TEGUCIGALPA – Department of State Counselor Thomas A. Shannon and Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement William R. Brownfield each visited Honduras this week for meetings with President Juan Orlando Hernandez and other senior officials, continuing high-level U.S. Government engagement with Honduras.
In a separate visit, Lieutenant General Kenneth Tovo, Military Deputy Commander of U.S. Southern Command, also met with Honduran government officials during a three-day stay that concluded on November 6th.
The visits of Shannon, Brownfield, and General Tovo during a single week represent Washington’s “deep interest in the region,” noted Ambassador Nealon.
Both the U.S. and Honduran governments are preparing for the November 14 Inter American Development Bank (IADB) Conference on Central America, to be held in Washington, DC. There, President Hernandez, along with the presidents of El Salvador and Guatemala, will present their “Alliance Plan for Prosperity” to stakeholders interested in the future of Central America, including Vice President Joseph Biden.
The Plan, initially presented to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry at the United Nations General Assembly, prioritizes increasing prosperity and good governance in Central America, in addition to security objectives. The IADB Conference will provide an opportunity to discuss the plan in detail.
Counselor Shannon stated that the IADB conference will be the first step to build new plans to promote social and economic development in the region.
After meeting with regional leaders, Shannon said, “We spoke about the meeting we’ll have in Washington with Vice President Joseph Biden, as a first step to seek accords on development in Central America… we are going to work with the IADB, recognizing that we are in a project with many steps with the idea of working strongly to design a plan and seek means in the public and private sectors to finance it.”
