Zelaya’s wife leads the poll in the Honduran presidential election

The candidate of the left-wing Freedom and Refoundation (Libre) party and the wife of former president Manuel Zelaya, Xiomara Castro, leads the election of the presidential election in Honduras, held this Sunday (28).

According to the most recent partial, released this Monday morning (29) by the National Electoral Council (CNE), with 51.45% of the votes counted, Castro had 53.61% of the electorate’s preference. Nasry Asfura, of the ruling National party, had 33.87% of the vote. If elected, Castro will be the first woman to preside over Honduras.

Castro is 62 years old and had already been a candidate in the 2013 and 2017 presidential elections. In a speech on Sunday night, she declared herself the winner. “For 12 years the people resisted, and those 12 years were not in vain. God takes time, but he doesn’t forget. Today the people have done justice”, she declared, referring to her husband’s deposition in 2009, after Zelaya called a referendum on the convening of a constituent assembly.

Also on Sunday night, Asfura, mayor of the capital Tegucigalpa, said the election was not yet decided. “To the other presidential candidates: to our large structure of our National Party, I ask for patience, tranquility and calm, we hope that the companies hired by the CNE do their job well and inform us until the last vote is counted throughout the country”, declared.

In turn, third-placed Yani Rosenthal (9.21% of the votes in the last partial), from the Liberal Party, acknowledged defeat on Monday. “Last night, I got in touch with the coordinator of the Liberal Party, Manuel Zelaya, to congratulate him and convey my congratulations to Ms. Xiomara Castro de Zelaya for the virtual triumph in this election,” he said.