[SEE: Behind deadly confrontations in Honduras, a new anti-drug strategy]
US officials announced they have suspended the sharing of radar intelligence with Honduras following the unilateral decision by the Honduran Air Force to shoot down two suspected drug flights. The announcement further destabilizes the already shaky US-Honduras counter-narcotics assistance program.
The US has stated that it is willing to restore the radar system but only once it has carried out a full review that will establish strict guidelines to ensure no such unilateral actions take place in the future. Ramon Custodio, the head of Honduras’ human rights commission (known by its acronym CONADEH), said in response to the withdrawal of the radar that the country is now, “open skies for drug trafficking.”
InSight Crime Analysis
Honduras is one of the primary transit points for cocaine traversing Central America. The State Department estimates 79 percent of drug flights pass through the country.
The US’ concern, however, has not translated into a stable relationship with the Honduran government. Last month, US officials announced that police aid would be suspended to units under the command of the country’s police chief due to claims he ran death squads in the 2000s.
Hondurans are also not happy, especially with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), which has employed special teams to some of the more drug-ridden areas. In May, the DEA was involved in the killingof four suspected drug traffickers in the northeastern Gracias a Dios province, one of whom was a woman who was allegedly pregnant.
Still, the US is keen to continue with special operations and counter-narcotics activities in Honduras, InSight Crime has learned, and will likely proceed with greater caution going forward.
The Honduran Air Force brought down a suspected drug plane off the coast of the Bay Island of Guanaja in the Caribbean Sea a month ago, but did not release the information to the public until now. President Porfirio Lobo Sosa admitted that the Honduran Government broke international agreements during the fight against organized crime, saying that, “An incident occurred in which somehow we violated an international treaty prohibiting this type of action against aircraft during our fight against organized crime”. He also mentioned that he “did not order” the military action which is presumed to have contributed to the downing of the plane, and that corrective measures will be taken to punish those responsible.