“A Moment of Hope”: Xiomara Castro’s Likely Win in Honduras Ends Years of Right-Wing Rule After Coup

Democracy Now! goes to Honduras, where thousands took to the streets to celebrate the leftist presidential candidate Xiomara Castro’s lead in the polls ahead of the right-wing National Party candidate Nasry Asfura.

The historic election saw a record voter turnout and could signal the end of the 12-year brutal regime under the conservative National Party, which rose to power after a coup backed by the U.S. in 2009 overthrew democratically-elected leftist President Manuel Zelaya.

Castro, who is Zelaya’s wife, would become the first woman to serve as president of Honduras if her victory is confirmed. “It’s brought hope to the entire country,” says Faridd Sierra, a high-school teacher in Comayagua, Honduras.

Years of corruption and conservative law-making “showed the Honduras people just how cruel the [National] Party was and … they voted in response,” adds Honduran scholar Suyapa Portillo. Castro’s likely win “is a testament to bottom-up organizing,” she says.

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