Two family members of Honduran far-left socialist President Xiomara Castro resigned from their government positions over the weekend amid an ongoing investigation into alleged ties to drug traffickers against the president's brother-in-law, Congressman Carlos Zelaya.
Castro's nephew, José Manuel Zelaya Rosales, retired as defense minister, while his father, Carlos Zelaya, retired as member and secretary of the Honduran Congress. Carlos Zelaya is the brother of former Honduran President Manuel Zelaya, husband of current President Xiomara Castro, who was deposed in a 2009 coup.
Zelaya Rosales explained via social media on Saturday. post He said his decision to step down as defence minister was to allow himself to be “freely investigated” by the ongoing investigation into his father.
Carlos Zelaya is under investigation by Honduran prosecutors after a widening scandal revealed he met with a known Honduran drug trafficker in 2013. Hospitalized On Saturday, he met with Juan Ramon Matta Valduraga, the son of Honduran drug trafficker Juan Ramon Matta Ballesteros, who was killed in 2013. Los Cachiros A drug gangster currently serving a life sentence in an American prison since 1990.
Zelaya also acknowledged that during meetings with drug traffickers he had been offered “campaign donations” for his ruling Libre party, but that they were never accepted.
“Now I'm sure the meeting was recorded. I fell for the trap. I'm to blame. I have the video. [of the meeting]”Its sole purpose was to talk about offers of campaign contributions,” Zelaya told reporters after giving evidence to the prosecutor's office.
“The meeting was not held with the approval of the president.” [Manuel] “Mr. Zelaya was not authorized or accompanied by or even aware of the meeting, nor was Chairman Castro. It was a one-sided meeting on my part,” he said. continuation.
Matta Waldurraga, whom Zelaya met with in 2013, Pardoned Matta-Walduraga was indicted on money laundering charges by a Honduran court in December 2023 after being extradited from Colombia in 2022. Matta-Walduraga pleaded guilty to drug trafficking conspiracy in a New York court in 2017 and served a two-year prison sentence on drug trafficking charges.
The resignations of former defense minister Zelaya Rosales and Congressman Carlos Zelaya as part of a drug trafficking investigation come just days after President Xiomara Castro stepped down. Announced The sudden termination of Honduras' extradition treaty with the United States means some 50 Hondurans are facing trial in U.S. courts on money laundering charges, including former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández. Delivered Coming to the US in 2022 Sentenced He was sentenced in June to 45 years in prison for drug and firearms trafficking charges.
Castro Claimed The Honduran government claimed in a social media post on Wednesday that the scrapping of the extradition treaty with the United States was in response to alleged “interference and interventionism” and the U.S. government's “intention to control Honduran politics through its embassy and other representatives.”
“They [the U.S.] “The principles and practices of international law that promote respect for the sovereignty and right of self-determination of peoples, non-interference and universal peace are attacked, ignored and violated with impunity. Enough is enough,” the socialist president said.
The withdrawal of the extradition treaty follows statements made on Wednesday by U.S. Ambassador to Tegucigalpa Laura Dougu, who expressed concern about a recent meeting between former Defense Minister José Manuel Zelaya Rosales and other government officials with Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez on the sidelines of the Fourth CISM World Cadet Games, a military sporting event held in Venezuela in mid-August.
Padrino Lopez is a senior member of Venezuela's socialist Maduro government. Accused U.S. authorities accuse him of being a key figure in the Cartel of the Suns, an intercontinental cocaine trafficking ring run by high-ranking Venezuelan military officials and key figures in the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), which aims to “flood” the United States with cocaine to harm its people.
Venezuela's Minister of Defense is also one of the top officials in Maduro's regime. Frontline Dictator Nicolas Maduro continues to wage a brutal campaign of repression against protesters and dissidents in the aftermath of a fake July 28 presidential election that he claims was fraudulent. As of last week, the crackdown has resulted in 25 confirmed deaths and more than 2,400 arbitrary detentions. 120 minors Between 14 and 17 years old.
“We are very concerned about what has happened in Venezuela and the defense minister and head of the military [Honduran] “The Joint Chiefs of Staff sit next to drug traffickers in Venezuela,” Ambassador Dougu said. said Last week's press conference.
On Sunday, Castro Appointed Following Zelaya Rosales' resignation, Lixi Moncada, a 59-year-old lawyer close to the socialist president's family, will become Honduras' new defense minister. Castro made the announcement in a speech at the start of the Central American country's month-long independence celebrations.
