federal prosecutors in New York accusing him of running a narco state and fueling his own political rise with drug money. Hernández became a national embarrassment with U.S. Since then, Castro de Zelaya’s movement has focused laser-like on getting Hernández out of office. Three weeks later, Hernández was declared the winner despite the Organization of American States observation mission calling for an election re-do. Since 2013, the first time she ran, Castro de Zelaya has been the principal thorn in the side of Juan Orlando Hernández, the current president who won elections in 2013, and then gained the blessings of the country’s supreme court to run for re-election in 2017.Ĭastro de Zelaya ceded her candidacy in 2017 to Salvador Nasralla, a TV personality who ran at the head of an opposition coalition, and claimed to have narrowly defeated Hernández.Īfter a protracted election filled with irregularities in 2017, protesters filled the streets and the government imposed a curfew. Besides, the country’s Constitution prohibited her husband from running for re-election. With Mel Zelaya running a sort of government in exile in Costa Rica and later in Nicaragua, it was up to his wife to lead the string of protests demanding his return and re-instatement.īy the time Zelaya formed the Libre, or Free Party, Castro de Zelaya’s popularity was evident among followers of the movement. Together they raised four children, and during her husband’s 2006-2009 tenure, she played a relatively minor role, overseeing programs for women and children.īut it was after the 2009 coup, which forced her husband into exile, that Castro de Zelaya came to the forefront. She grew up in the capital, Tegucigalpa, but moved to her husband’s rural province of Olancho, known for its cattle ranches, when the couple wed. The 62-year-old, three-time candidate has long said, “the third try is the charm.” Her victory would also mark the return of her family to the presidential residence that they were ousted from in a 2009 coup. If preliminary tallies from the election Sunday are confirmed, Castro de Zelaya would become the Central American country’s first female president. TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AP) - Xiomara Castro de Zelaya, the wife of ousted former president Mel Zelaya, has taken a commanding lead in Honduras’ elections, capping a 12-year effort.
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