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Pentagon Will Install Radar Station in Honduras

The new radar for Honduras would supposedly be used in coordination with 10 Honduran Air Force Tucano light attack aircraft which are in the process of being repaired by Embraer of Brazil.

Honduras Weekly
During a visit in Tegucigalpa yesterday with Honduran Minister of Security Pompeyo Bonilla and Minister of Defense Marlon Pascua, United States Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Western Hemisphere Frank Mora said that the Pentagon plans to install a radar station in northeastern Honduras to detect aircraft smuggling illegal drugs into the country. The facility would apparently be operated by the Honduran military with assistance from US technicians. "Well, first of all, we are installing a radar, or getting ready to establish it. I'm not sure, but we know that it will get done," said Mr. Mora. According to him, the equipment will have considerable capacity to monitor irregular flights. "[It will be] an important radar," noted Mr. Mora. "But sometimes you can do things that do not require a major financial investment, but require a high level of synchronization."

Migrant Kidnappings in Mexico 'Systemic'

Today, the kidnapping of migrants is a systematic and generalized crime, because it is one of the most profitable activities for organized crime in Mexico.

By Sibylla Brodzinsky
The kidnapping of migrants who travel through Mexico on their way to the United States has become a “systematic and generalized” practice by organized crime groups such as the Zetas, who demand ransom payments from families or recruit them into their ranks, according to a new report. In the report titled “Cuaderno Sobre Sequestro de Migrantes: Dimensión, Contexto y Testimonios de la Experiencia de la Migració en Tránsito por México" ("Notebook on the Kidnapping of Migrants: Dimensions, Context and Testimonies” Central American migrants from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador who escaped or were released from their kidnapping recount the torture, rape and inhumane treatment they received at the hands of the Zetas.

DEA Agents Present in La Mosquitia Helicopter Attack

Honduras Weekly
Officials from the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in Washington, DC today confirmed that DEA agents accompanied members of the Honduran military aboard a helicopter that mistakenly killed at least four people and wounded four more in an pre-dawn counter-narcotics operation along the Patuca River in the La Mosquitia region of Honduras last Friday. "We were there in a support role, working with our counterparts," said DEA spokesperson Dawn Dearden. The identity of the Hondurans known to have been killed are Emerson Martínez, Chalo Brock Wood, Candelaria Tratt Nelson, and Juana Banegas. Both Mrs. Nelson and Mrs. Banegas were pregnant. The wounded include Lucio Adán, Melanio Eulopio, Hilda Lezama de Eulopio, and Wilmer López. The victims were in a boat headed toward the town of Ahuas and were transporting lobster divers.

Synthetic Drug Chemicals Bound for Honduras Seized in Mexico

Honduras Weekly
Mexico's Ministry of the Navy yesterday announced that its naval forces and agents from the Mexican Tax Administration Service (SAT) have seized 136 tons of chemicals used to manufacture synthetic drugs such as crystal methamphetamine or "meth", known as "crystal" or "crystal meth". The operation took place at the Pacific port of Lazaro Cardenas in the state of Michoacan. The chemicals, which had arrived from China in 1,748 barrels packed in two containers, were headed for Honduras. According to a spokesperson for the Ministry, the barrels contained "the chemical substances monomethylamine and phenyl ethyl acetate, both chemical precursors utilized to make synthetic drugs". Most of the crystal meth consumed in the United States is produced in Mexico, but due to increasing pressure from the Mexican military, there appears to be a trend to move production to Central America.

UNSECO Seeks Investigation of Erick Martínez Murder

Mr. Martínez Ávila, 32, was a spokesman for Kukulcán, an organization that defends lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights. According to Reporters Without Borders, his body was found on May 7, two days after he had been reported missing. He is said to have been strangled.

UNESCO
The head of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) today called for an investigation into the killing of Erick Martínez Ávila, a Honduran journalist and gay rights activist. “I condemn the murder of Erick Martínez Ávila,” UNESCO’s Director-General, Irina Bokova, said in a news release. “I am deeply concerned about this second journalist killed in Honduras in a month and call on the authorities to bring to justice the perpetrators of this crime against the basic human right of freedom of expression.”

Hampshire Group Reports Higher Sales and Profit in First Quarter

Business Wire
Hampshire Group Ltd. of New York, New York, today announced its results for the three months ended March 31, 2012 and filed its quarterly report. "Having made considerable strides in repositioning our business in 2011, we continued to gain traction in our new business model during the first quarter," said Heath L. Golden, President and CEO of Hampshire Group. "By expanding our business beyond traditional sweaters, we have positioned the Company as a growth-oriented, vertically integrated and diversified sportswear company, thereby enhancing and deepening our retail relationships and meaningfully decreasing our seasonality, as evidenced by a significant increase in net sales for the quarter. We recently effectuated additional cost reductions, which will help to accelerate our progress toward improved financial results in 2012. While the full impact of these efforts combined with our revenue growth opportunities may not be reflected in our overall 2012 results, we are confident in our strategy and look forward to reaping the benefits that will come from leveraging our design capabilities and customer relationships across our growing platforms."

AEC Acquires Telas Elasticas of Honduras

AEC
AEC Narrow Fabrics of Asheboro, North Carolina, announced the acquisition of controlling interest in Telas Elasticas SARL (Tesa) located in Honduras -- its fifth manufacturing plant. The Tesa acquisition expands AEC’s product line and development capabilities, positioning it as the most capable, full-range narrow fabrics producer in North and Central America. AEC’s President, Bob Lawson said, “This is a significant strategic step for AEC; we are now a full range supplier of narrow elastics and rigid fabrics. In Honduras, the Tesa plant will manufacture jacquards and intimate apparel elastics. AEC’s plant in El Salvador will focus on knitted production. Our capacity will grow by more than 30 percent. We have increased our ability to support our customers as they increase their production in Central and North America and move more programs back from Asia.”

FBI Arrests 28 Members of Honduran Drug Ring in Virginia

According to a criminal complaint affidavit, since between 2006 and May 2012, a contingent of Honduran immigrants living in and around Fairfax County has coordinated with sources of supply in Honduras to pay couriers to fly cocaine from Honduras to the United States on a regular basis.

FBI
Twenty-eight individuals have been arrested for their alleged roles in a cocaine trafficking ring based in Northern Virginia that uses couriers to regularly import large amounts of cocaine from Honduras hidden in shoes and decorative wooden frames. Members of the trafficking ring have allegedly wired more than US$1 million from the United States back to cocaine suppliers in Honduras. Neil H. MacBride, US Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and James W. McJunkin, Assistant Director in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) Washington Field Office, made the announcement after the charges became public.

Minerco Negotiating Sale of Wind and Hydro-Electric Projects in Honduras

PRNewswire
Minerco Resources, Inc. of Katy, Texas, today announced it is in negotiations for the sale of its Sayab Wind Project and Iscan Hydro-Electric Project in Honduras. The company intends to divest of these assets and focus its resources on the Chiligatoro Hydro-Electric Project and in traditional energy, such as oil and gas, production and development within the United States. The properties currently being evaluating have an estimated 30 percent annual return with initial capital expenditures of between US$50,000 and US$100,000. "We are very excited about the potential of selling our rights to the Sayab and Iscan projects which would allow us to focus on our Chiligatoro project and investment opportunities in the traditional energy markets," said V. Scott Vanis, Minerco's President and CEO. Minerco Resources shares rose sharply in Thursday’s trading session. The stock ended the day 8.42 percent higher at US$0.0103 on above average volume of 9.22 million. (5/11/12)

Honduras and Costa Rica Propose Protections for Hammerheads

Fish News EU
The governments of Honduras and Costa Rica have today proposed protections for scalloped hammerhead sharks under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). According to the Pew Environment Group, who have praised the initiative, CITES is widely considered one of the best-enforced international conservation agreements. “It’s time for strong international protection for endangered scalloped hammerhead sharks,” said Maximiliano Bello, senior adviser to the Global Shark Conservation Campaign of the Pew Environment Group. “Other governments should join Honduras and Costa Rica in supporting a sustainable future for these sharks.”