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Honduras is a country in Central America. It has been a focal point for political instability, military operations, and the influence of various international actors, particularly in relation to drug trafficking and U.S. foreign policy.1
2009 Coup d'état
On June 28, 2009, the president of Honduras, Manuel Zelaya, was ousted from his home in Tegucigalpa and exiled at gunpoint to Costa Rica. The Honduran Supreme Court reportedly ordered the military to detain the president, and the Honduran Congress formally removed Zelaya from the presidency, naming congressional leader Roberto Micheletti as his successor. The United States and other countries condemned the coup.1
The coup was allegedly designed by General Daniel Lopez Carballo and Romeo Vásquez Velásquez, both friends of Jimmy Hughes. General Daniel Lopez Carballo justified the coup by stating that Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez would eventually be running Honduras by proxy if the military had not acted. Zelaya had been in the process of forming a friendship or alliance with Hugo Chávez, who had reportedly formed an alliance with Iran and offered military support to Iran in the event of a war with the United States.1
U.S. Military Presence and Drug War
The United States operates an airbase in Honduras, the Soto Cano Air Base (commonly known as Palmerola Air Base), near Comayagua. This base is a joint Honduran and U.S. military facility. The United States has been expanding the infrastructure of the Soto Cano Air Base, which is used as a launching point for its war on drugs efforts in Central America as well as humanitarian aid missions throughout Honduras and Central America.1
The Honduran Constitution does not permit a permanent foreign presence in Honduras. A "handshake" agreement between the United States and Honduras allows the U.S. military's Joint Task Force (JTF-Bravo) to remain on a "semi-permanent" basis. This agreement, an annex to the 1954 military assistance agreement, can be abrogated with little notice. Oliver North once used this air base as a base of operations for the Contras in the 1980s.1
Full Gospel Business Men's Fellowship International (FGBMFI) Connections
Jimmy Hughes Ministries, founded by Jimmy Hughes, operates in Zambrano, Honduras, where Hughes ministers to the military and trains military personnel. Hughes, General Daniel Lopez Carballo, and Romeo Vásquez Velásquez were all members of FGBMFI. The influential FGBMFI has a history of strong military connections and wide-ranging effects on foreign policy in Central America under the Ronald Reagan administration.1
Footnotes
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Seymour, Cheri. The Last Circle: Danny Casolaro’s Investigation into the Octopus and the PROMIS Software Scandal. First Edition. TrineDay, 2010. ↩︎