North Miami-Dade News

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Congresswoman María Elvira Salazar (R-FL) convened a hearing in the Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, to examine the socialist government of Xiomara Castro de Zelaya and how it has affected the relationship between the U.S. and Honduras.

Salazar warned the Honduran people that the failed communism of Fidel Castro and Hugo Chávez is back in Tegucigalpa, manifested in the "puppet" government of Xiomara Castro de Zelaya and her husband, Manuel Zelaya.

"During the past decade, the beautiful country of Honduras has been struggling for its political life," said Representative Salazar. "Earlier this year, President Xiomara Castro announced that her government was following in the footsteps of Hugo Chávez. When someone tells you they don't like the United States and they don't like capitalism, listen to them and act accordingly."

As a journalist, Congresswoman Salazar has extensive experience covering Central American politics through her on-the-ground reporting, and Honduras is no exception.

Under her leadership, the Subcommittee invited the following senior officials from the Biden Administration to testify on U.S. policy towards Honduras:

Mr. Eric Jacobstein, Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, U.S. Department of State.

Ms. Mileydi Guilarte, Deputy Administrator, Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean, U.S. Agency for International Development.

Congresswoman Salazar began the hearing by clearly explaining why the socialist legacy of the Zelaya family precisely threatens stability and economic prosperity, for which purpose President Castro and her party were elected.

Fourteen years after his attempted coup, Manuel Zelaya returned to power through a proxy, his wife Xiomara Castro de Zelaya. In the two years that President Castro has been in power, she has remained determined to return Honduras to the fold of Latin American socialist tyranny.

She has already threatened to expropriate foreign companies, changed her country's recognition from Taiwan to the People's Republic of China, and made comments attacking capitalism as an ideology that "only causes misery."

Despite Honduras facing the threat of socialism once again through the corrupt Zelaya family, the Biden Administration has chosen to make Honduras its preferred partner in the region, even promoting it as a "success story."

Other partners in the region, such as El Salvador and Guatemala, who have shown genuine interest in helping us fight the Chinese Communist Party and the migration crisis, have only received disdain from the Administration.

The witnesses from the Biden Administration responded with astonishment to Congresswoman Salazar's clear argumentation, showing a profound misunderstanding of the threat faced by the Honduran people, and even displaying ignorance of the corruption network in the Honduran government.

An example of such ignorance is found in the cruel extortion network organized by the governor of Choluteca, Ilce Villatoro, and Rafael Barahona, commissioner of the Honduran Institute of Land Transportation. They have been charging $150 to those seeking passage to the United States through Honduras, from Central and South America, for a safe conduct or travel pass to reach Guatemala.

This practice, although officially illegal, is enriching the personal coffers of the Zelaya government and its lackeys. Mr. Jacobstein did not acknowledge this fact and instead argued that the practice is illegal, implying that it is not happening.

On the other hand, Mileydi Guilarte from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) assured Congresswoman Salazar that USAID is working hard to ensure that important funds for U.S. programs in Honduras are not being laundered by the Zelaya government.

To watch the full hearing, click HERE.

Congresswoman María Elvira Salazar proudly represents the city of Miami in Congress, home to over 22,000 voters of Honduran descent. In the hearing, she had a special message in Spanish for the Honduran community. Watch it HERE.

For additional details, please follow this link: https://salazar.house.gov/media/press-releases/congresista-salazar-senala-al-socialismo-y-la-corrupcion-en-la-honduras-de