No menu items!

COSTA RICA'S LEADING ENGLISH LANGUAGE NEWSPAPER

HomeHondurasHonduras asks UN to create Anti-Corruption Commission

Honduras asks UN to create Anti-Corruption Commission

The Honduran government of Xiomara Castro asked the UN on Thursday to create a commission against corruption and impunity, the Foreign Ministry announced.

“The president of the Republic, Xiomara Castro, sent this Thursday a letter to the United Nations (UN) in order to request the installation of an International Commission against Corruption and Impunity in Honduras (CICIH),” said a statement from the foreign ministry.

It added that the mission “will contribute in the fight against the evils and vices left by the past government” of Juan Orlando Hernández (2014-2022) and “that have plunged the people of Honduras into misery, poverty and social inequality.”

“President Castro has reiterated that corruption, drug trafficking, death squads and organized crime are priority issues on her agenda,” the Foreign Ministry stressed.

Last Tuesday, Honduran police arrested Hernández at the request of the United States for his extradition. 

The former president is accused of transporting 500 tons of cocaine into the country from positions of power he held, including president of Congress between 2010 and 2014.

A judge, who held the first hearing to inform the former governor of the charges on Wednesday, will decide whether to authorize extradition to the United States in the coming weeks.

Castro, the first woman to become president of Honduras and who took office on January 27, 2022, told AFP in an interview in December that she would ask the UN to create the CICIH and Congress to repeal the “laws of impunity”.

Castro, 62, of the leftist Libertad y Refundación (Libre), told AFP that he will seek to eliminate the norms that – in his opinion – “have covered up all the corruption” of recent years, alluding to the Hernandez government.

In 2016, after questioning President Hernández, who accepted that part of the money for his campaign came from public funds, a Support Mission Against Corruption and Impunity (MACCIH), sponsored by the OAS, entered the country, but left in January 2020 due to disagreements.

Some defendants argued violation of the principle of innocence. Castro wants to reactivate that mission at the highest level but from the UN.

Trending Now

Nicaraguan Exiles Demand Protection After Costa Rica Assassination

More than 70 exiled Nicaraguans demanded international protection on Friday following the shooting death in Costa Rica of retired army officer Roberto Samcam, a...

Former Costa Rican Minister Arrested for Drug Trafficking, Faces U.S. Extradition

Costa Rica’s judicial police arrested Celso Gamboa, a former security minister and Supreme Court judge, on Monday, following a U.S. request for his extradition...

Panama Vows Constitutional Action Amid Worsening Bocas del Toro Unrest

Panama’s President José Raúl Mulino announced Thursday that he will take “constitutional measures” to stop the wave of protests and road blockades affecting the...

Costa Rica Joins U.S. Global Entry, Easing Travel for Tourists

Costa Rica took a big step forward, by officially joining the U.S. Global Entry program, a move set to make travel smoother for Costa...

Costa Rica’s Piangua Mollusk Threatened by Pineapple Farm Runoff

Costa Rica’s Térraba-Sierpe National Wetland, a 33,000-hectare haven of mangroves and rivers, is under siege from an unlikely source: pineapple farms. A study by...

Costa Rica Hunts for Nicaraguan Hit Squad After Exile’s Assassination

Costa Rica’s Judicial Investigation Agency (OIJ) is investigating whether a hit squad tied to Nicaragua’s Ortega-Murillo regime is targeting exiled critics on its soil....
spot_img
Costa Rica Tours
Costa Rica Coffee Maker Chorreador
Costa Rica Coffee Maker Chorreador
Costa Rica Travel Insurance
Costa Rica Rocking Chait
Costa Rica Travel

Latest News from Costa Rica