(Adds details on intelligence, paragraphs 2, 10)
WASHINGTON, Dec 2 (Reuters) - The United States could begin sharing sensitive intelligence with Honduras about inbound flights carrying drugs, U.S. officials told Reuters, even as the Central American country faces scrutiny from Washington over drug-related corruption.
A proposed memorandum of understanding on flight-path intelligence sharing, which has not previously been reported, has yet to be finalized by the U.S. and Honduran governments. Still, Honduras has already agreed to a key U.S. recommendation that it rescind authority to shoot down suspected drug trafficking planes flying into the country.
Washington is proceeding carefully, having learned painful lessons after Peru acted on a CIA tip in 2001 and shot down a plane carrying American Christian missionaries, killing a mother and her infant daughter.
U.S.-bound caravan thwarted in Guatemala as pressure against migrants continues Kevin Sieff
Replay Video UP NEXT MEXICO CITY Most of the thousands of migrants who left Honduras for the United States on foot last week have been turned around in Guatemala. By Tuesday morning, more than 3,000 had been detained or forcibly sent back by security forces. Some in the caravan were aware that President-elect Joe Biden was days away from taking office in Washington and were hopeful that he would make it easier for migrants to enter the United States. But others were oblivious to the political context.
Representatives of fuel suppliers to Venezuela, importers of Venezuelan oil and advocacy groups said this month they plan to press the incoming administration of U.S. President-elect Joe Biden to reverse a ban on crude-for-diesel swaps. The Trump administration since the last quarter of 2020 has barred companies from sending Venezuela diesel in exchange for crude. .
Mexico Slammed by DOJ After Documents Released in Drug Case
Justin Villamil, Bloomberg News Salvador Cienfuegos speaks in Mexico City in 2018. Photographer: Lujan Agusti/Bloomberg , Photographer: Lujan Agusti/Bloomberg
(Bloomberg) The U.S. Department of Justice criticized Mexicoâs decision to publish information the agency says was given in confidence, and questioned whether the countries should continue to share documents.
In a statement, a department spokesperson said the DOJ was âdeeply disappointedâ in Mexicoâs decision to close an investigation into former Defense Minister General Salvador Cienfuegos, who was arrested in 2020 on charges of working with drug traffickers.
Charges were dropped in the U.S. at Mexicoâs request, and the general was sent to Mexico to be investigated by local authorities in November.