Racial comments concerning Obama
During a television interview on June 29, 2009, Ortez commented that U.S. president Barack Obama, who refused to back the coup or to recognize the interim government as legitimate, was "un negrito que no sabe nada de nada" ( en, a little black man who knows nothing about nothing); he also referred to Obama as "el negrito del batey" (translated as a black plantation worker). The US ambassador to Honduras, Hugo Llorens, expressed outrage regarding Ortez's comments, and the anti-coup movement both in and outside of Honduras used Ortez's comments against the government. Ortez sent a letter of apology to the White House and was reassigned to the office of minister for justice on July 10.Death
He died on 30 March 2022 at the age of 90.References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ortez, Enrique 1931 births 2022 deaths Foreign Ministers of Honduras Government ministers of Honduras Liberal Party of Honduras politicians