Nov 30,2021:Former Honduran first lady and leftist opposition candidate Xiomara Castro appears set to become the country’s first female president, a result that would put the left back in power 12 years after her husband was overthrown in a coup.
With more than half the votes counted, Castro had at least 53 percent support and held a commanding lead of almost 20 percentage points over the ruling National Party’s Nasry Asfura, according to a live count from Honduras’s National Electoral Council (CNE) on Monday.
Castro, whose husband Manuel Zelaya was deposed from the presidency in a 2009 coup backed by business and military elites, claimed victory late on Sunday, even as the CNE said no result would be announced until the last vote is counted.
With more than 1.8 million votes counted, Castro held a margin of at least 350,000 votes. Despite warnings from the CNE to wait for official results, major Honduran news outlets have called the race as a victory for Castro, 62.
The council said voter turnout was at more than 68 percent.
