United Nations, September 25 (RHC)-- Honduran Foreign Minister Eduardo Reina said on Monday that President Xiomara Castro will hold meetings with several delegations during the United Nations General Assembly as pro tempore president of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC).

The Honduran minister recalled that Honduras leads the integrationist organization, whose leadership is currently made up of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Guyana and Colombia. The meetings will be with representatives of China, the European Union (EU), India, Turkey and the Persian Gulf countries.

Reina stressed that, for example, India has not held meetings with CELAC since 2017, while he explained that this will be the first meeting of the bloc with the oil-producing countries of the Persian Gulf, among which he highlighted Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait.

The official took the opportunity to confirm the presence in New York City of President Castro, who will speak during the sessions of the General Assembly on Wednesday 25, while a day earlier, on Tuesday 24, she will have a meeting with the Secretary General of the United Nations, António Guterres.

The foreign minister explained that the central theme of the meeting with Guterres will be the sending to Honduras of a United Nations International Commission against Corruption and Impunity (CICIH), requested by Castro since his rise to power, as well as his position and that of the Honduran government in the negotiation process.

The CICIH was one of Castro's main campaign promises for the 2021 elections and he ratified it on January 27 of the following year in his inaugural speech. The installation of the CICIH in Honduras began with the signing of a memorandum of understanding and the parties have already made progress in the procedures and other details of the agreement.

The diplomat elaborated that Castro will hold several bilateral meetings with friendly countries, including Venezuela and the United Arab Emirates, in addition to participating in conferences convened by the US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, on artificial intelligence, the fight against drugs and irregular migration.