September 27-October 3, 1997

Honduras: military involved in attempts against Reina

Honduran army officers and Cuban exiles in Honduras are responsible for a rash of bombings aimed at President Carlos Roberto Reina, according to a story by Juan O. Tamayo that appeared in the September 28 Miami Herald. Tamayo’s article argued that the 1994-95 bombings—none of which seriously threatened Reina or did much damage—were part of a secret effort to eliminate both Reina and Cuban dictator Fidel Castro.

The officers, including military intelligence chief (now military inspector-general) Col. Guillermo Pinel Calix, wanted to intimidate or eliminate Reina, who—according to the article—they "detested… because he wanted to weaken the armed forces’ clout by putting the military-run police under civilian control, cutting budgets and limiting weapons purchases." The Cuban exiles "viewed Reina as being pro-Fidel Castro, and they wanted the military’s gratitude and permission to use Honduras as a secret base for operations against the Cuban president."

One of the exiles, Mario Delamico, was "a top arms seller to the contras and the Honduran military." Shortly after taking office, President Reina ordered the chief of the armed forces at the time, Gen. Luis Alonso Discua, to "distance himself" from Delamico because of "repeated complaints of kickbacks in arms procurements."

In response, claims the Herald piece, Delamico and Col. Pinel Calix began soliciting donations from local businessmen for "a secret movement" to intimidate Reina. The leader of the so-called "Movement for Central American Solidarity (MCAS)" was Luis Posada Carilles, "a veteran of the Bay of Pigs invasion and many other CIA anti-Castro operations."

"The deal was unspoken but clear," said a source in Tamayo’s article. "The Cubans help us control Reina, we let them operate from here, just as we let the contras operate from here."

The MCAS set off 10 small bombs in 1994 and early 1995, two near Reina, one at the Supreme Court, and others at businesses—including a TV station—owned by Reina supporters. Together, they caused only one serious injury. MCAS communiqués voiced support for the military and attacked Reina "as a dangerous Cuba sympathizer."

Two former officers cited in the Herald article said MCAS was also behind a larger bombing on July 4, 1994 that killed six Hondurans near a U.S. military installation.

Apparently, the activity died down in 1995, after Reina and Gen. Discua came to an agreement on military reforms. Since early 1996 Gen. Discua has been in New York, serving as Honduras’ "alternate representative" to the United Nations. "Reina and Discua cut a quiet deal to put the MCAS bombings behind them," a retired army colonel told the Herald.

According to the article, no hard evidence exists of anti-Cuba actions originating in Honduras.

The article created a stir within Honduran governing circles. President Reina instructed the current armed-forces chief, Gen. Mario Raúl Hung Pacheco, to investigate its allegations in coordination with the civilian-run Criminal Investigations Division (DIC, the Honduran equivalent of the FBI in the United States). Attorney-General Edmundo Orellana said that the officers mentioned in the article, along with the Herald’s Tamayo, will be called to answer prosecutors’ questions.

The articles allegations "are a fallacy, it’s a nice bestseller," said Gen. Hung Pacheco. The armed forces’ spokesman, Col. Mario David Villanueva, charged that Tamayo got his story from Ramón Custodio, the fiery head of the nongovernmental Commission in Defense of Human Rights in Honduras (CODEH) and an outspoken critic of the military. "[Custodio] says he had already made these charges some time ago… so now we understand why, if he had this reporter in his office, we see what the origins of this article could have been."

While charging that Tamayo "is a journalist who has always been at the service of those who are against Honduras," Assistant Attorney-General Florentino Alvarez also said that investigations of the article’s claims are to begin and those responsible will be punished.

Honduran military on parade

The Honduran armed forces celebrated the birthday of national hero Francisco Morazán with a massive, weapons-filled parade through downtown Tegucigalpa, the first such display since 1979.

Gen. Mario Raúl Hung Pacheco, dressed in a combat uniform complete with a pistol on his hip, led the parade of at least 6,000 soldiers. "This parade is a demonstration of affection to the people," the general declared. Hung Pacheco later joined President Carlos Roberto Reina on the reviewing stand.

Among troops participating in the 2 ½-hour parade were the army’s anti-riot unit and the Special Forces Battalion, a counterinsurgency unit that took part in full gear, including face paint. Several press accounts noted the presence of a significant contingent of female soldiers.

Also in attendance were platoons representing the military academies of all Central American countries that have armies (El Salvador’s Gerardo Barrios Military School, Guatemala’s Politécnica, and Nicaragua’s Center for Military Studies). Their invitation, said Gen. Hung Pacheco, "demonstrates the camaraderie and the cooperation that exist between the Central American armed forces, because by maintaining this channel of open dialogue with them we avoid many potential crises."

The Honduran military brought out much of its arsenal for display, including the aging F5E fighter planes given it by the United States during the 1980s. Long believed to be inoperable for lack of parts and maintenance (according to one news account their maintenance costs $50,000 per year apiece), five of Honduras’ F5s – the most advanced fighter aircraft in Central America – flew over the parade.

"I feel very satisfied, I congratulate the commander-in-chief, Gen. Hung Pacheco, for this demonstration of professionalism, constitutionalism and loyalty to the republic," said President Reina in a statement to the press.

César Carranza, the Honduran vice-minister of finance, told reporters that the parade cost the armed forces at least 1 million lempiras (about US$70,000) between fuel, food and other costs. But "how they spend their budget is their problem. We can’t do anything about it."

Leaders of human-rights groups voiced concern about the display. Although the Reina administration has succeeded in reducing the military’s dominance over Honduran society, said Ramón Custodio of the CODEH, "the parade shows that they are still alive, that the tiger still roars."

In downtown Tegucigalpa, about twenty members of the Committee of Relatives of the Disappeared in Honduras (COFADEH) burned a large cardboard boot to protest the parade. "It was an arrogant manipulation by the military," said COFADEH Coordinator Bertha Oliva, "to give an image of power and unity … while that doesn’t exist within the army."

Military budget

The comptroller-general of the Honduran government, Vera Rubí, announced that her office has begun an unprecedented audit of military expenditure. The audit covers the periods in which Gen. Hung Pacheco and his predecessor, Gen. Luis Alonso Discua, commanded the armed forces.

The audit, Rubí emphasized, is a standard procedure "that any minister, the president of the Congress, or the president of the republic would undergo to investigate whether they have managed the budget with clean hands."

Meanwhile the Honduran Congress approved an enormous increase in the military’s 1998 budget. While the Reina administration had requested 363.7 million lempiras (about US$27 million) for the armed forces next year, the Congress voted to give them 478.7 million lempiras (about US$35 million). Since the armed forces’ 1997 budget, by comparison, was only 330 million lempiras (about US$25 million), this represents an increase of more than one-third.

Press reports were unclear as to whether this figure includes the budget for the national police, which was a branch of the military until its transfer to a civilian transition commission in September. A significant budget increase is foreseen for the new, civilian-controlled force.

Guatemala: MINUGUA report

At the end of September, the United Nations Verification Mission in Guatemala (MINUGUA) released its seventh report on the country’s current situation. The report stirred up controversy by charging that Guatemalan authorities are breaking their own laws and risking continued impunity by using an elite military unit against kidnappers.

MINUGUA cited reports that the Presidential General Staff (EMP), a secretive, semi-autonomous unit officially charged with protecting Guatemala’s president, has been involved in the rescue of several kidnapping victims during the past year. Jaime Esponda, head of MINUGUA’s human rights section, told the daily Siglo Veintiuno that the mission knows of at least fifteen cases of the EMP’s use for anti-kidnapping purposes. These allegations indicate that the EMP – a unit whose dissolution is required by the 1996 peace accords – has illegally taken on an internal-security role.

The MINUGUA report alleges the existence of an "anti-kidnapping command" within the EMP, a charge denied by government spokesman Ricardo de la Torre. De la Torre did acknowledge, however, that individual members of the EMP may have participated in operations against gangs of kidnappers.

This practice is legal, defenders argue, because it falls within the dictates of a presidential decree (no. 90-96) which grants the armed forces a supporting role in crimefighting operations. Recent anti-kidnapping operations, according to Siglo Veintiuno, have even involved the Guatemalan navy and troops from the army’s Kaibil counterinsurgency unit.

In Guatemala’s congress, opposition-party deputies from across the political spectrum coincided in calls for further investigation of MINUGUA’s charges against the EMP. "It’s not new to anyone that the EMP is involved in criminal acts and violation of human rights," said Rosalina Tuyuc of the left-leaning New Guatemala Democratic Front (FDNG).

Other Guatemalans, particularly those within the government and ruling National Action Party (PAN), charged that the UN mission exceeded its mandate by commenting on what they regard as an internal matter. Some, among them the Neighborhood Guardians anticrime group, charged that MINUGUA’s recommendations only benefit criminals.

The problem is difficult, admitted MINUGUA chief Jean Arnault, because though the fight against Guatemala’s escalating wave of kidnappings must be waged by legal means, the civilian security forces are inefficient and unable to combat the problem effectively.

Guatemala: Possible state of emergency for crime

Amid indications that crime continues to spiral out of control in postwar Guatemala, calls are increasing for the imposition of a state of emergency. This move would suspend the constitution, including several basic civil liberties, while involving the military still more deeply in anticrime operations.

Military (mostly joint military-police) patrols are already patrolling Guatemala’s cities to fight crime; this week, the government announced that military anticrime patrols are to begin operating in rural areas as well. Now, the possibility of further escalation to a state of emergency has entered the national debate, appearing frequently in press reports and editorial pages. Interior Minister Rodolfo Mendoza and presidential spokesman Ricardo de la Torre both said this week that President Alvaro Arzú is considering it among possible crimefighting options.

"This doesn’t mean it will go into effect tomorrow," said de la Torre, who indicated that the president regards a state of emergency as a serious step that must not be taken hastily. In his own opinion, de la Torre added, the present moment is inappropriate.

Articles 138 and 139 of Guatemala’s constitution allow for the document’s temporary suspension in emergency situations. According to the daily La Prensa Libre, the measure was last employed during the brief dictatorship of Gen. Efraín Ríos Montt (1982-3).

Citing the police’s apparent inability to guarantee citizen security, Oscar Recinos, head of the Neighborhood Guardians (GV) anticrime group, called publicly for a state of emergency. "A state of emergency should be decreed as a solution to the huge current crime wave. This does not go against the peace accords, because they foresee that when civilian authorities in charge of Guatemalans’ security are overwhelmed by criminals, the president can order the army to take on this role."

Guatemalan legislators interviewed in a Siglo Veintiuno article seemed to agree that a state of emergency is a last-resort measure whose time has not yet come. The president of the congress, Arabella Castro, argued that a state of emergency would probably not bring dramatically better results, though it would certainly limit citizens’ rights. The problem, she added, is that Guatemala—which is in the midst of creating and training a new police force—still lacks the police personnel necessary to keep order effectively.

Byron Barrientos of the rightist Guatemalan Republican Front (FRG) contended that since it is foreseen in the constitution, a state of emergency would not mean a militarization of the country or a break with the peace accords. He acknowledged, though, that it could "get out of authorities’ hands," resulting in human-rights violations "that would carry a high political cost at the international level."

Costa Rica: U.S. Coast Guard seeks interdiction agreement

Two lawyers from the U.S. Coast Guard visited Costa Rica this week to sell a plan that would allow greater access to Costa Rican territorial waters for U.S. vessels on counternarcotics missions. During their visit, Robert Wilkens and William Hamel presented the U.S. government’s proposal to Costa Rica’s police, Foreign Ministry, President José María Figueres, and the Legislative Assembly’s counternarcotics committee.

U.S. officials have presented versions of the proposal, which last week’s Central America Update describes in greater detail, in each Central American country. They view it as a response to the region’s increasing use as a transshipment "bridge" for drugs on their way from South America (primarily Colombia) to the United States. According to Coast Guard figures cited by the Voice of America, nearly 500 metric tons of refined cocaine passed through Central America last year.

The proposal would allow U.S. ships and planes to patrol Costa Rican waters and airspace in search of suspect vessels and aircraft. Though armed, the ships and planes would only be allowed to use force in self-defense. Each ship would have at least one Costa Rican police officer aboard (called a "shiprider"), who would grant permission for the U.S. ship to intercept suspect vessels in Costa Rican waters. A "shipboarding" clause would allow U.S. personnel, with prior authorization, to board Costa Rican ships in international waters. Arrested suspects would be turned over to Costa Rican authorities.

U.S. embassy spokesman David Gilmour told a press conference, "The goal in any of these situations in the pursuit either by sea or by air is to identify the suspect aircraft and hopefully either order it to land or detain a vessel in the case it were at sea, and to identify the suspect vessel, detain the crew and detain the drugs, and from then on it’s turned over to Costa Rican authorities to do as they wish as far as prosecution of a case."

Similar agreements are already in place with nine Caribbean countries, among them Belize, the Dominican Republic, Grenada and Trinidad and Tobago. According to embassy spokesman Gilmour, the United States has presented similar proposals to all other Central American countries. "I’m speaking specifically of El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Guatemala, which have received a draft agreement just as Costa Rica has, and those governments are considering as well. In the case of Honduras, I’m told the negotiations are a bit farther along and are somewhat closer to a comprehensive agreement, and in the case of Panama, I’m told negotiations are rather close to a conclusion."

According to an embassy fact sheet cited in the weekly Tico Times, about 35 U.S. vessels already patrol waters in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific, and about 10 aircraft monitor the region.

Gilmour also responded to speculation that the agreements are a means of maintaining a "forward presence" in the region after the 1999 handover of U.S. bases in Panama. "From everything I’ve heard, the Pentagon is very comfortable with the pull-out [from Panama]. I guess they feel that with satellites and other technology, they can adequately defend the country from Miami. I’ve heard nothing about wanting to establish new bases."

Costa Rican Public Security Minister Laura Chinchilla has come out in favor of the plan, citing the lack of resources necessary to allow Costa Rica to do the job itself. Many, however, argue that the plan is unconstitutional, since the national constitution requires that the legislature approve foreign military vessels’ entry into national territory.

The attorney-general’s office announced a week ago that it is devising an alternative plan that would not be subject to a constitutional challenge. Citing unnamed "official sources," the San José daily La Nación said that this alternative plan is likely to involve legislative approval of joint patrols for six-month periods. The disadvantage to this route, however, is that narcotraffickers will know which six months of the year are safest for pursuit of their activities.

Panama: CMA negotiations

Round of talks ends

U.S. negotiator Thomas McNamara and his Panamanian counterpart, Jorge Ritter, completed a new round of negotiations on a plan that would allow a contingent of U.S. troops to remain in Panama after the year 2000 as part of a "Multinational Anti-Drug Center (CMA)." The discussions in Panama were part of a series of talks that are being held with increasing frequency. The negotiations’ actual progress, however, has been a well-guarded secret.

Until 1996 or so, the United States government had shown interest in negotiating a way to keep some of its bases open past 1999. Talks to extend the U.S. presence never got started, though, as the U.S. side was unwilling even to consider a Panamanian precondition that it agree to pay rent for use of the bases. Instead, negotiations have dealt with Panamanian President Ernesto Pérez Balladares' proposal that some U.S. installations be converted into a multilateral "center" to support counternarcotics operations.

Under the proposal Howard Air Force Base's Joint Air Operations Center -- and perhaps other parts of Howard and even other bases -- would be converted into a civilian-run facility manned by military personnel from many countries (including a significant U.S. contingent). Troops stationed at the CMA would not carry out interdiction missions; they would alert individual countries' law-enforcement agencies about the drug transshipment activities that they detect. Further details about the center's operation—including the number of U.S. troops involved—remain up for negotiation.

A Reuters report, citing "sources close to the conversations," claimed that broad differences still exist between the U.S. and Panamanian positions. "The main obstacle," said a U.S. military source, "is Panama’s desire that this center not resemble a military base. … They don’t want all of the U.S. soldiers living on a base, they want them to be separate, but that is not acceptable to us for reasons of quality of life and security."

"The United States is asking too much," said a Panamanian source cited by Reuters. "I don’t believe the accord will progress, they want something we can’t sell to the Panamanian people: a military base."

After this week’s talks, McNamara announced that the CMA would have the same legal status as other international organizations like the UN, OAS and international finaincial institutions. He assured reporters that in the CMA headquarters "the Panamanian flag will be in the position of honor."

"We have had success in the negotiations, which are still only halfway there because there’s still a lot of work to do," added McNamara.

McNamara also indicated that the center must be truly multinational. Otherwise "we won’t have a center, because Panama and the United States can’t fight drugs in the hemisphere bilaterally." Panamanian authorities say that Mexico, Colombia, Brazil, Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador have all shown interest in participating, and that Canada and Spain have also been invited. Nonetheless "Panamanian government sources" told the daily La Prensa that those countries who have been asked to participate fear that the United States will have "absolute control" over the center.

"Among the press," said an Associated Press report, "it is questioned that both governments speak insistently of a multinational agreement, though no other Latin American country participates directly in the talks." After completing the negotiations, Panama and the United States instead plan to present a framework agreement to potential participating countries.

The next round of talks will take place on October 14 in Washington. "We hope to finish these negotiations in a few weeks, but it would certainly be preferable to finish them before November," said Ritter, the Panamanian negotiator.

Panama's largest labor union, the Confederation of Workers of the Republic of Panama (CTRP), passed a resolution rejecting the CMA at its yearly assembly on September 26. For its part, the "Sovereign Panama Front," a nationalist organization, called a press conference to criticize the proposed center.

Arias meets with Albright

Meanwhile Panamanian Foreign Minister Ricardo Alberto Arias, in New York to inaugurate the United Nations’ General Assembly, met with U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright to discuss the CMA plan. Arias also stopped in Washington to exchange views about the CMA with other U.S. officials.

Arias denied that the United States is using "any kind of pressure" to get its way in the negotiations, assuring that the talks are taking place in an atmosphere of "cooperation and understanding."

Albrook

On September 30 the U.S. Air Force handed over its Albrook base on the Pacific side of the canal. Founded in 1924, the 311-acre site was the oldest of all U.S. bases in Panama. "The Albrook Air Force Base unites the past, present and the future. It has been the most visible military base for Panamanians," said Panamanian President Ernesto Pérez Balladares at the handover ceremony.

For decades, Albrook hosted the Inter-American Air Forces Academy, which offered Spanish-language training to thousands of Latin American officers. The IAAFA is now located at Lackland AFB in Texas.

Albrook played a central role in "Operation Just Cause," the 1989 U.S. invasion of Panama that removed dictator Gen. Manuel Antonio Noriega from power. Since 1992, the base has been used mainly as a residential area for U.S. personnel.

Nicolás Ardito Barletta, a former president of Panama and head of the Inter-Oceanic Regional Authority, said that the Albrook site would be converted into a "City of Knowledge," with universities, international scientific centers, headquarters of governmental and nongovernmental institutions, and a civilian-run airport.

Seven U.S. military bases remain in Panama, hosting about 4,400 troops. On the Pacific side are Fort Clayton (headquarters of U.S. Army South until a 1998 move to Puerto Rico), Quarry Heights (headquarters of the U.S. Southern Command until last week, when Southcom moved to Miami), Fort Kobbe, Howard Air Force Base, and Rodman Naval Station. On the Atlantic side are Fort Sherman and the Galeta Island facility.

Briefs

Regional

• Central America’s foreign ministers met together in the Dominican Republic, along with their Dominican counterpart, to plan the regional presidential summit that will take place in Santo Domingo on November 5-7. They prepared an agreement, which the region’s presidents will sign, to tighten cooperation against international crime and narcotrafficking.
• Two former Reagan Administration officials—ex-Attorney General Edwin Meese and ex-Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs Elliot Abrams—spoke out in support of legislation that would exempt Central American refugees in the United States from a tough new immigration law that would make it easier to deport them.
  • El Salvador: "DEPORTACIONES MASIVAS DE EEUU SERIAN DURO GOLPE PARA EL SALVADOR." Por Carlos Mario Márquez. Informe AFP. De La Nación (Costa Rica).
  • Honduras: "Deportaciones de hondureños de EUA aumentarán en último trimestre del año." De La Prensa (Honduras).
  • Honduras: "DE ELLOS DEPENDE TODO AQUI, DICE ANCIANO PADRE DE INMIGRANTES." Por Noé Leiva. Informe AFP. De La Nación (Costa Rica).
  • Honduras: "Embajador Creagan: No habrán 3.000 deportados hondureños al final del año." De El Tiempo (Honduras).
  • Nicaragua: "Nicaragua exige a Estados Unidos que acepte parte del costo de la crisis creada en Centroamérica." Por José Monegro. Informe AP. De La Nación (Costa Rica).
  • Nicaragua: "Canciller nicaragüense viaja a reunión centroamericana." Informe AP. De La Nación (Costa Rica).
  • "ABIERTA REUNION DE CANCILLERES CENTROAMERICANOS Y DEL CARIBE." Informe AFP. De La Nación (Costa Rica).
  • "Cancilleres centroamericanos inician reunión en la Dominicana." Por José Monegro. Informe AP. De La Nación (Costa Rica).
  • "CANCILLERES PREPARAN AGENDA DE REUNION DE PRESIDENTES CENTROAMERICANOS." Informe AFP. De La Nación (Costa Rica).
  • "EX funcionarios de Reagan apoyan a refugiados de América Central." Informe Reuter. De La Nación (Costa Rica).
  • "Cumbre centroamericana discutirá tema de inmigrantes en EEUU." Informe Reuter. De La Nación (Costa Rica).
  • "El Congreso EUA amplía plazo a inmigrantes indocumentados." De Siglo Veintiuno (Guatemala).

Costa Rica

• Carlos Flores, the Liberal Party presidential candidate (and, according to polls, the likely winner) in Honduras’ November elections, paid a visit to Costa Rica. He met for an hour with President José María Figueres to discuss "Central American political issues."
• Costa Rica’s Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) officially inaugurated the 1998 electoral campaign. One of this act’s main legal implications is that the country’s security forces are at the TSE’s command until election day.
  • Costa Rica: "TSE convoca a elecciones." De La Nación (Costa Rica).
  • Costa Rica / Honduras: "Flores analiza política de la región con Figueres." De La Tribuna (Honduras).

El Salvador

• Over President Armando Calderón Sol’s objections, the legislature passed a law granting 6 percent of the national budget to municipal governments—many of which, after elections held in March 1997, are outside of the ruling ARENA party’s control.
  • El Salvador: "Presupuesto para alcaldías genera debate en El Salvador." Por Edith Beltrán. Informe AP. De La Nación (Costa Rica).
  • El Salvador: "CONGRESO SALVADOREñO APRUEBA AUMENTO PRESUPUESTARIO PARA MUNICIPALIDADES." Informe AFP. De La Nación (Costa Rica).

Guatemala

• The Guatemalan Foreign Ministry has resolved to bring a 130-year-old claim on Belizean territory to an international tribunal, despite Belizean insistence on dealing with the issue bilaterally. Representatives of both countries met a week ago in Miami.
• Following a judge’s order, the Public Ministry carried out an inspection of the armed forces’ Intelligence Directorate for clues about the disappearance of 26-year-old Ricardo Segundo Figueroa Delgado. Figueroa is suspected of kidnapping student Beverly Sandoval Richardson, who disappeared a year ago; he was forcibly taken from his home, many believe by army personnel, on September 11.
• Defense Minister Héctor Mario Barrios Celada announced that the army will complete six new bases near Guatemala’s borders with Mexico and Belize by the end of the year.
• Wounded veterans of Guatemala’s army suspended a 35-day protest in Guatemala’s Plaza Mayor after winning a modest gain in their pensions and some other benefits.
• U.S. Ambassador Donald Planty announced that the United States will pay for a new state-of-the-art crime laboratory for Guatemala’s new Civilian National Police force (PNC).
  • Guatemala: "LISIADOS DE GUERRA SUSPENDEN PROTESTA DE 35 DIAS." Informe AFP. De La Nación (Costa Rica).
  • Guatemala: "Arzú y Barrios confirman búsqueda de secuestrador de Beverly en cuarteles." De Siglo Veintiuno (Guatemala).
  • Guatemala: "Mendoza califica como fantasía que el secuestrador de Beverly esté detenido en un cuartel." De Siglo Veintiuno (Guatemala).
  • Guatemala: "Discapacitados del Ejército obtienen su primera victoria." Por Nuria Maldonado. De La Prensa Libre (Guatemala).
  • Guatemala: "Fijan plazo para instalar destacamentos militares." De La Prensa Libre (Guatemala).
  • Guatemala: "En dependencias militares juez sexto busca a plagiado." Por Miguel Ignacio Acabal. De La Prensa Libre (Guatemala).
  • Guatemala: "¡Belice es nuestro!, o por lo menos 16 mil kilómetros cuadrados." De Siglo Veintiuno (Guatemala).
  • Guatemala: "EE.UU. apoyará creación de laboratorio para investigación de la PNC." De La Prensa Libre (Guatemala).
  • Guatemala / Belice: "Revelan que Belice prevé acción jurídica bilateral." Por Edin Hernández. De Siglo Veintiuno (Guatemala).
  • Guatemala / Belice: "Existe posibilidad de arreglo con Belice." De La Prensa Libre (Guatemala).
  • Guatemala / Belice: "CONGRESO DE GUATEMALA INTERROGARA A CANCILLER SOBRE CONFLICTO CON BELICE." Informe AFP. De La Nación (Costa Rica).
  • Guatemala / Belice: "Diputados acuerdan citar a Stein para conocer estado actual del caso Belice." Por Carlos Castañaza Rosales. De Siglo Veintiuno (Guatemala).
  • Guatemala / Belice: "Fracasa intento de convencer a Belice." Por Rafael Amado Deras. De La Prensa Libre (Guatemala).

Honduras

• The armed forces announced that 4,000 troops and police will be deployed to help administrate and provide security for Honduras’ November 30 presidential, legislative and municipal elections.
• Honduras’ Supreme Court approved an arrangement that would allow judges to let military officers accused of crimes await trial at military installations, instead of in prison like other suspected criminals.
• Hernán Corrales Padilla, head of the interim commission overseeing the transfer of Honduras’ police to civilian control, met with the heads of the police (Col. Julio César Chávez) and the civilian-run investigative police, or DIC (Wilfredo Alvarado). They discussed ways to harmonize the two agencies’ work and to "purify" the police force of officers with histories of corruption or human-rights abuse.
• Ambassador James Creagan assured that the United States would not deport more than 3,000 Hondurans this year, despite enforcement of a tough new immigration law.
  • Honduras: "4,000 militares vigilarán por elecciones de noviembre." De La Tribuna (Honduras).
  • Honduras: "Corrales Padilla asume coordinación de Junta Traspaso de la Policía." De La Tribuna (Honduras).
  • Honduras: "Procuraré que la policía colabore en la construcción del bien común." De El Tiempo (Honduras).
  • Honduras: "Magistrado Alvarado Crespo: Falsa ratificación del auto acordado de los militares." De El Tiempo (Honduras).
  • Honduras: "Poder Judicial ratifica auto acordado que favorece a militares." De La Prensa (Honduras).
  • Honduras: "Junta Interventora recibirá el miércoles diagnóstico de la FSP." De La Tribuna (Honduras).

Nicaragua

• Negotiations progressed between Nicaragua’s government and the Andrés Castro United Front (FUAC), a group of re-armed ex-Sandinista soldiers operating in central Nicaragua. Jaime Cuadra, the Nicaraguan government’s defense minister, met with the FUAC’s leadership to discuss the terms under which the group would demobilize.
• President Arnoldo Alemán and the head of the Sandinista opposition, Daniel Ortega, continued to trade insults. Ortega told a gathering of campesinos in northern Nicaragua, "If we have a government that works outside the law, the only alternative is to fight." "Ortega is a little weak in the mind" for urging his followers to fight, said Alemán. "Mr. Ortega has never worked in his life… he should use a tractor, a plow, plant a tree instead of machine guns and cannons."
  • Nicaragua: "DOS MUERTOS Y DOS HERIDOS EN EMBOSCADA EN NORTE DE NICARAGUA." Informe AFP. De La Nación (Costa Rica).
  • Nicaragua: "Capitán del ejército nicaragüense muere en emboscada tendida por delincuentes." Informe AP. De La Nación (Costa Rica).
  • Nicaragua: "AVANZA NEGOCIACION PARA DESMOVILIZAR A GRUPO REARMADO DE NICARAGUA." Informe AFP. De La Nación (Costa Rica).
  • Nicaragua: "ORTEGA ACUSA AL PRESIDENTE ALEMAN DE PROPICIAR LA REBELION." Informe AFP. De La Nación (Costa Rica).
  • Nicaragua: "Sube de tono disputa de Alemán y Ortega." De El Nuevo Herald.
  • Nicaragua: "Ex presidente Ortega instó a la lucha armada contra gobierno de Alemán." Informe AP. De La Nación (Costa Rica).

Panama

• Vice-Minister of Planning Carlos Vallarino announced that Panama’s police will receive a budget increase next year to allow the hiring of new officers and increased arms purchases.
• The Panamanian Unity Movement (MUP), a grouping of former members of Panama’s defunct military, offered to mobilize 750 of its members to fight incursions of Colombian guerrillas and paramilitaries across the border into Panama’s Darién province.
  • Panamá: "75 0 militares quieren combatir en Darién." Por Aquilino Ortega Luna. De El Panamá América (Panamá).
  • Panamá: "C omarca Kuna Yala amenazada por guerrilleros y paramilitares." Por Carlos Anel Cordero. De El Panamá América (Panamá).
  • Panamá: "P olicía podría contar con 20 mil agentes en el año dos mil." Por Aquilino Ortega Luna. De El Panamá América (Panamá).
  • Panamá: "P iden erradicación de grupos armados en Darién." Por Juan Manuel Díaz C. De El Panamá América (Panamá).

Why are the Updates so late?

Regular readers of the Central America Update have undoubtedly noticed that the Updates are running farther and farther behind. In fact, production nearly ground to a halt in October due to the release of Altered States, our new book on security and demilitarization in Central America. Instead of writing Updates, I’ve been spending too much time trying to get these twenty big boxes of books out of my office.

Now that the book is out and things are settling down, I hope to get the Central America Update out on a more regular basis. Thanks for your patience.

Altered States is the culmination of a three-year project between the Center for International Policy’s Demilitarization Program and the Costa Rica-based Arias Foundation for Peace and Human Progress. Its 250 pages are jam-packed with information about security threats, civil-military relations, military roles, sizes, and budgets, and U.S. assistance to Central America—the sort of information one finds in the Update. (Indeed, working on the Update helped me make Altered States as up-to-date as a book can be.) It’s a very useful resource. To view the book’s table of contents and read the preface, visit our Altered States web page at http://www.ciponline.org/asbook.htm .

If you’d just like to order a copy, send me e-mail at isacson@ciponline.org. Provide your mailing address and number of copies requested, and we’ll send you a book and an invoice. Specify whether you prefer delivery by book rate within the United States [you will owe US$15.00 per copy] or two-day priority mail within the United States [US$17.00 per copy]. Altered States costs US$17.00 per copy if mailed outside the United States.

Thank you for reading the Central America UPDATE. Please direct all comments to me at isacson@ciponline.org.

-- Adam Isacson, Center for International Policy

The UPDATE is compiled by the Center for International Policy's Demilitarization Program. It is a weekly summary of security-related news in Central America.