Honduras Says It Will End Extradition Treaty With U.S. After Ambassador Remarks

[Pelican Press 0]

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Honduras Says It Will End Extradition Treaty With U.S. After Ambassador Remarks

Honduras said it would end its longtime extradition treaty with the ******* States on Wednesday, in response to criticism from the ********* ambassador to the country over a meeting between Honduran and Venezuelan officials.

Enrique Reina, Honduras’s foreign minister,

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a letter on social media Wednesday evening expressing “the decision of the government of the republic of Honduras to terminate the extradition treaty,” after President Xiomara Castro of Honduras accused the ******* States of meddling in its affairs. Ms. Castro

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the ******* States’ “intention to direct the politics of Honduras through its embassy and other representatives is intolerable.”

Honduran officials were angered after Laura Dogu, the U.S. ambassador to the country,

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on Wednesday that she was “surprised” to see Honduras’s defense minister and a top general “seated next to a narco-trafficker in Venezuela” — referring to a meeting last week between the Honduran officials and the defense minister of Venezuela under President Nicolás Maduro, the authoritarian leader who has been in power since 2013.

In a local television interview, Mr. Reina

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the ********* ambassador’s comments undermined the authority of Gen. Roosevelt Leonel Hernández, the Honduran military leader who attended the meeting, even

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that some armed forces now sought to replace him.

Along with Mr. Maduro and other members of his inner circle, Gen. Vladimir Padrino López, the Venezuelan defense chief, was

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with *********** to smuggle drugs. Two years earlier, the ********* authorities imposed sanctions on him.

By linking two Honduran officials to a Venezuelan leader indicted by U.S. prosecutors, Mr. Reina said, he feared the extradition treaty could be used as a “political *******.”

The extradition treaty, which has been in place since 1912, has been used to extradite dozens of Honduran politicians to the ******* States — most notably the former president Juan Orlando Hernández, who was extradited in 2022. He was convicted in March in a federal court in Manhattan of conspiring to import ******** into the ******* States, among other charges, and sentenced to 45 years in prison.

In the last decade, at least 38 people have been extradited to the ******* States for their participation in ***** trafficking, including officials, police officers and mayors.

The suspension of the treaty will take effect in six months, Mr. Reina

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.

The U.S. Embassy in Honduras and the Honduran Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The ******* States and Honduras have long been allies, with Honduras hosting U.S. troops at a military base in the central part of the country. ********* authorities rely on Honduran assistance for issues involving ***** trafficking and immigration. But there have been a few tense moments over the years, including Honduras last year abandoning formal ties with Taiwan, which is heavily backed by the ******* States, and establishing relations with China.

Following Venezuela’s presidential election in July, Ms. Castro and Mr. Reina

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congratulated Mr. Maduro on his self-proclaimed victory, while many international leaders, including President Biden, condemned the claim and said the government ******* to release any collected tallies proving Mr. Maduro won.

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#Honduras #Extradition #Treaty #U.S #Ambassador #Remarks

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