Honduras notified the United States on Wednesday (08/28/2024) of its decision to “terminate” the extradition treaty between the two countries, reported Honduran Foreign Minister Eduardo Enrique Reina, amid widespread rejection of the measure taken by the Government of Xiomara Castro.
At a press conference, Reina indicated that he sent a verbal note to the United States Embassy in Tegucigalpa in which he officially notifies the U.S. Government of the extradition treaty between the two nations.
The announcement came hours after President Castro ordered Reina to “denounce” the extradition treaty after U.S. Ambassador Laura Dogu expressed her country’s concern over the meeting of Honduran defense officials with sanctioned Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López.
Dogu told reporters on Wednesday that it was “surprising and a little disappointing to see (Honduran) government officials sitting with members of a Venezuela-based cartel,” when President Castro “is in a constant fight against drug traffickers.”
Various national and foreign sectors immediately expressed their rejection of President Castro’s decision, as they see the measure as a step backwards in the fight against drug trafficking.
“They pulled out their nails. The government of @XiomaraCastroZ has decided to send extradition to hell, which has only served to prosecute the drug traffickers who enjoy impunity here. With this decision they are defending the drug traffickers,” said opposition deputy Jorge Cálix in a message on X.
Calix, who is a deputy for the opposition Liberal Party, asked the government to “not use sovereignty as an excuse to protect its interests” and that “if they do not want extradition, it is because they already have information that the next people to be extradited are in high positions in this government.”
The former head of the Mission to Support the Fight against Corruption and Impunity in Honduras (MACCIH), Juan Jiménez, asked: “What could be an objective reason to prevent the extradition of nationals?”
“We are dealing with people who have committed crimes and who need to be tried by jurisdictions in other countries for their crimes. Crime and impunity are encouraged. A great setback for Honduras,” Jíménez stressed in X.
Facussé: It seems like “an excuse to protect drug trafficking”
The former president of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Cortés (CCIC), Eduardo Facussé, expressed similar opinions, emphasizing that “drug trafficking has nothing to do with ideology” and lamented that with President Castro’s decision “we weaken the justice system even further.”
He also points out that the Honduran government could have declared the US ambassador “non grata” and requested her to leave the country, but “it seems more like what they were looking for was an excuse to protect drug trafficking.”
The Association for a More Just Society (ASJ) said in a statement that “Honduras cannot allow drug trafficking to continue operating with impunity” and recalled that the extradition treaty has made it possible to “reveal the penetration of drug trafficking in all the structures of the country.”
The ASJ, a local chapter of Transparency International (TI), urged President Castro to “reflect and put the interests of the nation first in order to combat crime and strengthen security in the country.”
Cuban-American Congressman Carlos Giménez, for his part, questioned Castro’s decision and said it would affect the Honduran people, their trade and relations with the world.
“Under the disastrous leadership of @XiomaraCastroZ, Honduras has taken the path of aligning itself with the murderous narco-dictatorships of the world like Venezuela and Cuba. This pathetic policy harms the Honduran people, their trade, and relations with the free world,” Giménez said on X.
Fifty Hondurans who have been requested for extradition, mainly by the United States, mostly for drug trafficking, have been extradited by Honduras between 2014 and 2024, according to official figures.
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