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R47856 — Honduras: Background and U.S. Relations

Reports · published 2023-11-30 · v2 · Archived · crsreports.congress.gov ↗

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Authors
Peter J. Meyer
Report id
R47856
Summary

Honduras, a Central American nation of 9.8 million people, has had close ties with the United States for many years. The country served as a base for U.S. operations designed to counter Soviet influence in Central America during the 1980s, and it continues to host a U.S. military presence and cooperate on various security concerns today. Trade and investment linkages are also long-standing and have grown stronger since the implementation of the Dominican Republic-Central America-United States Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR) in 2006. Instability in Honduras—including a 2009 coup and outflows of migrants and asylum-seekers since 2014—has led U.S. policymakers to focus greater attention on conditions in the country and their implications for the United States over the past decade. Domestic Situation President Xiomara Castro of the leftist Liberty and Re-foundation (LIBRE) party was inaugurated to a four-year term in January 2022. She inherited a difficult situation. Honduras experienced democratic backsliding and erosion of the rule of law under her predecessor, Juan Orlando Hernández (2014-2022), who was extradited to the United States to face drug trafficking charges in April 2022. Socioeconomic conditions also had deteriorated in the two years preceding Castro’s election due to the effects of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and two tropical storms. A broad coalition propelled Castro to office based on her pledges to address these challenges. Progress has been uneven over the past two years. Castro has enacted some anti-corruption and economic reforms, but her lack of a working majority in the unicameral congress, in which her party won 50 of 128 seats, has stymied other policy changes. In some areas, Castro has reversed positions since taking office. On public security, for example, she has abandoned her pledge to reduce the military’s role in law enforcement and has repeatedly extended an emergency decree that suspends certain constitutional rights in an attempt to combat extortion and other security challenges. As their agenda has stalled, Castro and LIBRE have called their supporters into the streets to exert popular pressure on the Honduran congress while simultaneously seeking to delegitimize the political opposition and civil society critics. LIBRE legislators also have engaged in some controversial, and potentially illegal, maneuvers to secure control of the congress and other government bodies, including the office of the attorney general. These tactics have contributed to the erosion of Castro’s support base, the establishment of a larger and more unified opposition bloc, and increasing concerns among domestic and foreign observers about the Honduran government’s trajectory. According to a September 2023 CID Gallup poll, 36% of Hondurans approved of Castro’s performance in office. U.S. Policy The Biden Administration’s policy toward Honduras is guided by the U.S. Strategy for Addressing the Root Causes of Migration in Central America, a whole-of-government effort designed to promote economic prosperity, strengthen governance, and improve security in Honduras and the rest of the region. U.S. agencies allocated at least $437.4 million in foreign assistance to Honduras to support implementation of the strategy from FY2021 to FY2023. The Biden Administration has sought to collaborate closely with Castro on efforts to improve living conditions in Honduras and address challenges such as drug trafficking and irregular migration. Nevertheless, bilateral relations have been strained by some policy disagreements. Administration officials and some Members of Congress have expressed particular concerns about the Castro administration’s efforts to forge closer ties with the People’s Republic of China, economic reforms that could negatively affect U.S. businesses and investors, and government actions that could further weaken Honduras’s democratic institutions. The 118th Congress may continue shaping U.S. policy toward Honduras through its legislative and oversight efforts. Congress is currently considering the Biden Administration’s $136.5 million FY2024 foreign assistance request for Honduras. The House-passed (H.R. 4665/H.Rept. 118-146) and Senate-reported (S. 2438/S.Rept. 118-71) versions of the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2024, would not specify funding levels for Honduras. Both bills would maintain some restrictions on aid for the Honduran government, however, and S. 2438 would maintain a prohibition on Foreign Military Financing for Honduras. Other legislative measures could affect U.S.-Honduran migration ties. For example, the Secure the Border Act of 2023 (H.R. 2), passed by the House in May 2023, would direct the Secretary of State to “seek to negotiate” an asylum cooperation agreement with the Honduran government.

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