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
Brazil’s Lula wishes Trump a successful term focused on prosperity and peace
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva wished the new U.S. President, Donald Trump, a “successful” term that promotes “prosperity and well-being for the U.S. people” and “a fairer and more peaceful world.”
“On behalf of the Brazilian government, I congratulate President Donald Trump on his inauguration,” said the progressive leader on his social media, shortly after Trump took the oath of office at the Capitol in Washington.
Lula, 79, highlighted that the relationship between Brazil and the United States, one of its most important trade partners, is “marked by a history of cooperation, based on mutual respect and historical friendship.”
“Our countries maintain strong ties in various areas such as trade, science, education, and culture. I am confident that we can continue to make progress in these and other areas,” he added.
International
Iran hopes U.S. will adopt realistic approaches under Trump administration
Iran declared on Monday that it hopes the new U.S. administration under Donald Trump will adopt “realistic approaches” toward Tehran and show “respect” for the interests of the countries in the region.
The Republican tycoon will take the oath for his second term as president of the United States on Monday at noon Washington time (17:00 GMT).
“We hope that the approaches and policies of the new U.S. government will be realistic and based on respect for the interests… of the countries in the region, including the Iranian nation,” said the spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Esmaeil Baqaei, during a weekly press briefing.
During his first term (2017-2021), Trump implemented a “maximum pressure” policy toward Iran.
In 2018, under his administration, the United States withdrew from the international nuclear deal with Iran, concluded three years earlier, which offered Tehran relief from sanctions in exchange for assurances that the country would not seek to acquire nuclear weapons. Tehran denies any such intentions.
In response, Tehran significantly increased its stockpile of enriched materials and raised the enrichment threshold to 60%, approaching the 90% required to produce an atomic bomb, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Tehran, which has expressed a desire to relaunch negotiations to revive the deal, defends its right to nuclear energy for peaceful purposes and denies any intention to develop nuclear weapons.
International
Trump to sign executive order recognizing only two sexes
Donald Trump will sign an executive order instructing his administration to “recognize” the existence of only “two sexes,” future White House officials announced on Monday, just before the Republican’s inauguration.
“What we are doing today is defining that the policy of the United States is to recognize two sexes: male and female,” said the official, speaking to the press on the condition of anonymity.
The aim of the decree is “to defend women against the ideological extremism of gender and to restore biological truth within the Federal Government,” the official added, explaining that a person’s sexual identity will be defined solely by the gametes they possess.
During his campaign, Trump repeatedly promised to put an end to the “transgender delusion.”
The elected president also plans to eliminate federal funding for programs supporting diversity in the administration, the same officials from his incoming cabinet stated.
“We are going to end this type of funding, we are going to put an end to these programs,” said one source from the future team, speaking anonymously about antiracism and diversity training courses.
Brazil’s Lula wishes Trump a successful term focused on prosperity and peace
Iran hopes U.S. will adopt realistic approaches under Trump administration
Trump to sign executive order recognizing only two sexes
Tec de Monterrey honors one of its students for his contribution to nanotechnology in medicine
Defense Minister commends salvadoran soldier for Central American Cross Country victory
Ecuador prison riot leaves at least 43 dead
-
Central America5 days agoVenezuelan opposition leader to meet Costa Rican president Rodrigo Chaves on thursday
-
International4 days agoThe Government of Israel accuses Hamas of wanting to modify the truce agreement and postpones its vote
-
International4 days agoRussia attacks Kiev in the middle of British Prime Minister Starmer’s visit
-
International4 days agoAn Australian influencer is accused of poisoning her baby to earn money
-
International3 days agoNoboa once again entrusts the Vice President of Ecuador to the vice president he appointed by decree
-
International4 days agoFar-right Israeli minister will leave the Netanyahu government if his country does not resume the war after the truce
-
International3 days agoMark Carney announces his candidacy to replace Trudeau as Prime Minister of Canada
-
International3 days agoMusk’s Starship was lost after a smooth takeoff
-
International3 days agoHRW assures that Sheinbaum “inherited a crisis” from López Obrador due to “extreme violence” in Mexico
-
International5 days agoMarco Rubio warns of China’s threat and criticizes Venezuela and Cuba in Senate hearing
-
International4 days agoPope Francis suffers a fall without fractures and his arm is immobilized as a precaution
-
International3 days agoThe Prosecutor’s Office asks Boluarte to hand over the documents that justify the surgery he kept hidden
-
International2 days agoTrump appoints Stallone, Voight, and Gibson as special ambassadors to Hollywood
-
International5 days agoBiden warns “Soul of America” still at stake ahead of farewell address
-
International5 days agoCanadian business leaders meet with president Sheinbaum to boost investments in Mexico
-
International2 days agoLatin American and Caribbean diplomats voice concern over U.S. mass deportation plan
-
International4 days agoEmotional support dogs help firefighters fighting fires in California
-
International4 days agoIndigenous peoples of Mexico help migrants stranded in the south far from the border
-
International3 days agoEdmundo González Urrutia’s team says that the anti-chavista will attend Trump’s investiture
-
International3 days agoAntony Blinken assures that the Panamanian sovereignty of the Panama Canal “will not change”
-
International4 days agoRussia and Iran will sign a strategic agreement three days before Trump’s inauguration
-
International4 days agoFrench justice saves a domesticated boar threatened with euthanasia by the authorities
-
International3 days agoChina, Israel and Burma, the countries in the world with the most journalists imprisoned in 2024
-
International3 days agoAt least five peace signatories and social leaders are killed in fighting in Colombia
-
International16 hours agoTrump to sign over 200 executive orders, declaring National Emergency at U.S.-Mexico Border
-
International4 days agoSeparate negotiators and last-minute details, this is how the ceasefire in Gaza was negotiated
-
International4 days agoThe ‘Supersopa’, created during the great crisis of 2002, returns to the canteens of Argentina
-
International4 days agoCarlos Correa, director of the Venezuelan NGO Espacio Público, has been released from prison
-
Sin categoría16 hours agoParaguayan president Santiago Peña meets Venezuela’s opposition leader Edmundo González Urrutia in Washington
-
International3 days agoForeign Affairs confirms the kidnapping of a Spaniard in North Africa by a jihadist group
-
International12 mins agoPope Francis hopes Trump will build a more just society free of hatred
-
International9 mins agoTrump to sign executive order recognizing only two sexes
-
International7 mins agoIran hopes U.S. will adopt realistic approaches under Trump administration
-
International5 mins agoBrazil’s Lula wishes Trump a successful term focused on prosperity and peace