Press Releases

CLARIFICATION REGARDING HONDURAN MILITARY AIRCRAFT

February 4, 2007

The U.S. Embassy in Managua makes the following statement in reference to Nicaraguan media reports of February 3, in which President Daniel Ortega is quoted as saying that it would be "absurd" to destroy Nicaragua's SAM-7 missiles because, "recently the North American government approved renovation of the air fleet of war of Honduras."
 
As a sovereign nation, Honduras does not rely on the approval of other governments for renovation of its military aircraft.  In fact, the U.S. Government is not providing Honduras with any offensive military aircraft. 

The United States and Honduras have a long established cooperative relationship between our military forces, principally to combat narcotics trafficking.  Over a year ago, the government of Honduras decided to utilize a U.S. government donation to purchase eight aircraft known as Storm Rallies.  These are small one or two-person planes.  The Storm Rallies will be used for aerial surveillance to spot and deter narco-trafficking activities.  They will also serve in search and rescue missions and in cases of natural disaster.  These planes have no offensive military capabilities and have not yet been delivered to the Honduran government.  The government of Nicaragua, as is the case of many other countries in Latin America, also receives donations through the Foreign Military Finance program to help modernize their military forces.

We are proud to maintain a collaborative working relationship with Honduras and other countries in Central America to combat the flow of narcotics in the region.  The U.S. government expects that Nicaragua will continue its already established path of disarmament and destruction of all SAM-7 missiles.

For photos or more information on Storm Rally aircraft please visit:
http://www.aireliteaviation.com/

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