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U.S. to Help Build Honduras Base
TEGUCIGALPA (AP) - The United States is helping Honduras establish a new military base to combat international drug trafficking, according to a senior military official quoted in a Honduran newspaper on Saturday. The base, planned for the northeastern province of Gracias a Dios near the Nicaraguan border, will allow Honduras to house aircraft and a fuel supplying system, according to the newspaper, La Prensa.Honduran army and navy forces are already in the area, but "it's a zone where there is conflict and problems, therefore we need to have greater presence," Gen. Romeo Vasquez, head of the joint chiefs of staff of the armed forces, told the newspaper. He said that task force would initially consist of Honduran soldiers, who would be joined by U.S. forces if needed. The base is "a long-term project, but it is being studied formally by both governments," said Col. Leonardo Munoz, spokesman for the armed forces. The project will coincide with other U.S.-funded initiatives in the area, including bridges and a 50-mile highway between the cities of Mocoron and Puerto Lempira. More than 70,000 people live in Gracias a Dios, near the Caribbean Sea, which includes virgin jungles used by Colombian drug traffickers. According to the U.S. Embassy in Guatemala, more than 100 tons of cocaine from Colombia destined for the United States passes through Honduras each year. The United States also has maintained the Enrique Soto Cano air base, known as Palmerola, in Honduras for 23 years. The base, 28 miles northwest of the capital of Tegucigalpa, houses about 350 U.S. soldiers. Posted by: Steve White 2006-07-16 |
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