launch of operations in the cities of Puntarenas and Turrialba, further strengthening the company’s growth in the country.
With this expansion, the delivery platform is now available across all seven Costa Rican provinces and works with more than 6,000 partner businesses. Its offerings include prepared food, supermarkets, pharmacies, pet stores, and other specialty retailers.
As part of the announcement, Uber Eats also introduced Marco Nannipieri as its new Regional General Manager for the Andean Region, Central America, and the Caribbean.
Nannipieri will oversee the company’s operations in Costa Rica along with seven other countries in the region.
“Costa Rica is a key market for Uber Eats in the region, with growing adoption of technology among users and businesses. Over the past five years, more than 1,000 restaurants and merchants have joined the app, and today we are entering a new stage of expansion that will allow us to reach more cities outside the Greater Metropolitan Area, creating new opportunities for entrepreneurs across the country,” Nannipieri said.
Central America
Report questions direction of Nasry Asfura after 100 days in office
The Center for the Study of Democracy warned Tuesday that the government of Nasry Asfura, which marks its first 100 days in office on Wednesday, has failed to show a “significant change in direction” and continues to follow a model characterized by exclusion, inequality, and external dependence.
In its report titled “100 Days of the Nasry Asfura Government: Concerns and Demands,” Cespad stated that the administration has maintained an economic and political model that prioritizes debt payments, the promotion of extractive projects, and the strengthening of the security apparatus over social investment.
The organization argued that the current policies have not addressed structural problems affecting large sectors of the Honduran population and warned that inequality and economic dependence remain key challenges for the country.
Nasry Asfura won the general elections held on November 30, 2025, in a process marked by allegations of fraud and delays in the vote count that lasted nearly a month due to a series of technological failures.
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