Honduras warns Trump: Deportations could affect US military base

• Xiomara Castro warns about U.S. military base
• More than one million Hondurans live in the U.S.
• Remittances represent 25% of Honduras’ GDP

Honduras’ President Xiomara Castro issued a direct warning to the incoming government of Donald Trump.

If the U.S. carries out a mass deportation of Hondurans, the U.S. military base in Palmerola would lose its purpose of existence.

Castro made these statements on Wednesday, recalling that the military base was built by the United States in the 1980s and currently houses about 400 soldiers.

«In the face of a hostile attitude of mass expulsion of our brothers, we would have to consider a change in our cooperation policies with the United States, especially in the military field,» Castro said.

Xiomara Castro issues warning to Trump

NATIONAL ALERT!

The government of Xiomara Castro threatens to expel the Palmerola military base, breaking relations with the U.S., our main strategic partner, if it adopts firmer immigration policies. They intend to hand over this base to China, putting at risk… pic.twitter.com/UlgRl5wgx4

— Salvador Nasralla (@SalvaPresidente) January 1, 2025

«In which, without paying a penny for decades, they maintain military bases on our territory, which in this case would lose all reason for existence in Honduras,» Castro said in a message broadcasted nationally on radio and television.

During the Cold War, Palmerola was crucial for U.S. operations against communism in Central America.

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Donald Trump, who will take office on January 20, has promised during his campaign to carry out a mass deportation of undocumented immigrants.

Tom Homan, known as the ‘border czar’ in the next government, confirmed that these measures will begin as soon as Trump assumes the presidency.

Will the US military base be affected?

Castro expressed her hope that the new U.S. government would be receptive to dialogue and avoid drastic measures against Honduran migrants.

According to data from Tegucigalpa, more than one million Hondurans live in the U.S., of which 280,000 are at risk of being deported.

The remittances sent by migrants account for approximately 25% of Honduras’ GDP, according to Efe News.

90% of these remittances come from the U.S. and are vital to the economy of many Honduran families.

Additionally, President Xiomara Castro announced that as the pro tempore president of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (Celac), she will call for a meeting of foreign ministers in January, along with Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum, to address the immigration issue.

This meeting will also aim to express solidarity with Haiti and Cuba, although Castro did not specify whether all the foreign ministers from the Celac member countries would participate.

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