Xiomara Castro. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons / Presidency of Colombia – CC0 / cropped).
by Francesco Giappichini –
On January 27, the entourage of the progressive government of Honduras, which is led by President Xiomara Castro, will celebrate two years, or half, of its mandate. And the world media take advantage of the anniversary to express an opinion on the return of the left to power in the chaotic Central American country. Castro, after all, took office, with the electoral victory of November 2021, with a single objective: to redeem the experience of her husband and former president Manuel Zelaya, deposed by the military coup, or rather by military charlatanism, of June 2009. Let’s say it straight away: the results of his administration are chiaroscuro, contrasting; and the approval rating itself is modest, hovering around 36 percent.
Here we will therefore ask ourselves what the Castro executive failed in, what were the unfulfilled promises, the disappointed expectations. First of all, the inability to reduce the rates of extreme poverty should be highlighted, but the unrealistic attitude towards the defense of civil rights is also highlighted. The Belgian non-governmental organization, International Crisis Group (ICG), explains it well: the «Castro government is finding it difficult to keep its progressive promises and the commitments made during its electoral campaign, in particular on issues related to gender – l abortion remains totally prohibited – or to the protection of indigenous and Afro-descendant populations.” Moreover, the prohibition on abortion and equal marriages is imposed by the Constitution, and the government does not have the qualified majority in the National Congress to make changes to it.
Indeed, the internal disagreements between Castro and vice president Salvador Nasralla, who has resurrected his Partido Salvador de Honduras (Psh), de facto deprive the administration of a parliamentary majority. Furthermore, the promise to limit polluting mining activities has apparently been disregarded, while on the contrary, violence against environmentalists continues. A separate chapter, public order. The Tegucigalpa government has been accused of having succumbed to repressive policies, to the controversial “medidas drásticas”: that is, of having ordered an offensive against the gangs, similar to that implemented by the president of El Salvador Nayib Bukele. The polarization between those who praise these measures and those who brand them as a violation of human rights has thus re-emerged.
Of course, the “president” can boast concrete results and successes in multiple sectors. Think of the increase in the health budget, and the mega electrification project in rural areas, which benefited 1.3 million poor families. The November 2025 presidential election therefore promises to be very uncertain, although there should be a clash between the government left of the Libertad y Refundación (Libre) party and the right-wing parties gathered around the Partido nacional de Honduras (Pnh). Even the aforementioned Nasralla (officially, the designee of the presidency of the República) could however run as a candidate, becoming the tipping point of the balance. He has already declared that he does not share Castro’s ideological vision, despite being her deputy, and that he wants to represent a more moderate and renewing option: a turnaround compared to the 2017 elections, when his strenuous opposition to the conservative Juan Orlando Hernández, the eventually elected president, he anointed him champion of the left. Hernández himself, however, has fared worse, having been detained in the United States for months on charges of drug trafficking.