Fearing Corruption Charges, Honduran Defense Minister Requests Asylum From Biden

HONDURAS’S DEFENSE MINISTER quietly requested asylum from the U.S. government after the country elected a new leader in November, The Intercept has learned.

April 1, 2023 | Source: The Intercept | by Ken Klippenstein

As the left resumes power with President Xiomara Castro’s inauguration, the official seeks shelter in the United States.

HONDURAS’S DEFENSE MINISTER quietly requested asylum from the U.S. government after the country elected a new leader in November, The Intercept has learned.

The defense minister, Gen. Fredy Díaz, said that he fears being charged with corruption by the newly elected democratic socialist President Xiomara Castro, especially considering the role the Honduran military played in the coup that ousted her husband, former Honduran President Manuel Zelaya, according to a source whose knowledge of the matter was verified by The Intercept. In light of Zelaya’s expulsion from the presidency — and the country — by the Honduran army in 2009, Castro’s landslide victory on November 28 of last year stunned many in the international community. During her campaign, Castro vowed to “pull Honduras out of the abyss we have been buried in by neoliberalism,” reflecting the stance taken by Zelaya, who was critical of the U.S. role in the region.