Salazar Joins Honduran Leaders in Denouncing Socialist President Xiomara Castro de Zelaya
MIAMI, FL – Today, Western Hemisphere Subcommittee Chairwoman María Elvira Salazar (R-FL) joined Rep. Carlos A. Giménez (R-FL) and several leaders of the Honduran opposition in a press conference to denounce Honduran President Xiomara Castro de Zelaya’s corrupt administration.
Since 2021, the Castro administration in Honduras has trampled on the liberties of ordinary Hondurans while affiliating herself with the tyrannical regimes of Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua. With over 1 million Hondurans living in the United States, the Castro government represents a serious threat to the U.S.–Honduras relationship, especially after it announced its intention to cancel our shared extradition treaty.
“Unfortunately, there is currently a President in Honduras who may have came to power through democratic means, but who has trampled on that same democratic system,” said Chairwoman Salazar. “My message to President Castro de Zelaya: Don’t listen to your husband Mel. Don’t heed the socialist tendencies that he has always maintained. Protect Honduras' democracy because we in the United States are committed to preserving a solid democracy in Honduras.”
Chairwoman Salazar has been at the forefront of calling out the Castro administration for permitting corruption within her ranks, cozying up to dictators, and embracing China. She first called attention to the Castro administration’s recognition of China over Taiwan in a hearing in October 2023 detailing growing Chinese influence over political and economic institutions in Latin America.
Later that month, Salazar exposed Xiomara Castro for not only leading Honduras into dangerous alliances with the dictatorships in Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua and threatening to expropriate private property, but also for colluding with local officials in the Choluteca region to extort desperate migrants passing through the country by forcing them to pay illegal tolls. Worse yet, the Chairwoman revealed that this extortion scheme was personally enriching President Castro and her partners in the government.
The socialist Castro administration is also guilty of pushing harmful antisemiticnarratives about the Jewish State of Israel and its war against Hamas terrorism after the October 7th terrorist attack. Furthermore, she allowed 100 Cuban doctors who are victims of forced labor and human trafficking to work in the country against the will of the Honduran people. Showing her true colors as an ally of the worst dictators in the region, she awarded the highest honor Honduras can bestow, the Order of Francisco Morazán, to the dictator Nicolás Maduro. She also established Chávez-like colectivos to enforce her ideology, following in Maduro’s example.
The inauguration of Xiomara Castro was attended by Vice President Kamala Harris with much fanfare.
Congresswoman Salazar proudly represents the city of Miami in Congress, home to more than 22,000 constituents of Honduran heritage.
To watch the full press conference, click here.
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