Honduras ruling party concedes, crowning leftist candidate Xiomara Castro president-elect

Xiomara Castro
(Image credit: Luis Acosta/AFP/Getty Images)

Tegucigalpa Mayor Nasry Asufra, the presidential candidate for Honduras' ruling conservative National Party, conceded defeat in Sunday's election to leftist opposition candidate Xiomara Castro on Tuesday, saying he had already congratulated her privately but "now I want to say it publicly," that "I congratulate her for her victory and as president-elect, I hope that God illuminates and guides her so that her administration does the best for the benefit of all of us Hondurans."

Castro was ahead in the pre-election polls and with 52 percent of the votes tallied, she leads Asufra 53 percent to 34 percent. Asufra's concession was a relief to Hondurans bracing for a repeat of 2017's marred election, in which President Juan Orlando Hernández was declared the winner after three tense weeks amid street protests that left 23 people dead. His National Party has held power since a 2009 coup deposed Castro's husband, Manuel Zelaya, and popular discontent with the party grew in recent years amid a series of corruption scandals and worsening economic hardship.

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.