The AP has reported that the U.S. plans to help Honduras build a military base in the northeast part of the country near the Nicaraguan border to help combat drug trafficking.
"It’s a zone where there is conflict and problems, therefore we need to have greater presence," said Gen. Romeo Vasquez, the head of the joint chiefs of staff of the armed forces who took classes at the School of the Americas.
The base will house aircraft, a fuel supplying system, and U.S. soldiers—if needed.
The U.S. State Department describes Honduras as being a close Washington ally since the 1980’s when that country’s government "supported U.S. policy opposing a revolutionary Marxist government in Nicaragua and an active leftist insurgency in El Salvador." Coincidentally, Nicaragua has an upcoming election featuring Sandanista candidate Daniel Ortega, one of the men and women who helped bring the "revolutionary Marxist government" to Nicaragua by overthrowing the U.S. backed Somoza dictatorship.
The State Department also notes that Honduras was one of the first countries to sign a bilateral agreement exempting U.S. government and miltary peronnel (past and present) from the International Criminal Court for war crimes and other crimes against humanity.This would protect the U.S. from rulings like the one the World Court made in 1986, charging Washington with "unlawful use of force", or terrorism, for its support of the Contras and other actions carried out covertly and overtly by the the U.S. government, the CIA and the military.