Bilateral Extradition treaty Alive!
Tegucigalpa, Feb 18 (EFE).-
Honduran President Xiomara Castro announced Tuesday that her government agreed with the United States to maintain the bilateral extradition treaty.
The news came just ten days before the treaty was due to expire, after Castro said that she would terminate it, arguing the US could use it to pressure the Honduran government.
“I announce that I have reached an agreement with the new administration of the United States so that the extradition treaty will continue with the necessary safeguards for the state of Honduras, guaranteeing its objective application,” Castro said on X.
“I have guaranteed respect for the integrity of the Armed Forces, the institution responsible for defending sovereignty, maintaining peace, enforcing the rule of the Constitution, and guaranteeing the security of our democratic electoral process,” she added.
The Honduran Foreign Minister, Eduardo Enrique Reina, said in statements to the press on Monday that the president had denounced the treaty with the United States because of the possibility that it could be used for political purposes, especially in light of the upcoming elections on Mar. 9, and Nov. 30.
Castro denounced the treaty in August after the US ambassador in Tegucigalpa, Laura Dogu, criticized a meeting between the chief of staff of the Honduran armed forces, General Roosevelt Hernández, and then-Secretary of Defense José Manuel Zelaya, with Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino.
Padrino has been accused by the US of drug trafficking, so after the meeting between Honduran and Venezuelan officials during a military sports event, Dogu pointed out that the encounter was “worrying.” EFE
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