In what comes as a strong response to US President-elect Donald Trump's promise of mass deportations, Honduras President Xiomara Castro has threatened to stop her country's cooperation with the US military. Trump's mass deportation plank seems to have generated political heat in Honduras resulting in a rebuttal from the President.
In her statement, Castro said, "Faced with a hostile attitude of mass expulsion of our brothers, we would have to consider a change of our cooperation policies with the United States, especially in the military realm.”
She noted the presence of the US in Honduran territory for decades without paying a cent, adding that if Hondurans were expelled en masse, the continued presence of the United States would cease to have any reason to exist in Honduras. However, she has expressed hope that Trump would be open to dialogue.
US military presence in Honduras
The main US military presence in Honduras is at Soto Cano Air Base outside the capital. While it is a Honduran base, the US has maintained a significant presence there since 1983 and it has become a key U.S. launching point for humanitarian and anti-drug missions in Central America.
It is home to Joint Task Force Bravo, which the US Defense Department has described as a “temporary but indefinite” presence.
The U.S. Defense Department declined to comment, noting that it “pertains to campaign statements and not policy.” U.S. Embassy in Honduras did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Politics intensifies in Honduras
Castro's political opposition, however, has been quick to denounce the president's comments. Jorge Cálix, a probable presidential aspirant for the Liberal Party in Honduras' Nov. 30 elections, said Castro had put Honduras “in grave danger” for personal and ideological reasons. Olban Valladares, a political analyst contemplating his own run for office for the Innovation and Unity Party, panned Castro's threat.
(With agency inputs)
