Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.) responded to President-elect Donald Trump's threat to shut down U.S. military bases in the country if he goes ahead with mass deportations of Honduran illegal immigrants, urging the president to take all possible measures to Honduras. He introduced a bill that would give him the power to suspend aid. .
The U.S. military has maintained a “temporary but indefinite” presence at Sotocano Air Base near the city of Comayagua since the early 1980s, and the base is home to Joint Task Force 11 (now known as Joint Task Force Bravo, or JTF). designated as the headquarters of the -Bravo), according to the U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO) in 1989. report.
Today is the base house More than 500 U.S. military personnel and 500 Honduran and U.S. civilians are deployed to combat transnational organized crime, provide humanitarian relief, and support other U.S. government efforts. Ru.
Just last week, JTF-Bravo provided medical care to Over 1000 Hondurans After similar measures were taken against 835 Hondurans living near Tela, near the city of Choluteca. december.
The American government is Sent Total aid to Honduras since fiscal year 2001 has been approximately $2.7 billion, according to the State Department's Office of Foreign Assistance.
Despite all the aid, President Xiomara Castro, a socialist from the left-wing Freedom Refoundation party, recently said Breitbart News reported that if President Trump follows through on his deportation promise, Soto Cano Air Base “will lose all reason to exist in Honduras.”
“Faced with a hostile attitude of large-scale expulsion of our compatriots, we will have to consider changing our cooperation policy with the United States, especially in the military field, where they have been for decades We maintain our military bases without paying a dime. In this case, Honduras loses all reason for its existence,” Castro said on New Year's Day. speech.
Ogles responded to Honduras' persistent defense neglect and security risk avoidance (Honduras) Act, his office confirmed exclusively to Breitbart News on Thursday.
The text of the bill, co-sponsored by Western Hemisphere (WHEM) Subcommittee Chair Maria Salazar (R-Florida), states:
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the President has the authority to relocate U.S. military and civilian personnel from Soto Cano Air Base, Honduras, as a result of the refusal or unwillingness of the Government of the Republic of Honduras. Cease all assistance to the Republic of Honduras, including any assistance extended under the Bilateral Military Assistance Agreement between the United States and Honduras of May 20, 1954. Subsequent amendments to that contract.
Ogles, who is running for Tennessee's 5th Congress in 2023, called Castro a “Marxist” in a statement to Breitbart News.
“From humanitarian aid to critical military aid, the United States has consistently supported Honduras for decades. Days before Trump took office, the country's Marxist president announced that the United States has “If we begin deporting people, Honduras will remove the U.S. military presence at Sotocano Air Base,” the representative said.
The Honduran government reports that there are more than 1 million Hondurans. living legal or undocumented According to Spanish news agency EFE, about 280,000 people are on deportation lists in the United States.
This represents an important part of this small Central American country. population Approximately 9.5 million.
“President Castro is wary. Neither she nor anyone else in the Honduran government is going to dictate terms with the United States,” Ogles continued. “My bill would support all efforts by President Trump to end aid to Honduras if Honduras chooses to violate U.S. national security.”
Money sent to Honduras from citizens living abroad accounts for 25% of Honduras' gross domestic product (GDP). 90 percent According to data obtained by the Central Bank of Honduras, of the $8.85 billion remitted from January to November 2024, only 30% of the money was sent from the United States. El Mundo.
In his New Year's address, Mr. Castro also joined other Latino leaders in Mexico on Friday, as interim president of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), to address immigration issues before Mr. Trump returns to office. announced that it would convene a meeting with them. on monday.
Honduras, like Guatemala and El Salvador, is “unprepared” to deal with the relocation of its nationals who are in the U.S. illegally, the Associated Press reported. reported In December,
“We don't have that capacity,” Antonio Garcia, Honduras' deputy foreign minister, told the media. “There's very little room here for deportees.”
Those who return are “the last to be taken care of,” he added.
Mr Trump is said On his first day back, he said, “We will begin the largest deportation operation in American history.''
