Elections in Honduras: proposals from the candidates heading to the polls in November

Honduras is preparing to elect a new president this November 30, as well as its legislative and municipal authorities. What is the social climate facing the elections and what do the main candidates of this country in Central America propose?

More than six million citizens are called to the polls to elect the next president of the Republic, 128 deputies to the National Congress, 298 mayors and 20 representatives to the Central American Parliament.

The presidential race is dominated by three candidates. The ruling party, Libertad y Refundación (Libre), nominates Rixi Moncada, close to current president Xiomara Castro.

The National Party, the main opposition force, proposes Nasry Asfura, former mayor of Tegucigalpa and candidate in the previous elections. For its part, the Liberal Party presents Salvador Nasralla, former presidential appointee—a position similar to the vice president in other countries—who has quickly gained followers.

Currently, the national Congress is divided. In the ruling group there are 47 deputies: 43 from the Free Party, one from the Anti-Corruption Party, two from the Social Democratic Innovation and Unity Party and one from the Christian Democratic Party.

Meanwhile, the opposition is made up of 78 deputies: 43 from the National Party, 35 from the Liberal Party. Three deputies from the Salvador Party of Honduras are independent.

Social context

To find out what the perception of Hondurans is regarding the electoral process, the Reflection, Research and Communication Team coordinated by the Society of Jesus (ERIC-SJ) conducted a public opinion poll in March of this year.

In this, the population negatively rates the management of President Xiomara Castro. The results reveal that “the deterioration of its image, the lack of transparency and a stagnant or declining quality of life persist.”

“The economic crisis is imposed as the main national problem, seen as the greatest failure of the current government, a structural cause of migration and an urgent challenge to be resolved,” the survey indicates.

According to the survey, the parties with the most chances of winning would be: Liberal Party (39.1%), the Liberty and Refoundation Party (Libre) with 25.6%, the National Party with 23.2%, while 10.1% believe that no party will win.

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Candidate proposals

The three main candidates have presented some lines of action in different forums and media.

Rixi Moncada, 60, is a left-wing politician, co-founder of Libre and was Minister of Defense in the Government of Xiomara Castro, in addition to having held important public positions throughout her career.

In an interview on the local channel Intervisión in March of this year, expressed his admiration for “Cuba, for its historic revolutionary leader Fidel Castro.”

During a participation in the National Autonomous University of Honduras (UNAH), He stressed that his proposal “its central axis is to continue forward with the process of refounding the country (started by Xiomara Castro) and democratize the economy and the financial system, today captured by an elite made up of 25 economic groups and 10 families.”

For his part, Nasry Asfura, 67, is a right-wing politician and construction businessman. Also at UNAH presented three fundamental axes of his vision for the country: employment, health and education. “There are three links that cannot be separated. If we break one, there is no way for the country to advance,” he said.

Meanwhile, Salvador Nasralla, 72, is an engineer and a popular television host. He was the first presidential delegate of the Republic (a position equivalent to a Vice Presidency) during most of the Castro Government, however he distanced himself from the president to the point of resigning in 2024.

On your website released a document with ten priority axes focused on the modernization of the State and the improvement of public services.

These include the construction of new hospitals and educational centers, the generation of employment through labor reforms and the rationalization of public spending, as well as a policy of transparency and the fight against corruption.

Defense of life and family

In an interview with ACI Prensa, Martha Lorena de Casco, co-founder of the movement Pro-life in Hondurasassured that no candidate has presented specific proposals on social issues such as life and family.

The pro-life leader pointed out that “Honduras has a very strong pro-life vocation, and that is expressed in our Constitution,” however, she warned that, “today that historic achievement is being threatened.”

De Casco recalled that, during the current administration, in 2023, the public distribution of the emergency contraceptive pill (ECP) was allowed again, a decision that he describes as “the first step to open the door to other forms of abortion.”

That same year, Congress approved the “Comprehensive Teenage Pregnancy Prevention Education Law,” which I was looking for “build sex education curricula appropriate to the age of students to prevent teenage pregnancies.” The proposal was stopped by various social groups that considered it a promoter of gender ideology and abortion.

The pro-life leader warned that the continuity of the Libre party project could put at risk the progress made in the defense of life and family. “Yes, we are very concerned that the continuity of a government of this caliber could really violate everything we have achieved in 40 years (of pro-life struggle),” he added.

Regarding the rest of the candidates, De Casco assures that the National Party has historically maintained a firm stance in defense of life, while the Liberal Party candidate, Salvador Nasralla, has shown openness to dialogue with pro-life organizations.

However, it considers that the candidates still need to include specific public policies not only to support pregnant women in vulnerable situations, but also other social issues. “They have not landed on family issues, they have not landed on women’s issues, they have not landed on education issues,” he lamented.

He also pointed out that “it would be a revolution” if the candidates manage to understand that “if there is no family, society does not function. And that is calling for State policies that have the family at the center of housing development, education, public health, etc.”

Economy, violence and migration

Honduran analyst Carlos Calix, specialist in macroeconomics and public opinion, who since 2022 has monitored the country’s social climate, assured in an interview with ACI Prensa that unemployment and insecurity are the main concerns of Hondurans.

“There is stagnation in the Honduran economy, regardless of what the government wants to say,” he stated. According to their estimates, between 2.3 and 2.5 million Hondurans have serious employment problems, while about 1.6 million are underemployed in a population of approximately 11 million people.

Added to this, Calix said, is the persistence of violence. “Every day there are still deaths, assaults, massacres. So that issue of citizen insecurity is still latent.” It also warns about the increase in cybercrime and legal uncertainty, affecting both companies and residential projects.

The lack of opportunities “impacts 8 out of every 10 Hondurans. If they had the opportunity to emigrate, to leave the country, they would do it,” he added. Many young people, he said, do not envision a stable future within the country, which deepens the migration phenomenon towards Guatemala, Mexico and the United States.

In a march called in August by the Episcopal Conference of Honduras, attended by hundreds of thousands of people, the importance of participating in the elections with hope was highlighted, taking into account that “a Honduras is necessary and possible in which truth, justice, freedom, honesty and equity are lived.”