Daniel Langmeier, Honduras Forum Switzerland
2022 started in Honduras with everything in place for a new start. Xiomara Castro won the election with a clear mandate for change and even in Congress, the opposition alliance together with some Liberal Party dissidents could have reached a simple majority. But this in not the story of this month. The defeated powers of the 2021 elections once more flexed their muscles. They succeeded in splitting the opposition in Congress and elected their own congressional leadership so that January ended with not one, but two different Congresses, one led by Luis Redondo and supported by Xiomara, one led by Jorge Cálix and supported by the Nationalists and Liberals. Even apart from this political crisis, January reminded of the previous twelve years. Three human rights defenders were murdered, Pablo Isabel Hernández, Selvin Geovany Mejía and Thalía Rodríguez. The Guapinol case continued before court with the water defenders still behind bars. And then there is also the Omicron-wave hitting a down-trodden public health system. The challenges for the new administration are real and many. But at the same time, the moment on January 27, when Xiomara Castro became the first female president of Honduras, left many with hope. It meant a break with the coup d’état and its legacy and showed a way forward. Welcome to another month in Honduras.
Read the full report here
