VP Harris plans trip for inauguration of far left Honduran president-elect, wife of Chavez ally

Vice President Kamala Harris will lead a delegation to Honduras on Jan. 27 to attend the inauguration of President-elect Xiomara Castro, the wife of former president and Hugo Chavez ally Manuel Zelaya.

During her visit, Harris plans to address the migration problem stemming from the Central American country. 

"Vice President Kamala Harris will lead the Presidential Delegation to Honduras to attend the January 27 inauguration of President-elect Xiomara Castro. The Vice President's visit will further the commitment she and President-elect Castro made during their December 10 phone call to deepen the partnership between the United States and Honduras and work together to advance economic growth, combat corruption, and address the root causes of migration," Sabrina Singh, a deputy press secretary for the vice president, said in a statement on Tuesday.

The U.S. delegation also includes the Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development Samantha Power, Rep. Raul Ruiz, Under Secretary for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment Jose Fernandez, Assistant Secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs Brian Nichols, and Charge d'Affaires for the U.S. Embassy in Tegucigalpa Colleen Hoey. 

The trip comes one month after Harris announced seven new commitments to address the root causes of migration in Central America. In response to the vice president's call to action, businesses and social enterprises have invested more than $1.2 billion to help develop the region. The U.S. has said it is seeking stability in the so-called “Northern Triangle” and that it is a top priority for the Biden Administration, which has committed $4 billion to address the “root causes of migration.” 

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