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This November 28, Honduras will hold the eleventh general elections since the establishment of democracy in the eighties. 13 candidates, including a woman, are vying for the presidential seat. In addition, 128 deputies will be elected to the National Congress, 20 to the Central American Parliament and 298 mayors.
The former first lady, Xiomara Castro, who leads the left-wing Libertad y Refundación party, strengthened her leadership in the protests over the coup against her husband Manuel Zelaya in 2009. She is running for the second time with the idea of removing from power what he calls the “dictatorship of the National Party.”
“This dictatorship is going abroad, these criminals are going abroad,” Castro said in a fiery speech delivered in front of his thousands of supporters. In 2012 he lost the elections against the current president, Juan Orlando Hernández.
In relation to his proposal to prevent illegal migration to the United States, Castro said that opportunities must be created in the country so that Hondurans do not have to abandon it.
“They leave because they do not have quality of life, there is no health, there is no education, there is no work, there is no employment, the insecurity that prevails, a dictatorship that has been installed and that prevents there from being trust in businessmen and those who invest to be able to guarantee that there will be a job, “he said.
Nasry Asfura: “I am different”
Meanwhile, the current mayor of the capital, the businessman, Nasry Asfura, with his anti-abortion, pro-family speech and the promise to reduce unemployment figures, appeals to keep in power the ruling National Party that has governed in the last 12 years.
Asfura proclaims himself a “different” candidate to some of his party leaders who have been singled out in high-profile corruption cases and others were charged and sentenced in courts in New York, United States, for drug trafficking.
“If God gives me the opportunity to be president, the idea is to give our people a job, to bring a livelihood to their home and thus avoid migration,” said Asfura.
Yani Rosenthal: “I made a mistake and I have already paid for it”
For his part, businessman Yani Rosenthal, from the Liberal Party, has promised to benefit some five million Hondurans with a universal basic income, which consists of giving a monthly bonus of $ 62 to those over 18 years of age.
Rosenthal pointed out that “he would be a liar if he said that he will fix everything in four years” but considered that under his command “the country can go a different course, a course that allows Hondurans to have jobs and hope.”
In 2017, he was sentenced to 36 months in prison in New York after pleading guilty to money laundering, he returned to the country after serving three years in prison.
“I went to appear for my trial, I made a serious mistake, I paid, I was sentenced for it and they allowed me to return precisely and that is why I am here, I have paid and I do not owe anything to anyone,” he explained,
The new president of Honduras will face great challenges. The main one is to stop the massive caravans of migrants that leave for the United States, but for this it will have to recover an economy hit by the pandemic and by natural disasters.
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