TEGUCIGALPA (Reuters) - A&nbsp;UN&nbsp;mission&nbsp;of&nbsp;experts&nbsp;arrived in&nbsp;Honduras&nbsp;to examine the establishment of an international&nbsp;anti-corruption&nbsp;mission&nbsp;in the Central American nation, which is plagued by widespread&nbsp;corruption&nbsp;that exacerbates poverty and immigration, Honduran authorities announced Sunday.
Leftist President Xiomara Castro pledged during her campaign to install an&nbsp;anti-corruption&nbsp;commission&nbsp;known as the International Commission&nbsp;Against&nbsp;Corruption&nbsp;and Impunity in&nbsp;Honduras&nbsp;(CICIH). A year and a half after taking office, civil society groups have grown frustrated with delays in the process as the government and the&nbsp;United Nations have not yet reached an agreement on the scope of a potential commission.
Castro's government signed a letter of intent with the&nbsp;UN&nbsp;in December to promote the&nbsp;installation&nbsp;of the&nbsp;mission&nbsp;in&nbsp;Honduras, where U.S. diplomats say $3 billion is lost annually and local authorities say 74% of the population lives in poverty.
"We are going to start negotiating with the&nbsp;UN&nbsp;mission&nbsp;the conditions for the&nbsp;installation&nbsp;of the international&nbsp;anti-corruption&nbsp;body," Honduran Foreign Minister Eduardo Enrique Reina told local media on Sunday, adding that the government "aspires for it to enjoy autonomy to prosecute&nbsp;corruption."
The length of the&nbsp;mission's stay in&nbsp;Honduras&nbsp;to meet with various sectors was not specified.
The&nbsp;UN&nbsp;previously called for the repeal or reform of a series of laws that hinder the Public Ministry's ability to investigate and prosecute officials and legislators for the misuse of public funds and money laundering. The independence of the CICIH to investigate crimes has also been a key sticking point to negotiations.
The CICIH would be the second&nbsp;anti-corruption&nbsp;commission&nbsp;to operate in&nbsp;Honduras. In 2016, the&nbsp;Mission&nbsp;to Support Against&nbsp;Corruption&nbsp;and Impunity in&nbsp;Honduras&nbsp;(MACCIH) was installed with the backing of the Organization of American States (OAS) and the Obama administration
The MACCIH exposed the&nbsp;corruption&nbsp;of officials, legislators and politicians, many linked to former President Juan Orlando Hernandez, who was extradited to the&nbsp;United States on drug trafficking charges after leaving power in early 2022.
The&nbsp;mission&nbsp;left&nbsp;Honduras&nbsp;in 2020 after the OAS failed to reach an agreement with the Hernandez government to extend its stay.
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(Reporting by Gustavo Palencia; Writing by Anna-Catherine Brigida; Editing by Leslie Adler)

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UN experts arrive in Honduras to explore anti-corruption mission installation