Honduras pledged on Sunday to work with U.S. security agencies to fight drug trafficking, following a meeting between Kristi Noem, Washington’s special envoy for a security alliance in Latin America, and Honduran President Nasry Asfura. In early March, U.S. President Donald Trump announced an alliance with several Latin American countries to “destroy” drug cartels during a summit in Florida attended by Asfura and other right-wing leaders from the region.
Honduras is one of the most violent countries in Central America, where the Mara Salvatrucha and Barrio 18 gangs operate. Those groups are responsible for most of the homicides and much of the drug trafficking in the country, and Washington has designated them as terrorist organizations.
“It was a meeting … with very good receptiveness,” Asfura said after meeting with Noem at the Presidential Palace in Tegucigalpa, where issues such as migration and security were discussed in order to “work together and make the Americas more prosperous.” No questions from the press were allowed during Asfura’s appearance, while Noem left the venue without making any statements.
“We guarantee that we will put forth every effort to work jointly” and in coordination “among our national institutions” and “the various federal agencies of the United States to combat crime more efficiently,” Security Minister Gerson Velásquez said. The Honduran government said in a statement that “strategic issues” were discussed במסגרת Trump’s initiative, known as the “Shield of the Americas,” including “strengthening cybersecurity, the direct fight against drug trafficking, and organized crime.”
According to the statement, Honduras also agreed to reinforce its police and military “through specialized technical assistance.” Noem, one of the leading figures behind the U.S. government’s immigration crackdown, was removed as Secretary of Homeland Security by Trump, who then assigned her to coordinate this security alliance with Latin American countries including El Salvador, Argentina, Costa Rica, Ecuador, and Panama, among others.
In Honduras, the ruling party is preparing a criminal law reform to toughen penalties against organized crime, in a Latin America where some governments are seeking to adopt elements of Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele’s anti-gang strategy, which has been heavily criticized by human rights organizations.
During the campaign, Asfura received strong backing from Trump. Just before the vote, the Republican leader also pardoned former conservative president and fellow party member Juan Orlando Hernández, who had been serving a 45-year prison sentence for drug trafficking.
