Honduran president urged to resign after corruption scandal she says is a plot to overthrow her

TEGUCIGALPA — The head of an anti-corruption organization on Wednesday demanded the resignation of Honduran President Xiomara Castro after a video was released in which her brother-in-law allegedly received money from drug trafficking.

“This request is based on the serious accusations of drug trafficking that have been made against your family, whom you have appointed to work for the State,” said Gabriela Castellanos, director of the non-governmental organization National Anti-Corruption Council, in a public letter to Castro.

The lawsuit comes after a difficult week for Castro, who won the presidency on the back of an anti-corruption campaign.

The day before the letter was sent, a video recorded in 2013 was released that allegedly showed drug traffickers currently incarcerated in the United States offering more than $525,000 to the president’s brother-in-law and leader of Congress, Carlos Zelaya.

In this video published in an investigation by InsightCrime journalists, Zelaya said that “half will go to the commander,” referring to his brother, former President Manuel Zelaya, Castro’s husband and top adviser, who was overthrown in a coup in 2009.

Castro’s brother-in-law Zelaya had acknowledged days earlier that he had met with the leader of the drug trafficking organization “Los Cachiros,” who offered to support his party’s campaign that year; 2013 was the same year Castro made his first unsuccessful campaign for the presidency.

But Zelaya told reporters he was unaware that the people who attended the meeting were linked to drug trafficking.

Castro’s brother-in-law, Carlos Zelaya, was among the few family members to resign from government posts after admitting to meeting with a group of drug traffickers in 2013. Zelaya said he did not know the people he met with were drug traffickers and denied accepting money at the time.

“I fell into a trap, I take responsibility for my actions,” Zelaya told reporters.

As a result, Zelaya and his son, a former defense minister, resigned from their posts.

Shortly before Zelaya’s revelation, Castro had torn up a long-standing extradition treaty between Honduras and the United States, which analysts and disillusioned Hondurans said was no coincidence.

Under the treaty, dozens of Hondurans accused of drug trafficking were extradited to face justice in the United States, including the country’s former president who was recently sentenced to 45 years in prison by a New York court.

Zelaya’s video sparked anger and frustration among many Hondurans, who when they elected Castro in 2021 had hoped she would be a different president than the corrupt leaders who have long ruled the Central American nation.

But his popularity has slowly faded in recent years as rising gang violence, the economy and high unemployment continue to plague Hondurans and many feel they have not seen the change they were promised.

After the video of Zelaya’s meeting with the drug gang was released, Castro said in statements on radio and television that “dark forces” in Honduras and abroad were working to carry out a coup against him.

“The plan to destroy my socialist and democratic government and the upcoming elections is underway,” he said, without offering many more details about his accusations.

Analyst and former presidential candidate Olban Valladares called his claims about a plot to overthrow her “absurd” and added that Castro “insists on using rhetoric that is already worn out.”