IN A move to counter continual US meddling in its internal affairs, Honduras President Xiomara Castro decided on August 28 to suspend the US-Honduran extradition treaty.

This was prompted by hostile statements by the US ambassador, Laura Dogu, criticising Honduran government officials for meeting Venezuelan government members sanctioned by the US, specifically Venezuela’s Minister of Defence Vladimir Padrino Lopez.
 
Meeting with Lopez were General Roosevelt Hernandez, chief of the Honduran armed forces, and the Minister of Defence, Jose Manuel Zelaya.
 
Following this, Honduran Foreign Minister Enrique Reina reported receipt of intelligence information about a coup plot by some high-ranking military officers — almost certainly linked to the US embassy — to use the US ambassador Dogu’s threats to press  Hernandez to resign as chief of the armed forces.
 
Given the US’s history of destabilising Honduras — not least in the coup of 2009 which ousted the democratically elected president Manuel Zelaya — President Castro went public to deem Dogu’s threats as part of a plan to undermine, and ultimately overthrow, her elected government.
 
Announcing her decision to suspend the extradition treaty, she promised there would be no more coups d’etat in Honduras, saying: “I will not allow the instrument of extradition to be used to intimidate or blackmail the Honduran armed forces — we are defending our armed forces.”
 
Clearly, the absolute and sovereign right of the Honduran government to end the extradition treaty with the US should be respected and supported, especially given the proposed nefarious use of it by the US.
 
President Castro has also brought in a raft of additional measures, fearing “the peace and internal security of the Republic is at risk that a new coup d’etat is being planned.” She added: “A plan to destroy my socialist and democratic government is in motion.”
 
The president and her left-wing Libre party were elected in 2021 after a succession of corrupt right-wing National Party governments had increased poverty, marginalised communities and spawned widespread violence and repression.
 
She replaced former president Juan Orlando Hernandez, currently serving 45 years in prison in the US for drug trafficking, along with his brother Juan Antonio Hernandez, serving 30 years. All told, 33 opposition politicians have been convicted or are under investigation in the US for drug trafficking-related crimes.
 
In a statement, Honduran Security Minister Gustavo Sanchez explained how Hernandez’s regime had operated, to the detriment of Honduran sovereignty:

“The entire state security system was dismantled. They used our territory as a bridge to introduce cocaine into the US, turning it into a paradise for drug traffickers.

“This happened during the 12 years and seven months of the narco-dictatorship. Radars were disabled. The drug-trafficking route, which uses our seas and airspace, is controlled from Key West in the US.”
 
President Castro’s cancellation of the extradition treaty with the US has taken away a powerful tool in the US regime-change arsenal. Her stance has been supported by the member countries of Alba-TCP, a bloc of Latin American and Caribbean nations that reject US domination, who issued a statement rejecting the US ambassador’s acts, which “flagrantly violate the rules of international law.”
 
Alba-TCP further called on the international community to condemn these blatant US interventionist actions.
 
Former Bolivian president Evo Morales, overthrown in a coup in 2019, also extended his support “in the face of the destabilisation attempts orchestrated by the Honduran right-wing in complicity with the government of the US.”
 
Further backing has come from Venezuelan President Maduro, who said: “On behalf of all the people of Venezuela, I express my absolute support for the President of Honduras, Xiomara Castro, who is the victim of a cruel and excessive attack by those who have sowed terror in our America, promoted coups d’etat, and created alliances and protection mechanisms for criminal and fascist groups that today try to threaten our democracies.”
 
The US ambassador’s behaviour in this matter gives rise to further deep concern about the general elections scheduled for 2025 in Honduras.

The looming spectre is of US interference in the elections, for 128 congressional deputies, 20 Central American Parliament deputies, 298 mayors and 298 deputy mayors, 2092 councillors, and crucially the president.
 
The labour movement must unequivocally stand in solidarity with the people and government of Honduras in condemning US interference to provoke a coup d’etat, and call on the British government to oppose any illegal or unconstitutional attempt to oust the democratically elected government of President Castro.

You can follow Labour Friends of Progressive Latin America on X @Labourfplam.
 
There will be a speaker in solidarity with Honduras, alongside guests from across Latin America at the major “Viva la Solidaridad! Stand with Latin America’s Left” event in Liverpool at 6.30pm on Monday September 23 at the Racquet Club Hotel and Ziba Restaurant, L3 9AG. Reserve a place in advance at www.bit.ly/latinamericasolidarity.