TEGUCIGALPA, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Thousands of people took to the streets of the Honduran capital on Saturday in anti-government protests against leftist President Xiomara Castro, angered by attempts to engineer what they say is an unconstitutional power grab. In a demonstration sponsored by opposition parties, protesters in the Central American country accused the Castro government of seeking to transform Honduras by hand picking public officials. Roughly 10,000 people gathered in Tegucigalpa, the capital, according to a Reuters eyewitness, in a march that ended without incident. The opposition protest was sparked after the ruling party elected a new interim chief prosecutor on November 1, without holding a congressional vote. Castro, who was sworn in as Honduras' first woman president in January 2022 and describes herself as a democratic socialist, has sought to strengthen diplomatic relations with the governments of Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua.

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Persons: Xiomara Castro, Castro, David Chávez, Gustavo Palencia, Lucinda Elliott, Diane Craft Organizations: Central, National Party, Honduran, Castro's Liberty, Refoundation Party, Thomson Locations: TEGUCIGALPA, Honduran, Central American, Honduras, Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Tegucigalpa