The U.S. Embassy in Tegucigalpa is aware of false reports that USAID funds were diverted to a political campaign. This is not true.
Esdras Amado Lopez –a political figure and journalist– called the U.S. Embassy to say he had evidence that USAID funds for COPECO had been diverted to a political campaign. In fact, the United States government has not provided money to COPECO for over 15 years, since the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Mitch. The United States government has been proud to support COPECO by providing training and donations of equipment, but we do not provide funding.
Cynical efforts like those of Mr. Amado Lopez to involve the United States in Honduran politics are unfortunate, but won’t change our commitment to support Honduras in creating economic opportunities, strengthening institutions, and increasing citizen security. We support all Honduran efforts to promote transparency and combat corruption.
