U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris congratulated Xiomara Castro on her historic victory as Honduras’ first female president in a telephone call on Friday, and discussed ways to deepen ties with the Central American country, the White House said.
Harris and Castro discussed their shared interest in tackling the root causes of migration, including by increasing economic opportunity, combating corruption, addressing security threats, and improving access to health and education, it said in a statement.
"They committed to working together and deepening the partnership between the United States and Honduras," it added, but gave no details.
A senior administration official told Reuters on Friday that Washington was ready to "surge" economic aid to Castro's new government.
Castro, a former first lady whose political career waslaunched after she led a national protest movement against a2009 coup that ousted her husband Manuel Zelaya as president,stressed commitments to women's rights in her election campaign.
(Reporting by Andrea Shalal; editing by Diane Craft)
