Florida Republicans teamed up with several leaders of the Honduran opposition to denounce Honduran President Xiomara Castro de Zelaya. Florida Reps. María Elvira Salazar (R) and Carlos Gimenez (R) joined the Honduran officials in a press conference, pointing to President Castro's corruption in office.
President Castro was elected in 2022, and since then, critics like Reps. Salazar and Gimenez argue that she "has trampled on the liberties of ordinary Hondurans while affiliating herself with the tyrannical regimes of Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua." The United States currently has over 1 million Hondurans living in the United States, and the Florida Republicans expressed that President Castro embodies a threat to the relationship between both countries. This comes after Honduras announced it would cancel the shared extradition treaty.
Desafortunadamente, la presidenta socialista Xiomara Castro de Zelaya se ha aliado a las dictaduras del Hemisferio: Cuba, Venezuela y Nicaragua.
¡Ese no es el camino correcto para los hondureños! pic.twitter.com/CCxu7Ify7h
— María Elvira Salazar 🇺🇸 (@MaElviraSalazar) October 22, 2024
Rep. Salazar, who is the Western Hemisphere Subcommittee Chairwoman, spoke at the press conference, commenting that "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." “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," she added.
Rep. Salazar has previously criticized President Castro in the past, taking issue with the president's willingness to form alliances with communist dictators, expropriate private property, contributing to the forced labor and human trafficking of 100 Cuban doctors.
President Castro has also received condemnation for bestowing the Order of Francisco Morazán, the highest honor Honduras can bestow, on Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
