Honduras committed this Sunday to work with US security agencies to fight drug trafficking, after a meeting between Kristi Noem, Washington’s special envoy for a security alliance in Latin America, and the Honduran president, Nasry Asfura.
US and Honduras agree to work with agencies to combat crime
At the beginning of March, the president of the United States, Donald Trump, announced an alliance with some Latin American countries to “destroy” to the drug cartels, during a summit in Florida attended by Asfura, among other right-wing leaders in the region.
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Honduras is one of the most violent countries in Central America, where the Mara Salvatrucha and Barrio 18 gangs operate, responsible for most of the homicides and drug trafficking in the country, and declared terrorist organizations by Washington.
“It has been a meeting (…) with very good receptivity” where issues such as migration and security were addressed to “work together and make a more prosperous America,” Asfura said after meeting with Noem at the Presidential House, in Tegucigalpa.
During Asfura’s appearance no questions were allowed to the presswhile Noem left the place without giving statements.
“We guarantee that we are going to put all our efforts to be able to work together” and in coordination “among our national institutions” and “the different federal agencies of the United States to combat crime more efficiently,” said Security Minister Gerson Velásquez.
‘Strategic themes’ of Shield of the Americas
“Strategic issues” were addressed within the framework of Trump’s initiative, known as “Shield of the Americas,” including “the strengthening of cybersecurity, the frontal fight against drug trafficking and organized crime,” the Honduran government said in a statement.
It was also agreed, according to the note, to reinforce the Honduran police and army “through specialized technical assistance.”
Noem, one of the main figures in the US government’s offensive against immigration, was fired as Secretary of Homeland Security by Trump, who assigned her to coordinate this security alliance with Latin American countries, where they are also El Salvador, Argentina, Costa Rica, Ecuador and Panamaamong others.
In Honduras, the ruling party is preparing a penal reform to support the laws against organized crime, in a Latin America where some governments seek to adopt elements of the anti-gang fight of the Salvadoran president, Nayib Bukele, highly questioned by human rights defense organizations.
Asfura during the campaign received strong support from Trump. At the gates of the vote, the Republican also pardoned the former conservative president and co-partisan of Asfura, Juan Orlando Hernández, who served a 45-year prison sentence for drug trafficking.
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