Honduras signs pact with U.N. to establish anti-corruption commission 

The government of Honduras announced that it will be signing a preliminary agreement with the United Nations on Thursday to establish an anti-corruption commission in the Central American country. 

Honduran President Xiomara Castro, who made fighting corruption one of her key issues in her campaign, met with U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in New York on Wednesday to wrap up talks to create the commission, her office posted on Twitter. 

Nuestra Presidenta @XiomaraCastroZ junto al secretario privado, @HectorZelaya salen en vuelo comercial a la reunión de instalación de la #CICIH con @ONU_es en New York.✊🇭🇳#YaVieneLaCicih pic.twitter.com/clmYVPNYqw

— Gobierno de Honduras (@GobiernoHN) December 11, 2022

The preliminary agreement for the commission, dubbed International Commission against Corruption and Impunity in Honduras (Cicih) was signed on Thursday at 9:40 a.m. ET.

According to Honduran Foreign Minister Enrique Reina, a more formal pact with the U.N. was still being worked on. 

Como Presidenta de Honduras, junto al SG de ONU @antonioguterres, instalaremos la #CICIH independiente y justa. Logramos acuerdos para la selección de expertos internacionales que investiguen las redes de corrupción público privadas de alto impacto, que han saqueado al pais. pic.twitter.com/LDqae8qqlb

— Xiomara Castro de Zelaya (@XiomaraCastroZ) December 15, 2022

Corruption in Honduras steals around $3 billion a year, deepening poverty and leading to further outward migration, according to U.S. diplomats and non-government organizations. 

Until January 2020, Honduras had a similar anti-corruption mission operated by the Organization of the American States (OAS). Created in 2016, the Mission to Support the Fight Against Corruption and Impunity in Honduras (MACCIH) led corruption investigations into government officials. However, former President Juan Orlando Hernandez let it expire. 

Before elections last year, Castro ran a campaign promising to establish an anti-corruption commission to hold government officials guilty of it accountable.