Honduras' new socialist president promises [electrical] power to the people during inauguration speech

Honduras’ first female president, Xiomara Castro, was sworn in on Thursday amid growing uncertainty about whether she will be able to govern in the face of a growing legislative crisis and mounting challenges to her presidency.

Castro, the head of the left-wing Libre Party and wife of former President Manuel Zelaya, won the Nov. 28 presidential contest by a healthy margin, but recent controversies leading up to her inauguration has distracted from what many pundits hoped could be a new beginning for the torn and divided nation.

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris was also in attendance and met with Castro after her inauguration to discuss expanding economic opportunity, combating corruption and humanely managing migration.

But Castro was quick to show her true populist colors while giving her inauguration speech – promising hand-outs and not wasting a minute before targeting the wealthy.

In her speech, the left-wing leader stated that under her government, "education, health, security and employment will be the anchors of progress and development” before noting that there was certain expenses that the poor would no longer have to worry about.

"There are more than one million families living in poverty and consuming less than 150 kilowatts per month,” she noted. “From this day forward, they will no longer pay their energy consumption bill. The light will be free in their homes," he stated. "High consumers will subsidize that energy."

Ultimately, Castro’s victory has been of particular interest to the U.S., as stability in the so-called “Northern Triangle” is a top priority for the Biden administration, which has repeatedly discussed the need to address the “root causes of migration” and ultimately committed $4 billion to that end.

Shortly after being elected, Castro promised to work with the Biden administration to begin combatting illegal immigration from her country.

“In the first 100 days, we will execute and propose to the administration of President Joe Biden and Kamala Harris a plan to combat and address the true causes of migration,” Castro said.

To date, more than 500,000 Hondurans have headed to the U.S. since Honduras’ contested 2017 election.