Screenshot: Al Jazeera
Honduran President Xiomara Castro has threatened to terminate military cooperation with the United States if President-elect Donald Trump proceeds with his plan for mass deportations of illegal immigrants, including those from Honduras.
This ultimatum underscores the glaring hypocrisy of a leader who has failed to address the root causes driving her own citizens to flee her country in the first place.
A primary objective of Trump’s mass deportation plan is to remove individuals with criminal records who are residing in the country illegally.
By focusing on these individuals, Trump’s administration aims to reduce crime rates and enhance public safety.
Tom Homan, designated as Trump’s “border czar,” has emphasized that the deportation efforts will prioritize those posing threats to public safety and national security.
However, Castro is far from pleased with this development.
“Faced with a hostile attitude of mass expulsion of our brothers, we would have to consider a change in our policies of cooperation with the United States, especially in the military arena, where, without paying a cent for decades, they maintain military bases in our territory, which in this case would lose all reason to exist in Honduras,” Xiomara Castro said in a statement on New Year’s Day.
“We hope that the new U.S. administration of democratically elected President Donald Trump will be open to dialogue, constructive and friendly, and will not take unnecessary reprisals against our migrants, who normally make a great contribution to the U.S. economy,” she added.
WATCH:
The United States maintains a military presence in Honduras primarily through Soto Cano Air Base, also known as Palmerola Air Base, according to AP.
This base is a Honduran military installation that hosts U.S. military personnel as part of Joint Task Force-Bravo (JTF-Bravo), a component of the U.S. Southern Command.
The base houses between 500 to 1,500 U.S. military personnel, alongside Honduran Air Force members.
JTF-Bravo conducts various missions, including humanitarian assistance, disaster relief, counter-narcotics operations, and regional security cooperation.
It’s important to note that Soto Cano Air Base is not a U.S.-owned base but a Honduran facility that permits U.S. military operations under bilateral agreements.
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