Huge challenges ahead for Honduras’ first female president after landslide victory

“Se Van”

Se van! is the title of a song of the Dominican merengue singer and band leader Juan de Dios Ventura Soriano and once mayor of Santa Domingo – more famous through his artist name Johnny Ventura who passed away July this year at the age of 81. The song was remastered and got a revival, particularly in Honduras where the opposition made it to its slogan during the general elections Sunday 28^th November. 

The title means literally “they leave/leave” refers to time is up for the National Party to go and they did.

The results ousted the National party that had been in power since the election 2009 that took place in the aftermath of the military coup in June that year and which was boycotted by most of those behind the ousted president Mel Zelaya.  

At this voting, people turned up in large numbers unprecedented since the first democratic elections after the military regimes in the 1980’s making it impossible for the governing party to make fraud. Exactly as they did at the previous elections where the joint oppositional candidate for the presidency Salvador Nasralla was in an apparent safe lead until the results was published erratically and with much delay. After several days, the incumbent President Juan Orlando Hernandez suspiciously won! It stirred up a lot of public protest and internationally, it was only recognized after the intervention of the USA.

This time, the opposition’s common candidate for presidency, Xiomara Castro won by a landslide together with Nasralla as his Vice-president securing almost 20% more votes than the National Party candidate Nasry Asfura. Quite an achievement taking into consideration the enormous amount of funds that the National Party spent on the election in 2021.  

At the election it seemed that the people said yes to democracy, yes to change and yes to a new beginning.
12,5 years of wandering in the desert after the military coup in June, 2009 is hopefully over. 

It was a no to a National Party rule government that has led corruption to new un-imaginable and even in a Honduran context unprecedented level and that according to a court in New York is implied in drug-trafficking on a large scale up to their neck. The brother of President Juan Orlando Hernandez, Tony Hernandez is serving a long-term jail-term in the USA for drug trafficking. In the court case the President himself was seemingly implicated. It was a no to a party that had used all means, even unconstitutional means, to keep itself in power and to ensure that Juan Orlando Hernandez was not to be extradited to the USA at the end of his term. 

The new government under the umbrella of Xiomara Castro stands in front of huge challenges. Libre and its allies won only a simple majority in the Congress so there will be limitations on how far the government can go. It has to keep together the alliance behind the victory, which may be difficult. Furthermore, it has to keep the trust of the people who voted them into power and it has to regain the trust of the international community as well. It will be difficult because the government coffers are empty, the trust of the international community is almost non-existing, and the expectations of the electorate are high.
Particularly, among the many young ones who are without job and education. The young ones came out in larger numbers, which may sound very encouraging for the future on the one hand, but it is questionable whether they have the patience as the necessary changes cannot materialize overnight. Thus, it seems to be an unsurmountable task that the government has in front of it.  

It is in this light we will like to invite you to this webinar where we will have some excellent speakers from Honduras to give us some insights into:

1. What happened in relation to the election and the background to why it happened?
2. What can we expect to happen in the next 3-6 months and during the term of Xiomara Castro?, 
3. What is the significance of having a female president in Honduras – the first one in its history?
4. What can/should we do in Denmark/Europe to support the development?  

The event will take place 12 January 16 – 18 (09 – 11 am Honduras).

Register for the event here.

EDGAR ISRAEL SORIANO: Well-known Honduran historian, cultural manager, social activist, columnist, lecturer at the National Autonomous University of Honduras (UNAH.) Presentation: “Which were the national and international historical conditions that made possible the electoral result obtained in the general elections last November 2021?”

ALBA MEIJA: Renowned Honduran feminist. Founder and former coordinator of the Movimiento de Mujeres por la Paz. For the last 25 years she has been deputy director of the Honduran Human Rights Organisation, Centre for the Prevention, Treatment and Rehabilitation of Victims of Torture (CPTRT) Presentation: “What does it mean for the country and for the women of the country, that Honduras has its first female president? How to interpret the results from a feminist perspective?”

ANA HERRERA: Economist with a master’s degree in Economic and Social Research Methodologies as well as Political Economic. She is a member of the Partido Libre and a member of the Government Innovation and Policy Laboratory – a entity that assisted in the elaboration of the Government Plan 2022-2026. Presentation: “Construction of the Government plan – challenges in political and economic matters in a country in ruins.”

HANS AALBORG: Frequent guest as International Observer at general elections in different countries in Latin America. Presentation: “Observations and analysis of this electoral process vs. previous electoral processes, as well as the importance and role of the support of the international community.”