TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras —

       Xiomara Castro is scheduled to be sworn in Thursday as Honduras’ first female president, facing high expectations to turn around the deeply troubled country amid uncertainty about whether an unfolding legislative crisis will allow her to drum up the support she needs.

       Vice President Kamala Harris is leading the U.S. delegation attending Thursday’s inauguration ceremony in Tegucigalpa, the Honduran capital.

       Relatively smooth elections and a healthy margin of victory for Castro on Nov. 28 came as a relief, but political maneuvering in the run-up to her inauguration has muddled the outlook and distracted from what was to be a hopeful new beginning after the two terms of President Juan Orlando Hernández.

       In the days when Castro was supposed to be rolling out her Cabinet appointments, Honduras has been engulfed in a dispute over who will lead the newly elected Congress. Two rival congressional leadership teams have been selected — neither legitimately, according to experts — and their standoff threatens legislative paralysis at a time when Castro desperately needs to quickly get to work addressing Honduras’ problems.

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       Elected lawmakers from Castro’s own Liberty and Refoundation Party backed one of their own to be the new legislative body’s president Friday rather than support Castro’s choice, which had been agreed with her vice president to win his party’s support. Neither group has backed down, leading to surreal simultaneous legislative sessions Tuesday.

       Luis Ruiz, a 52-year-old Castro supporter and fruit vendor near the Congress, said the political disagreement threatened to divide the country. “She has to resolve this situation through dialogue,” Ruiz said of Castro. “She hasn’t taken power, and she’s already having problems. She must show her leadership.”

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       The promise of a fresh start in Honduras is tarnished by a political crisis

       On the eve of a presidential inauguration, Honduras faces a new political crisis.

       High unemployment, persistent violence, corruption, and troubled healthcare and educational systems are just some of the pressing challenges awaiting Castro.

       The U.S., seeing an opportunity to gain an ally in a region where it has few friends, has strongly backed Castro and stands ready to provide support. In a possible sign of tensions in the region, presidents from neighboring El Salvador, Guatemala and Nicaragua were not scheduled to attend Castro’s inauguration.

       Washington sees areas for cooperation on Castro’s priorities of battling corruption and increasing economic opportunities in her country, two areas that could affect decisions by Hondurans on whether to stay or try to migrate to the United States.

       Harris was tasked by President Biden with finding ways to address the root causes of Central American migration. She is scheduled to meet privately with Castro shortly after her inauguration. The two women spoke by phone Dec. 10.

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       Podcast: A new Honduras president-elect is set to make herstory

       Honduran President-elect Xiomara Castro has seen her prospects of a successful administration take a hit even before her Jan. 27 inauguration

       “Honduras has been a very difficult partner for the United States, especially during the administration of Juan Orlando Hernández, for a number of reasons, including the consistent swirl of illegal activity around him and his family,” said Jason Marczak, senior director of the Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center at the Atlantic Council.

       “The anti-corruption agenda being front and center and her [Castro’s] pledges is music to the ears of the Biden-Harris administration, given its focus on rooting out corruption not only in Central America but its global efforts on corruption,” he said.

       Castro has said she plans to formally invite the United Nations to set up an anti-corruption mission in Honduras.

       In a call with reporters Wednesday, senior Biden administration officials said Harris expected to expand on ways to deepen the bilateral relationship in her meeting with Castro.

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       “The topics will include expanding economic opportunity, combating corruption, and humanely managing migration,” a senior administration official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

       Castro, 62, won on her third bid for the presidency. She was previously first lady during the presidency of her husband, Manuel Zelaya, which was cut short by a military coup in 2009.

       Many voters this time said they were motivated above all by the possibility of removing Hernández’s National Party from power. Hernández was first elected in 2013, and a friendly Supreme Court allowed him to overcome a constitutional ban on reelection and run again in 2017 in an election plagued by irregularities.

       Federal prosecutors in New York have repeatedly spoken of Hernández’s purported ties to drug trafficking, alleging that his political rise was funded in part by drug profits. Hernández has not been formally charged and has repeatedly denied the accusations.