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Honduras’ new president recognizes Venezuela’s real gov’t; coup leader Guaidó loses drug-trafficking ally

Honduras’ new President Xiomara Castro, the country’s first democratic leader since a 2009 US-backed coup, broke ties with unelected putschist Juan Guaidó and recognized Venezuela’s constitutional President Nicolás Maduro.

venezuela embassy honduras
The re-opening of Venezuela's real embassy in Tegucigalpa, Honduras on January 27, 2022

Honduras’ new left-wing President Xiomara Castro took power on January 27. The same day of her inauguration, she re-established relations with the real, constitutional government of Venezuela’s elected President Nicolás Maduro.

Castro is the first democratic leader of Honduras since a 2009 military coup, sponsored by the United States, overthrew former President Manuel Zelaya, Castro’s husband.

The previous right-wing regime of notoriously corrupt Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández, who was deeply involved in drug trafficking, had recognized US-appointed Venezuelan coup leader Juan Guaidó as supposed “interim president.”

The loss of Honduras is another blow to Washington’s ongoing coup attempt against Venezuela’s leftist government. A former top ally of Guaidó admitted that, as of January 2022, fewer than 15 countries recognize the Venezuelan putschist.

Venezuelan diplomats restored their control over their lawful embassy in the Honduran capital Tegucigalpa on January 27.

The foreign minister of Venezuela, Felix Plasencia, was in Tegucigalpa to attend Xiomaro Castro’s inauguration. He called to “advance on the path of integration, progress, and understanding,” and said, “Long live the integration of our peoples!”

Venezuela’s new ambassador to Honduras, Margaud Godoy, said it was an “honor to share with the first woman president of the brotherly republic of Honduras, Xiomara Castro, with whom, hand in hand with President Nicolás Maduro, we will keep strengthening our historic links that unite our countries.”

On January 29, Honduras’ new foreign minister, Enrique Reina, delivered Godoy her official credentials, in the presence of Venezuelan Foreign Minister Plasencia.

From 2009 to 2022, Honduras was governed by a series of right-wing authoritarian regimes that stole elections in broad daylight.

These regimes, which enjoyed staunch support from the United States, were also deeply implicated in drug trafficking and organized crime networks.

Xiomara Castro represents the leftist Libre Party, which is led by her husband Manuel Zelaya, the former democratically elected president of Honduras, who was overthrown in the 2009 US-backed coup.

Castro and the Libre Party won Honduras’ November 2021 elections in a landslide.

Previous right-wing Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández (JOH) had recognized putschist Juan Guaidó from the very beginning of Washington’s coup attempt in Venezuela, launched in January 2019.

Guaidó repeatedly thanked Honduras’ JOH regime for its support. In a surrealistic moment following a May 2020 virtual meeting, Guaidó even publicly thanked JOH for “his support in the fight against drug trafficking.”

In reality, JOH is closely linked to drug trafficking, and reportedly used huge sums of drug money to fund his right-wing National Party.

JOH’s brother Antonio “Tony” Hernández is in prison in the United States for drug trafficking. In October 2019, a US district court convicted Tony of trafficking approximately 200,000 kilograms (440,000 pounds) of cocaine and machine guns.

The court added that Tony Hernández “funneled millions of dollars of drug proceeds to National Party campaigns to impact Honduran presidential elections in 2009, 2013, and 2017.”

According to the court, Mexican drug lord El Chapo even paid JOH $1 million to help him rig Honduras’ 2013 national elections.

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