Xiomara Castro indicated that the expelled deputies lost their status as active militants of the Libre party. | Photo: @PartidoLibre

Tegucigalpa, January 22 (RHC)-- The president-elect of Honduras, Xiomara Castro, announced on Friday night the expulsion from the Libertad y Refundación (Libre) party of the 18 deputies who failed to comply with the pre-agreement to define the leadership of the Honduran Congress.

The leader of the Libre party read through a video of the resolution that was made unanimously in an extraordinary meeting of the political grouping, indicating that the dissident deputies defied the authority of the party.

Among the expelled deputies are Jorge Cálix, Beatriz Valle, Denis Chirinos, Francis Cabrera, Mario Enrique Cálix, Mario Portillo, Samuel Madrid, Ronald Panchame, Ramón Soto, Marco Tinoco and Edgardo Castro.  They are joined by Frank Ramón Flores, Sergio Castellano, Germán Altamirano, Yahvé Sabillón, Marco Eliud Girón, Wilmer Cruz and Margarita Dabdoub Sikaffi.

The legislative bench of the Libre party is made up of 50 deputies, out of the 128 that make up the Parliament, but after the expulsion it would be represented by only 32.

Xiomara Castro indicated that the expelled deputies lost their status as active militants of the Libre party as of January 21st.

The provisional board of directors of the Honduran Parliament was elected on Friday in the midst of a controversy because the expelled deputies opposed to the president being Luis Redondo, supported by Xiomara Castro.

The president-elect of Honduras called on the militancy of her party to mobilize towards the Honduran capital and gather in the vicinity of the National Congress.

"The vigil begins Saturday night and early Sunday morning, January 23rd, to prevent the kidnapping of the National Congress and to reject the bipartisanship led by the dictator Juan Orlando Hernandez (president of Honduras) with the direct complicity of a few traitorous deputies, elected by the people under our banner," she said.