In Central America there are 2 countries that have played an important role in international drug smuggling. Those 2 countries are Honduras and Panama. Something else these countries also share in common is that they have both hosted US military troops and bases for decades. Most Americans are unaware that the US has a fairly large military presence of over 1,000 troops stationed in Honduras. Since 1983, a Honduran airbase known as the Soto Cano Airbase has been used by US Southern Command for a military division known as Joint Task Force Bravo and the base has a dubious history in its over 40 years.

In 1983 as civil wars were still raging in some Central American countries such as El Salvador, Guatemala, and Nicaragua the US decided their bases in Panama were not enough and turned to Honduras as a second military basing country. The US poured millions in military aid to the military leaders of Honduras and the impoverished government was happy to give the Americans access to their country. One of the immediate goals of the US at the time was terrorizing Nicaragua and its socialist Sandinista Government. The Honduran Government allowed the Nicaraguan Contras to set up camps in their territory to launch attacks against neighboring Nicaragua and the US could supply the Contras with weapons and repel any Sandinista forces from reaching Honduras. In addition the US military trained and advised Honduran troops as they engaged in a repression campaign against all suspected communists and leftists sometimes involving forced disappearances. One of the stated mission goals of the US military stationed in Honduras is counter narcotics. The US military in Honduras trains the police and military of Honduras to fight drug trafficking. The problem is that much of the military and police of Honduras actually end up helping the drug smugglers rather than capturing the drugs.

Much of the Honduran police leadership have been caught in drug trafficking scandals including former national police commander Juan Carlos Bonilla Valladares who led the entire Honduras National Police from 2012-2013. Valladares had a record of extrajudicial killings and working on behalf of drug traffickers willing to pay him lots of money to kill and take out their drug trafficking rivals.

There is a long list of Honduran military officers and police officers including Valladares, who had been trained by the infamous US Army’s School of the Americas who have been involved in drug smuggling and other crimes. Already in the 1980s Honduras had a major drug trafficker named Juan Matta Ballesteros  who was known to be bribing Honduran military officials since the 1970s.

In addition to drug smuggling corruption the military and police of Honduras have a deplorable human rights record even in recent years. Honduras since 2009 saw an upsurge in politically motivated killings and assassinations. In the 2016 murder of Honduran environmental activist Berta Caceres, some active members of the Honduran military were involved.

One of the most recent high profile cases of Honduran political corruption was President Juan Orlando Hernandez who ruled from 2014-2022. The US Justice Department released a long list of criminal activities and corruption that Juan Orlando Hernandez has done in his life. Hernandez was a very repressive autocrat who was not only making money in cocaine smuggling but also changed the constitution of the country to illegally run for a 2nd term and ordered the military and police to violently suppress any protests against him during his 8 years in charge. The US Justice Department also lists many members of the Honduran police and military and co-conspirators in the drug trafficking.

Some other high profile Honduran politicians who have been indicted, arrested, and tried by the United States for drug and money laundering crimes include: Yani Rosenthal a Honduran congressman and one time presidential candidate in the 2021 election, Tony Hernandez a former congress and younger brother of Juan Orlando Hernandez, and Fabio Lobo the son of former Honduran President Porfirio Lobo Sosa.

There are so many parallels between the US and its military bases in Panama and Honduras. From when the US completed the Panama Canal in 1914 until the US handed over control of the Panama Canal to Panama in 2000, the US had lots of military bases in Panama. This included US Southern Command and the infamous School of the Americas along with lots of airbases and bases around the Panama Canal. Despite all the US military presence Panama became a drug smuggling narco state in the 1970s and 1980s.The US watched the Panamanian National Guard overthrow the civilian government of the country in 1968 and did not attempt to restore democracy. US troops in Panama did not intervene when they watched the US trained Panama Defense Force beat up and repress the Panamanian People until Dec. 20 1989. 2 of Panama’s former dictators General Omar Torrijos and General Manuel Antonio Noriega were also both graduates of the US Army School of the Americas.

In Honduras the US military has also sat back and watched the security forces engage in violent repression of the Honduran People since 1983. One recent incident was in June 2009 when the army of Honduras forcibly overthrew the elected president of the country Manuel Zelaya. The Honduran security forces then went on to violently repress all protests against their coup. US troops have failed to stop violent repression in Honduras.

In the 80 plus years that the US was effectively running Panama, cocaine smuggling, money laundering, and corruption got out of control. In the 40 plus years of the US military operating in Honduras the drug trafficking and corruption also is rampant and metastasized. It begs the question if US military personnel either choose to ignore it or possibly they are participating in the corruption too.

The American People need to be more informed on these problems and engage Congress about it. There should be more public demand that the US stop aiding repression and corruption in Honduras if they want to see illegal immigration reduced. Even though there will be major pushback from the Pentagon.

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