Honduras

Honduras is a country in Central America that served as the primary base of operations for the FDN Contra army during the 1980s and has been a focal point for political instability, military operations, and the influence of various international actors, particularly in relation to drug trafficking and U.S. foreign policy.¹³

Contra Base

The Central Intelligence Agency established its Contra training camps and headquarters in Honduras, and FDN military commander Enrique Bermudez operated from there throughout the war. Contra fighters massed in camps along the Nicaraguan border. Danilo Blandón and Norwin Meneses traveled to Honduras to meet with Bermudez, where the Contra commander told them "the ends justify the means" when it came to fundraising. Adolfo Calero confirmed that Meneses traveled to Honduras to meet with Bermudez and brought him a crossbow as a gesture of esteem.⁴

Honduras served as the primary transshipment point for weapons and supplies flowing to the Contras. Blandón's early fundraising for the FDN included sending stolen vehicles to the Contras in Honduras. The country's proximity to Nicaragua made it the natural staging ground for cross-border incursions.³

Regional Hub

Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala formed the Central American corridor through which CIA operations, weapons shipments, and drug trafficking moved during the Contra war. Ronald Lister and Blandón traveled to Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador to arrange weapons sales.⁴

2009 Coup d'état

On June 28, 2009, the president of Honduras, Manuel Zelaya, was ousted from his home in Tegucigalpa and exiled at gunpoint to Costa Rica. The Honduran Supreme Court reportedly ordered the military to detain the president, and the Honduran Congress formally removed Zelaya from the presidency, naming congressional leader Roberto Micheletti as his successor. The United States and other countries condemned the coup.¹

The coup was allegedly designed by General Daniel Lopez Carballo and Romeo Vasquez Velasquez, both friends of Jimmy Hughes. General Daniel Lopez Carballo justified the coup by stating that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez would eventually be running Honduras by proxy if the military had not acted. Zelaya had been in the process of forming a friendship or alliance with Hugo Chavez, who had reportedly formed an alliance with Iran and offered military support to Iran in the event of a war with the United States.¹

U.S. Military Presence and Drug War

The United States operates an airbase in Honduras, the Soto Cano Air Base (commonly known as Palmerola Air Base), near Comayagua. This base is a joint Honduran and U.S. military facility. The United States has been expanding the infrastructure of the Soto Cano Air Base, which is used as a launching point for its war on drugs efforts in Central America as well as humanitarian aid missions throughout Honduras and Central America.¹

The Honduran Constitution does not permit a permanent foreign presence in Honduras. A "handshake" agreement between the United States and Honduras allows the U.S. military's Joint Task Force (JTF-Bravo) to remain on a "semi-permanent" basis. This agreement, an annex to the 1954 military assistance agreement, can be abrogated with little notice. Oliver North once used this air base as a base of operations for the Contras in the 1980s.¹

Full Gospel Business Men's Fellowship International (FGBMFI) Connections

Jimmy Hughes Ministries, founded by Jimmy Hughes, operates in Zambrano, Honduras, where Hughes ministers to the military and trains military personnel. Hughes, General Daniel Lopez Carballo, and Romeo Vasquez Velasquez were all members of FGBMFI. The influential FGBMFI has a history of strong military connections and wide-ranging effects on foreign policy in Central America under the Reagan administration.¹