Kamala Harris leads Biden delegation to Xiomara Castro’s inauguration in Honduras

The Vice President of the United States, Kamala Harris, will inaugurate Xiomara Castro as president in Honduras on January 27, the White House announced Tuesday.

Harris will lead the delegation that President Joe Biden will send for the inauguration in Tegucigalpa, which also includes the United States Agency for International Development Agency (USAID), Samantha Power, and the Secretary of State for the United States, Brian Nichols. a statement.

In addition, Democratic lawmaker Raul Ruiz will travel, a Mexican-born U.S. citizen who has represented California in Congress since 2013. Washington, and José Fernández, Deputy Secretary for Economic Growth, Energy and Environment of the State Department.

This will be the first official trip to Honduras for Harris, who Biden entrusted with solving the problem of uncontrolled migration on the border between the United States and Mexico, mostly from Central American countries.

Harris celebrated the victory of Castro, wife of left-wing President Manuel Zelaya, who was ousted in the 2009 November 28 election, making her the first woman to win elections in Honduras in 200 years of independence.

“Today I called to congratulate Xiomara Castro on her historic victory as the first female President of Honduras. We look forward to working with President-elect Castro to increase economic opportunities, fight corruption, and the deepening partnership between the United States and Honduras. ” Harris tweeted on December 11th.

The next day, United States Secretary of State for Civil Protection, Democracy and Human Rights, Urza Zeya, turned up to Honduras to offer Washington’s support to the future ruler, especially to fight corruption and deter emigration.

Castro, who will replace right-wing Juan Orlando Hernández, who was seriously questioned over drug trafficking allegations in a New York court, told AFP last month that he would seek to eliminate the regulations that he said were “obscured”. “. all the corruption “of recent years.

Then he stressed that migration is “one of the main issues” in the relationship with US. “The defense of human rights, the safety of migrants, mainly those of children and their families, is essential,” he said.

Castro, 62, won the election by an overwhelming majority and saw economic and social transformations of Honduras, one of the poorest countries on the continent.