Honduras–United States Relations
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Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, ...
and the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
have had formal relations since 1830. There is close cooperation between the two countries, particularly in the areas of the war on drugs while the National Port Authority in
Puerto Cortés Puerto Cortés, originally known as Puerto de Caballos, is a port city and municipality on the north Caribbean coast of Honduras, right on the Laguna de Alvarado, north of San Pedro Sula and east of Omoa, with a natural bay. The present city w ...
is part of the U.S. Bureau of Customs and Border Protection's
Container Security Initiative The Container Security Initiative (CSI) was launched in 2002 by the U.S. Bureau of Customs and Border Protection (CBP), an agency of the Department of Homeland Security. Its purpose was to increase security for container cargo shipped to the Un ...
.


History


Colonial era

During the colonial period, the region that would beacome todays republic of Honduras and the Thirteen Colonies of North America and later the United States had limited interactions due to distance, political barriers, and Spanish colonial domination in Central America. However, there are some indirect antecedents that marked the early relations between what would eventually become the United States and the Honduran territory. Such as merchandise smuggling, geostrategic interests of the English crown in the Mosquitocoast and the Bay Islands, and the influence of the independence of America among the
Criollos In Hispanic America, criollo () is a term used originally to describe people of full Spanish descent born in the viceroyalties. In different Latin American countries, the word has come to have different meanings, mostly referring to the local ...
and the enlightened
Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...
elite.


19th century

The establishment of formal relations began in 1830 when the Central American government opened diplomatic and commercial relations with the United States and the American embassy was opened on Central American soil. After the end of the Federation and the independence of Honduras from this in 1838, the country and the United States continued to maintain an open diplomatic relationship. Honduras, given its strategic geographic location and its wealth in natural resources, began to attract American interest although its influence on the country was not as strong as it was several decades later. The first disagreement between Honduras and the United States occurred in 1848 when President Juan Lindo showed serious concern about the annexation of Mexican territory by the United States after the
Mexican American War Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...
. after this disagreement he relationship between the United States and Honduras will continue normally. In 1849 the United States supported Hondurans in the Anglo-Honduran War, as this aid would give Honduras a diplomatic victory over the
British Empire The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, colonies, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, mandates, and other Dependent territory, territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It bega ...
. During this period, the diplomat E.G Squier arrived, who brought descriptions about the country to the University of New York and who saw several archaeological sites and interviewed indigenous peoples in the area. During the end of this century when we began to see the growth of US capital investment on Honduran soil, opening companies such as the Rosario Minning Company, this due to the so-called
Liberal Reform Liberal Reform is an internal political group of members of the British Liberal Democrats (UK), Liberal Democrats. Membership of the group is open to any Liberal Democrat member, and is free of charge. It was launched on 13 February 2012, and de ...
made by President
Marco Aurelio Soto Marco Aurelio Soto Martínez (13 November 1846 – 25 February 1908) was President of Honduras from 1876 to 1883. He was known as a liberal. He was a reforming president and had a great impact on the Honduras of his time, including the establ ...
that allowed foreign investment.


20th century

between the early 1900s to the mid 1950s, American companies such as the
United Fruit Company The United Fruit Company (later the United Brands Company) was an American multinational corporation that traded in tropical fruit (primarily bananas) grown on Latin American plantations and sold in the United States and Europe. The company was ...
and the Standard Fruit Company dominated the Honduran economy. The power of these companies became so great that they influenced government decisions and even changes in political leadership in Honduras. This period is known as the rise of the “ Banana Republics,” a term that refers to the economic and political dependence of these countries on the United States due to the banana industry. During this period also saw the involvement of Honduras in both world wars. During the
first First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...
, Honduras would be the last country to declare war on the
German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...
, very late in 1918 just a few months until the end of the war. For the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, it would become more deeply involved in supporting the allies. Although at the beginning, at the initiative of President Tiburcio Carias Andino, he maintained a certain diplomatic closeness with the
Axis An axis (: axes) may refer to: Mathematics *A specific line (often a directed line) that plays an important role in some contexts. In particular: ** Coordinate axis of a coordinate system *** ''x''-axis, ''y''-axis, ''z''-axis, common names ...
, however he slowly distanced himself from them until after the Pearl Harbor attacks, he declared war on the
Empire of Japan The Empire of Japan, also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was the Japanese nation state that existed from the Meiji Restoration on January 3, 1868, until the Constitution of Japan took effect on May 3, 1947. From Japan–Kor ...
,
Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
, and
Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
. Starting in the 60s, Ramon Villeda Morales became president, who maintained close ties with the administration of John F. Kenendy, with the United States being the investor in humanitarian projects in the country. However, Villeda Morales' administration would end abruptly with a coup d'état. During the rest of the century, Honduras always remained under the influence of the United States in the context of the Cold War. through the nest years of the decade and the 70s Honduras suffered military junta governments which continued to maintain closeness with the United States as its main ally. During the 1980s, Honduras supported U.S. policy opposing governments in
Nicaragua Nicaragua, officially the Republic of Nicaragua, is the geographically largest Sovereign state, country in Central America, comprising . With a population of 7,142,529 as of 2024, it is the third-most populous country in Central America aft ...
and opposing an active insurgency in
El Salvador El Salvador, officially the Republic of El Salvador, is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south by the Pacific Ocean. El Salvador's capital and largest city is S ...
. Honduras would become a bastion against communism on Central American soil and a key for the Reagan administration to fight against Soviet influence in the region, to the extent that this country would support the
Contras In the history of Nicaragua, the Contras (Spanish: ''La contrarrevolución'', the counter-revolution) were the right-wing militias who waged anti-communist guerilla warfare (1979–1990) against the Marxist governments of the Sandinista Na ...
to fight with the
Sandinistas The Sandinista National Liberation Front (, FSLN) is a socialist political party in Nicaragua. Its members are called Sandinistas () in both English and Spanish. The party is named after Augusto César Sandino, who led the Nicaraguan resistan ...
.


21st century

In June 2005, Honduras became the first country in the hemisphere to sign a
Millennium Challenge Account The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) is a bilateral United States foreign aid agency established by the U.S. Congress in 2004. It is an independent agency separate from the State Department and USAID. It provides grants to countries tha ...
(MCA) compact with the US Government. Honduras failed the corruption indicator required for continued funding into 2008. MCC will closely follow Honduras's progress on reducing corruption under an approved "remediation plan." The United States recognized President
Manuel Zelaya José Manuel Zelaya Rosales (born 20 September 1952)Encyclopædia BritannicaManuel Zelaya is a Hondurans, Honduran politician who served as the 35th president of Honduras from 2006 until his forcible removal in the 2009 Honduran coup d'état, 2 ...
, ousted from power in the
2009 Honduran coup d'état The 2009 Honduran coup d'état, which took place during the 2009 Honduran constitutional crisis, occurred after President of Honduras, President Manuel Zelaya failed to follow a Supreme Court of Honduras, Honduran Supreme Court ruling. On 28 ...
, as the only constitutional president of Honduras. "We believe that the coup was not legal and that President Zelaya remains the democratically elected president there," US President
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...
said. Although U.S. officials have characterized the events as a coup, suspended joint military operations and all non-emergency, non-immigrant visas, and cut off certain non-humanitarian aid to Honduras, they have held back from formally designating Zelaya's ouster as a "military coup", which would require them to cut off almost all aid to Honduras. The United States subsequently warned the Micheletti government that it might not recognize the results of the November 29, 2009 elections if Zelaya was not allowed to return to power first, and ultimately indicated that the November election ''would not'' be recognized, persuading the Micheletti regime to refer Zelaya's return to the Honduran Congress. The United States maintains a presence at the Soto Cano Air Base in
Comayagua Comayagua () is a city, municipality and old capital of Honduras, located northwest of Tegucigalpa on the highway to San Pedro Sula and above sea level. The accelerated growth experienced by the city of Comayagua led the municipal authoriti ...
; the two countries conduct joint peacekeeping, counter-narcotics, humanitarian, disaster relief, and civic action exercises. U.S. troops conduct and provide logistics support for a variety of bilateral and multilateral exercises, medical, engineering, peacekeeping, counternarcotics, and disaster relief. As of 1 March 2023, the U.S. and Honduras share a partnership aimed at fostering security, stability, and prosperity in the Americas. This partnership involves a joint military unit at Soto Cano Air Base, focusing on building relationships not only with Honduras but also with other Central American countries. In early 2023, the U.S. and Honduras engaged in Strategic and Human Rights Dialogues, reaffirming their commitment to jointly tackle the root causes of irregular migration and forced displacement. In early 2025, Honduras threatened to expel U.S. troops if President-elect
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...
pursued a mass deportation of refugees and asylum seekers entering the United States from Central America.


Trade

In 2004, the United States signed the U.S.-Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) with Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua,
Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...
,
Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...
, and the
Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...
. The legislatures of all signatories except Costa Rica ratified CAFTA in 2005, and the agreement entered into force in the first half of 2006. CAFTA eliminates tariffs and other barriers to trade in goods, services, agricultural products, and investments. Additionally, CAFTA is expected to solidify democracy, encourage greater regional integration, and provide safeguards for
environmental protection Environmental protection, or environment protection, refers to the taking of measures to protecting the natural environment, prevent pollution and maintain ecological balance. Action may be taken by individuals, advocacy groups and governments. ...
and
labor rights Labor rights or workers' rights are both legal rights and human rights relating to labor relations between workers and employers. These rights are codified in national and international labor and employment law. In general, the ...
. Bilateral trade between the two nations totaled $7.4 billion in 2006, up from $7 billion in 2005. Exports of goods and services from the U.S. increased from $3.24 billion in 2005 to $3.69 billion in 2006, while Honduran exports to the U.S. fell slightly from $3.75 billion in 2005 to $3.72 billion in 2006 More than 150 American companies operate in Honduras; U.S. franchises are present in increasing numbers. U.S.-Honduran trade is dominated by the Honduran
maquila A (), or (), is a factory that is largely duty free and tariff free. These factories take raw materials and assemble, manufacture, or process them and export the finished product. These factories and systems are present throughout Latin Amer ...
(factory) industry, which imports
yarn Yarn is a long continuous length of interlocked fibres, used in sewing, crocheting, knitting, weaving, embroidery, ropemaking, and the production of textiles. '' Thread'' is a type of yarn intended for sewing by hand or machine. Modern ...
and
textiles Textile is an Hyponymy and hypernymy, umbrella term that includes various Fiber, fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, Staple (textiles)#Filament fiber, filaments, Thread (yarn), threads, and different types of #Fabric, fabric. ...
from the United States and exports finished articles of clothing. Other leading Honduran exports to the United States include
coffee Coffee is a beverage brewed from roasted, ground coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content, but decaffeinated coffee is also commercially a ...
,
bananas A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – berry (botany), botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large treelike herbaceous flowering plants in the genus ''Musa (genus), Musa''. In some countries, cooking bananas are called pla ...
,
seafood Seafood is any form of Marine life, sea life regarded as food by humans, prominently including Fish as food, fish and shellfish. Shellfish include various species of Mollusca, molluscs (e.g., bivalve molluscs such as clams, oysters, and mussel ...
(particularly
shrimp A shrimp (: shrimp (American English, US) or shrimps (British English, UK)) is a crustacean with an elongated body and a primarily Aquatic locomotion, swimming mode of locomotion – typically Decapods belonging to the Caridea or Dendrobranchi ...
), minerals (including
zinc Zinc is a chemical element; it has symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodic tabl ...
,
lead Lead () is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol Pb (from Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a Heavy metal (elements), heavy metal that is density, denser than most common materials. Lead is Mohs scale, soft and Ductility, malleabl ...
,
gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...
, and
silver Silver is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag () and atomic number 47. A soft, whitish-gray, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal. ...
), and other fruits and vegetables. Two-way trade with Honduras in 2006 was $7.4 billion, up from $7.0 billion in 2005. For 2007 through October, Honduran exports to the United States increased 6%, and U.S. exports to Honduras increased 18% when compared to the same period in 2006. U.S. investors account for nearly two-thirds of the foreign direct investment (FDI) in Honduras. The stock of U.S. direct investment in Honduras in 2005 was $402 million, up from $339 million in 2004. The overall flow of FDI into Honduras in 2005 totaled $568 million, $196 million of which was spent in the maquila sector. The United States continued as the largest contributor of FDI. The most substantial U.S. investments in Honduras are in the
maquila A (), or (), is a factory that is largely duty free and tariff free. These factories take raw materials and assemble, manufacture, or process them and export the finished product. These factories and systems are present throughout Latin Amer ...
sector, fruit production (particularly bananas,
melons A melon is any of various plants of the family Cucurbitaceae with sweet, edible, and fleshy fruit. It can also specifically refer to '' Cucumis melo'', commonly known as the "true melon" or simply "melon". The term "melon" can apply to both the ...
, and
pineapple The pineapple (''Ananas comosus'') is a Tropical vegetation, tropical plant with an edible fruit; it is the most economically significant plant in the family Bromeliaceae. The pineapple is indigenous to South America, where it has been culti ...
),
tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the Commerce, commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. World Tourism Organization, UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as ...
, energy generation, shrimp aquaculture, animal feed production,
telecommunications Telecommunication, often used in its plural form or abbreviated as telecom, is the transmission of information over a distance using electronic means, typically through cables, radio waves, or other communication technologies. These means of ...
, fuel distribution, cigar manufacturing,
insurance Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to protect ...
, brewing, leasing, food processing, and furniture manufacturing. Many U.S.
franchises Franchise may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Media franchise, a collection of related creative works, such as films, video games, books, etc., particularly in North American usage * "Franchise" (short story), a 1955 short story ...
, particularly in the restaurant sector, operate in Honduras. As of 2023, an economic relations remain a key aspect of the U.S.-Honduras relationship. Honduras presents several attractive features for international and domestic investors, such as its proximity to U.S. markets and the benefits provided by the Dominican Republic-Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR). However, investors face challenges including security concerns, corruption, and inadequate rule of law. The
International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution funded by 191 member countries, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It is regarded as the global lender of las ...
(IMF) identified a
GDP Gross domestic product (GDP) is a monetary measure of the total market value of all the final goods and services produced and rendered in a specific time period by a country or countries. GDP is often used to measure the economic performance o ...
growth of 4 percent in 2022 for Honduras, with a forecasted growth of 3.7 percent by the end of 2023.


Assistance

The USAID budget for Honduras is $37 million for fiscal year 2007.
Hurricane Mitch Hurricane Mitch was an extremely deadly and catastrophic Atlantic hurricane, which became the second-deadliest tropical cyclone in the Atlantic basin on record. Mitch caused 11,374 fatalities in Central America in 1998, including approximately ...
in 1998 left hundreds of thousands homeless, devastated the road network and other public infrastructure, and crippled certain key sectors of the economy, causing more than $3 billion in damages to homes, hospitals, schools, roads, farms, and businesses. The United States provided more than $461 million in immediate disaster relief and humanitarian aid spread over the years 1998–2001. The
Peace Corps The Peace Corps is an Independent agency of the U.S. government, independent agency and program of the United States government that trains and deploys volunteers to communities in partner countries around the world. It was established in Marc ...
has been active in Honduras since 1962, and currently the program is one of the largest in the world. In 2005, there were 220 Peace Corps Volunteers working in the country. The role of the Honduran armed forces has changed significantly in recent years as many institutions formerly controlled by the military are now under civilian authority. The annual defense and police budgets have hovered at around $35 million during the past few years. Honduras receives modest U.S. security assistance funds and training. In the absence of a large security assistance program, defense cooperation has taken the form of increased participation by the Honduran armed forces in military-to-military contact programs and bilateral and multilateral combined exercises oriented toward peacekeeping, disaster relief, humanitarian/civic assistance, and counternarcotics. The U.S. Joint Task Force Bravo (JTF-B), stationed at the Honduran Soto Cano Air Base, plays a vital role in supporting combined exercises in Honduras and in neighboring Central American countries. JTF-Bravo plays a critical role in helping the United States respond to natural disasters in Central America by serving as a platform for rescue missions, repairing critical infrastructure, and in meeting high priority health and sanitation needs. JTF-Bravo forces have helped deliver millions of dollars worth of privately donated goods to those in need.


Political involvement

The Obama administration's attempts to pressure Honduras into reversing the removal of Zelaya in 2009 were complicated by Republican minority party efforts to reach out to and advocate on behalf of the
Roberto Micheletti Roberto Micheletti Baín (born August 13, 1943) is a Honduran politician who served as the interim and 36th president of Honduras from June 28, 2009, to January 27, 2010, as a result of the 2009 Honduran coup d'état. The Honduran military o ...
government, as well as by a recent Republican-commissioned
report A report is a document or a statement that presents information in an organized format for a specific audience and purpose. Although summaries of reports may be delivered orally, complete reports are usually given in the form of written documen ...
by US
Law Library of Congress The Law Library of Congress is the law library of the United States Congress. The Law Library of Congress holds the single most comprehensive and authoritative collection of domestic, foreign, and international legal materials in the world. Es ...
that supports the constitutionality of Zelaya's removal from office, while condemning his expatriation. In turn, the Democratic chairmen of the House and Senate foreign relations committees asked the Law Library of Congress to retract the report, charging that it "contains factual errors and is based on a flawed legal analysis that has been refuted by experts from the United States, the Organization of American States and Honduras."


Opinion poll of how Hondurans see Americans

According to a global opinion poll, 81% of
Hondurans Hondurans (; also called catrachos) are the citizens of Honduras. Most Hondurans live in Honduras, although there is also a significant Honduran diaspora, particularly in the United States, Spain, and many smaller communities in other countries ...
viewed the U.S. positively in 2002. According to the 2012 U.S. Global Leadership Report, 38% of Hondurans approved of U.S. leadership, with 13% disapproving and 49% uncertain. By 2016, the U.S. Global Leadership Report showed approval numbers had increased to 56%, but disapproval had also increased to 32%, with the percentage unsure or who refused dropping to 12%.
'' Gallup (company), Gallup''


Diplomatic missions

The U.S. Embassy in Honduras is located in
Tegucigalpa Tegucigalpa ( )—formally Tegucigalpa, Municipality of the Central District ( or ''Tegucigalpa, M.D.C.''), and colloquially referred to as ''Tegus'' or ''Teguz''—is the capital and largest city of Honduras along with its sister city, Comaya ...
.


See also

*
Foreign relations of Honduras Honduras is a member of the United Nations, the World Trade Organization (WTO), the Central American Parliament (PARLACEN), the Central American Integration System (SICA), and the Central American Security Commission (CASQ). During 1995–96, Hond ...
*
Honduran Americans Honduran Americans (, or ) are Americans of full or partial Honduran descent. Hondurans are the eighth largest Hispanic group in the United States and the third largest Central American population, after Salvadorans and Guatemalans. Honduran ...
*
Foreign relations of the United States The United States has formal diplomatic relations with most nations. This includes all United Nations members and observer states other than Bhutan, Iran, North Korea and Syria, and the UN observer Territory of Palestine. Additionally, the U ...
* CIA activities in Honduras


References


Further reading

* Buvollen, Hans Petter. "Low-Intensity Warfare and the Peace Plan in Central America." ''Bulletin of Peace Proposals'' 20.3 (1989): 319–334. * Colby, Jason M. "Reagan and Central America." in ''A Companion to Ronald Reagan'' (2015): 434+. * Euraque, Darío A. ''Reinterpreting the Banana Republic: region and state in Honduras, 1870-1972'' (U of North Carolina Press, 1996). * Maxwell, William. "Honduran Americans." ''Gale Encyclopedia of Multicultural America,'' edited by Thomas Riggs, (3rd ed., vol. 2, Gale, 2014), pp. 345–355
online
* Merrill, Tim, ed. ''Honduras: A country study'' (United States Government Printing, 1995). * Schulz, Donald E. and Deborah Sundloff Schulz. ''The United States, Honduras, and the Crisis in Central America'' (Routledge, 2018
online


External links


History of Honduras - U.S. relations
{{DEFAULTSORT:Honduras-United States relations
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
Bilateral relations of the United States