US finally investigates Honduran counterparts

The US has always had way too much trust in its Honduran allies, specifically those in the military. It leads our officials to deny that they could ever be engaged in any sort of wrongdoing. We just can't think that the people we are working with could have blood on their hands.

It reminds me of some of the stories from Teresa Whitfield's Paying the Price where US officials could not believe that their Salvadoran counterparts had carried out the Jesuit murders. We had worked alongside Salvadoran officials and weeded out the really bad ones. It was impossible that those we had trained and were working with could have killed the Jesuits.

After speaking with a US general who was stationed in El Salvador during the peace process, I could not believe that he could not believe that the Salvadoran high command had ordered the murders. It was impossible he said.

It's taken a lot of pressure and too many killings, but fortunately US officials are beginning to investigate their counterparts in Honduras.

The US government is investigating allegations that a hitlist of activists was circulated to special forces units of the Honduran military with instructions to eliminate the targets, including Berta Cáceres, the celebrated environmental campaigner who was later gunned down in her home.           

US officials have been in contact with counterparts in the Honduran government, as well as individuals and groups that monitor human rights in the country, to look into the allegations of a hitlist that were first reported in the Guardian.

The US ambassador to Honduras, James Nealon, told the Guardian: “We take allegations of human rights abuses with the utmost seriousness. We always take immediate action to ensure the security and safety of people where there is a credible threat.”

Hitlist or not, there seems to be some very solid evidence that members of the Honduran security forces continued to be involved in committing violence against various opposition groups in the country.