International
Honduras elections: the top three candidates
AFP
Thirteen candidates will contest Honduras’s razor-tight presidential election on Sunday to see who will succeed scandal-tainted Juan Orlando Hernandez.
Here are short profiles of the top three challengers.
– Left –
Xiomara Castro was never meant to run for president, but she is the front runner to become her country’s first female leader.
As the wife of Manuel Zelaya, she was first lady in 2009 when her husband was deposed in a coup supported by the military, business elites and the political right.
She made her name leading mass street protests against the coup and there began her own rise to presidential hopeful.
Tough but softly spoken, her popularity stems from her defense of the poor.
But in a deeply conservative and macho country, she faces the twin difficulties of opponents branding her a communist and a puppet for her husband.
“The shadow of Zelaya weighs heavily on her, and in Honduran society it can be assumed that Zelaya is the power behind the throne,” sociologist Eugenio Castro told AFP.
The ruling party has also tried to discredit her proposals to legalize abortion and same-sex marriage — touchy issues in much of Central America.
Often seen wearing denim jeans, and always with a white cowboy hat, the 62-year-old insists she stands for a “Honduran-style democratic socialism” and has tried to distance herself from the leftist models in Cuba and Venezuela that scare many voters.
Already an unsuccessful candidate in 2013, when she narrowly lost to Hernandez, Castro has some heavyweight backing this time — not least in Salvador Nasralla, a television host who lost out to Hernandez in 2017 amidst accusations of fraud.
Castro was born into a middle-class Catholic family and married Zelaya aged just 16. The couple have four children.
Zelaya says the children have a mix of Spanish, Basque, indigenous, Arab and Senegalese blood.
– Right –
Tall, slim and always seen in jeans, a long-sleeved blue shirt and farming boots, Nasry Asfura likes to present himself as a rural worker allergic to offices.
The 63-year-old of Palestinian descent, the current mayor of Tegucigalpa, is the candidate for the ruling right-wing National Party (PN).
With that comes the benefit of the political machinery that has kept the PN in power for a dozen years, but also the stigma of being linked to drug trafficking and corruption.
“I have never spent a single day sat in my office in the town hall, every day I go out into the streets to serve and see where there are problems,” he said, vowing to generate jobs if elected.
He is credited with improving the traffic congestion in Tegucigalpa by building many bridges, tunnels and roundabouts in the capital during his two four-year terms as mayor.
The father of three is a graduate in civil engineering and created a construction company that became one of the biggest in the country.
Although styled as the law-and-order candidate, Asfura has not escaped the accusations of corruption blighting many Honduran politicians.
“He has been accused not just in Honduras, (but also) the Pandora Papers and in Costa Rica. That’s not a good sign,” said Eugenio Sosa, a professor of sociology at the National University.
Asfura was accused in October 2020 by the public prosecutor of embezzling $700,000, while he was linked in the Pandora Papers to influence peddling in Costa Rica.
And while he has not been linked himself to drug trafficking, “he’s been compromised by protecting Hernandez,” said Sosa.
– Center –
The centrist candidate, Yani Rosenthal, is a convicted drug trafficker.
He spent three years in a US jail after admitting laundering drug trafficking money. He was released in August 2020, just in time to run for president.
He is the son of the late Jaime Rosenthal, one of the richest people in Honduras — and prison time was tough on someone used to a silver spoon.
“I learned to wash myself from the waist up in the sink and from the waist down in the toilet,” said the 56-year-old.
Despite his criminal record, in March he won the primaries to be the center-right Liberal Party’s candidate.
The law graduate has his work cut out as his beaten rival, Luis Zelaya, refused to support him and is instead backing Castro.
He has presented himself as the centrist candidate against “left-wing extremism” and PN corruption.
“We don’t want a radical leftist path, nor a corrupt right-wing one, we want a liberal path down the center,” he said.
He claims to be the only candidate able to present “viable” economic solutions and has vowed to give every adult a $60 monthly voucher.
A father of four, he was minister of the presidency for two years under Zelaya and says he has a track record of creating jobs.
International
Latin Music Stars Unite in Miami to Raise Aid for Victims of Venezuela’s Devastating Earthquake
Latin music stars including Marc Anthony, Ricardo Montaner and Feid will take part in a benefit concert in Miami on August 16 to raise funds and support victims of the devastating double earthquake that struck Venezuela.
The disaster has left 4,734 people dead and 16,740 injured, according to the latest official figures.
The lineup will also feature artists such as Jay Wheeler, Elena Rose, Silvestre Dangond, Gente de Zona, Mau y Ricky, Olga Tañón, Lasso, San Luis, Piso 21, Alleh, Zhamira Zambrano and Enrique Santos, with organizers expecting additional performers to join the event in the coming weeks.
Athletes, actors, entertainment figures, media personalities and leaders from the Hispanic community are also expected to participate in the initiative.
Organized by the United for Venezuela coalition, the concert will take place at the Kaseya Center in Miami starting at 6:00 p.m. local time (10:00 p.m. GMT) and will be broadcast simultaneously through multiple platforms.
According to organizers, viewers will be able to contribute through donation platforms and QR codes available during the event.
The concert will also feature reports on rescue efforts, the work of humanitarian organizations on the ground, and testimonies from people affected by the disaster to highlight the scale of the tragedy.
Venezuela was hit on June 24 by a powerful double earthquake measuring 7.2 and 7.5 in magnitude, with the strongest impacts reported in areas including Caracas and La Guaira.
The event aims to bring together the international community and mobilize resources to assist families affected by the earthquake and support ongoing recovery efforts.
International
Trump Administration Seeks Global Action Against “Resurgent” Left-Wing Terrorism
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will host a ministerial meeting in Washington on Thursday to discuss what the Donald Trump administration describes as a growing threat from left-wing terrorism around the world.
According to a statement from the State Department, the meeting aims to promote “stronger joint action” among international partners to address what Washington considers security gaps that terrorist groups continue to exploit.
The U.S. government has not yet disclosed which countries will participate in the meeting or which foreign ministers are expected to attend.
The Trump administration claims that “far-left terrorism is resurging”, pointing to violent attacks linked to extremist movements in the Americas, Europe, Asia, and other regions.
U.S. officials argue that the threat has been “underestimated” by the international community for years as part of broader counterterrorism strategies.
As part of its efforts, the Trump administration has designated several left-wing extremist groups as terrorist organizations, including Antifa Ost, the Informal Anarchist Federation/International Revolutionary Front (FAI/FRI), Armed Proletarian Justice, and Revolutionary Class Self-Defense.
The United States has also announced rewards of up to $10 million for information that helps disrupt the financial networks supporting those organizations.
The meeting comes as the Trump administration seeks greater international cooperation on counterterrorism policies and increased coordination among governments to address what it considers emerging extremist threats.
International
President Noboa Declares New Security Strategy as Ecuador Faces Record Violence Levels
Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa on Tuesday declared the National Comprehensive Security Plan 2025-2029 as a nationwide public policy, a strategy aimed at guiding state actions on security matters over the next four years.
The measure was formalized through an executive decree that activates the plan approved on March 9 by the Public and State Security Council (Cosepe) and replaces the National Comprehensive Security Plan 2019-2030, which had been designated as public policy in 2021.
Under the new decree, implementation of the strategy will be led by the ministries of Interior, Defense, and Foreign Affairs and Human Mobility, along with the National Intelligence Center and the National Secretariat for Risk Management. These institutions will be responsible for coordinating actions according to their respective areas of responsibility.
According to the official document, the new plan adopts a multidimensional and comprehensive security approach, with a long-term vision focused on national interests and on strengthening the State’s ability to respond to current threats.
The Ecuadorian government said the strategy seeks to improve coordination among public institutions within the framework of the “internal armed conflict” declared by Noboa in 2024 as part of the fight against criminal organizations operating across the country.
The plan also includes measures to strengthen international cooperation against transnational organized crime, which authorities identify as one of Ecuador’s main security challenges due to its links to drug trafficking and illegal mining.
The government described the document as a roadmap for prevention, protection, response and recovery actions in the face of national security risks, promoting coordinated efforts among state institutions.
Ecuador has remained under an internal armed conflict declaration since 2024, when Noboa intensified operations against criminal gangs that his administration has labeled terrorist organizations. Despite the increased security measures, the country recorded around 9,300 homicides in 2025, the highest figure in its history, according to data from the Ministry of Interior.
The new security plan comes as Ecuador seeks to strengthen its institutional response to escalating violence and the growing influence of organized crime networks.
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