U s Continues to Train Honduran Soldiers
HONDURAS SEEKING CHANGES IN MILITARY TRAINING BY U.S.
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May 27, 1984
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Honduras will ask for changes in the United States-administered military training program, according to the commander of the armed forces.
The commander, Gen. Walter Lopez Reyes, who took over after the ouster of Gen. Gustavo Alvarez Martinez in March, said Honduras would ask that, in contrast to the present ratio, more Honduran than Salvadoran soldiers be given instruction at the training center in Puerto Castilla.
The general said meetings began Friday to discuss better training centers, more instructors and, if necessary, an overall increase in Honduran soldiers to achieve a 3-to-2 ratio of Hondurans to Salvadorans.
''Our first agreement has ended,'' General Lopez said in an interview Friday. ''We must decide what to do with the center.''
Ambassador John Negroponte said the meetings would also explore the possibility of moving the training center, which is staffed by 150 instructors. The envoy said he did not know whether the Honduran-Salvadoran ratio would be discussed. He said the United States had always tried to train as many Hondurans as possible.
He also said there was no formal agreement to review the training accord at the end of one year. He said the Puerto Castilla base was under Honduran jurisdiction, but the United States supplied resources and instructors. More Pragmatic Attitude Seen
Another American official said the Honduran request signaled a more pragmatic, perhaps less collaborative, attitude. The official said the Hondurans apparently felt they were getting too little in return for allowing their country to be used for military exercises by the United States.
Honduras bowed to United States pressure in allowing Salvadorans to be trained at Puerto Castilla. The two countries have not resolved a border dispute that resulted from a brief war in 1969. In return for allowing Salvadorans to train, Honduras had expected progress in border talks, but there have been no significant developments.
General Lopez said it would not be logical to tie the training center to the signing of a border treaty.
''It is not a condition,'' he said. ''But we will ask the United States for help in the matter.''
United States military assistance to Honduras was $37.3 million in 1983 and could reach $78.5 million in 1984 if all requests are approved by Congress. The United States is also lengthening and improving two Honduran airfields, at Palmerola and La Ceiba, at a cost of $21 million. 1,700 Soldiers Now in Honduras
There are about 1700 American servicemen in Honduras, and the number is expected to increase to 2,700 during the Granadero I exercises now in progress. A military spokesman, Maj. Scott Albro, said that after the exercise the number of personnel would drop to 650- 700.
In 1983, 700 Hondurans and 1,500 Salvadorans were trained at Puerto Castilla, and a United States military spokesman said the 1984 totals will reach 3,400 Hondurans and 4,350 Salvadorans.
General Lopez said he wanted the ratio of Hondurans to Salvadorans to be at least 60 to 40, if not 70 to 30, which would be the exact opposite of the present ratio. He said he would support an increase in the overall number of soldiers being trained and an increase in the number of instructors to achieve his goal.
The general added that he also wanted the instructors to shift the focus of their training from lower-level troops to officers at the company commander level.
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Source: https://www.nytimes.com/1984/05/27/world/honduras-seeking-changes-in-military-training-by-us.html
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