Kamala Harris announces new investments in Central America 0:46
(CNN) --
US Vice President Kamala Harris will lead the US delegation to Honduras that will attend President-elect Xiomara Castro's inauguration later this month, the White House said.
"The Vice President's visit will advance the commitment that she and President-elect Castro made during their December 10 phone call to deepen the partnership between the United States and Honduras and work together to promote economic growth, combat corruption and address the root causes of corruption." migration," Sabrina Singh, deputy press secretary to the vice president, said in a statement.
In this Nov. 28, 2021, file photo, Xiomara Castro, center, celebrates her victory after the election in Tegucigalpa, Honduras.
The delegation for Castro's inauguration includes the administrator of the US Agency for International Development, Samantha Power, and the Democratic representative of California, Raúl Ruiz.
Diplomats in the delegation include José Fernández, deputy secretary for economic growth, energy and the environment at the State Department;
Brian Nichols, Assistant Secretary of the Department of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, and Colleen Hoey, Charge d'Affaires of the United States Embassy in Tegucigalpa.
Castro, a former first lady and wife of former President Manuel Zelaya, who was ousted in a coup 12 years ago, will become the first female president of Honduras.
The self-proclaimed democratic socialist had run twice before her presidential victory last fall.
Kamala Harris and immigration
President Joe Biden has appointed Kamala Harris to oversee diplomatic efforts in the Northern Triangle to address immigration, but it is unclear what immigration-related efforts she will undertake while in Honduras.
In her most recent public efforts in a diplomatic role, the Vice President announced a new list of commitments from the private sector to invest in the Northern Triangle of Central America (Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador), as part of her attempts to address the root causes of migration from the region by promoting economic opportunities.
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The trip to Honduras will be Kamala Harris's second visit to the Northern Triangle since taking office.
In June, the vice president visited Guatemala and Mexico.
Coverage garnered from the trip to Guatemala and Mexico last summer was dominated by the vice president's staggering response to questions about whether she would visit the southern US border. But later, in June, Harris visited the US-Mexico border. Mexico, where he toured an El Paso central processing center and a US Customs and Border Protection facility.
CNN's Priscilla Alvarez contributed to this report.
Kamala HarrisXiomara Castro