VISIT OF AMBASSADOR TO HONDURAS, JOHN D. NEGROPONTE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP85M00364R000601050001-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 6
• Document Creation Date: December 20, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 1, 2008
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: December 8, 1983
• Content Type: MEMO

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S E C R E T
MEMORANDUM FOR: Director of Central Intelligence
VIA: Deputy Director of Central Intelligence
Deputy Director for Operations
FROM: Duane R. Clarridge
Chief, Latin America Division
SUBJECT: Visit of Ambassador to Honduras,
John D. Negroponte
meetings.
1. Action Requested: None; for your information only.
This memorandum is to confirm your appointment at 1530 hours on
8 December 1983 with the Ambassador to Honduras, John D.
Negroponte. The Deputy Director of Central Intelligence will
also be present at this meeting. The Ambassador also has
appointments with the Deputy Director for Operations at 1615
hours and with the National Intelligence Officer for Latin
America at 1630 hours on 8 December 1983. Chief, Latin America
Division, Mr. Duane R. Clarridge, or Deputy Chief, Latin America
Division, will accompany the Ambassador to these 25X1
2. Background: Prior to his appointment as Ambassador to
Honduras, Ambassador Negroponte was Deputy Assistant Secretary
for East Asian and Pacific Affairs. He also served previously as
Counselor for Political Affairs in Quito, Ecuador, and as Consul
General in Thessaloniki, Greece.
3. Attached are additional biographic notes on
Ambassador Negroponte, a country fact sheet on Honduras, a
background sheet on Telgucigalpa Station and a list of talking
points.
Dua o -R. 0?.ar Hdg@
Duane R. Clarridge
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John D. Negroponte was born on July 21, 1939, in London. He
received a B.A. degree from Yale University in 1960.
Ambassador Negroponte joined the Foreign Service in 1960 and
was assigned to the Consulate General in Hong Kong. In 1963, he
was transferred to the Department of State as the Administrative
Assistant in the Bureau of American Affairs. From 1964 to 1968
he served in the Embassy in Saigon as a Political Officer. He
was a member of the U.S. Delegation to the Paris Peace Talks on
Vietnam from 1968 to 1969.
In 1970, Ambassador Negroponte was detailed to the Arms
Control and Disarmament Agency for the summer session of the
United Nations Committee on Disarmament in Geneva. He served
on the National Security Council from 1970 to 1973, first as
Deputy Director of the Planning and Coordination Staff and
then as Staff officer in charge of Indo-Chinese Affairs including
responsibility for backstopping the Vietnam peace negotiations.
During this period, Ambassador Negroponte also attended summit
conferences in Moscow and Peking. In 1973 he became Political
Counselor at the Embassy in Quito, Ecuador. From 1975 to 1977
Ambassador Negroponte was Consul General in Thessaloniki,
Greece.
From July 1977 to December 1979 Ambassador Negroponte served
as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Oceans and Fisheries Affairs,
with the rank of Ambassador, in the Department of State. In this
connection, he served as head of United States delegations to
numerous bilateral and multilateral negotiations on living marine
resources and as Chairman of the 10th bi-annual meeting of the
thirteen Antarctic Treaty Consultative Parties held in Washington
from September 13 through October 6, 1979.
In January 1980 Ambassador Negroponte was named to the
Department's Bureau of East Asia and Pacific Affairs as Deputy
Assistant Secretary. He became Ambassador to Honduras in
November 1981.
Mr. Negroponte received the Department's Superior Honor
Award in 1975.
S E C R E T
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NAME: Honduras
CAPITAL: Tegucigalpa
POPULATION: Approximately 3,000,000
AREA: 42,300 square miles
GNP: $2.8 Billion
PER CAPITA INCOME: US $733
A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE POLITICAL SITUATION IN THE
COUNTRY:
Honduras is an economically underdeveloped country with
a history of unstable government and coup activity. From
1972 until January 1982, it was headed by the military, under
the direction of the Superior Defense Council. On 29 Novem-
ber 1981, Honduras held a presidential election. This
election was peaceful and probably honest. Roberto SUAZO
Cordova, candidate of the Liberal party, won with a surpris-
ingly large margin over the candidate of the Nationalist
Party, Ricardo ZUNIGA Augustinus. The Liberal party also won
an absolute majority in the National Assembly. On 27 January
1982, President SUAZO was inaugurated.
To date, the SUAZO Administration has continued the
friendly ties which Honduras has traditionally maintained
with the United States. Honduras is expected to continue
supporting U.S. positions on major issues. The Government,
including the president, continues to be strongly
anti-communist, despite the appointment of a Minister of
Foreign Relations, Edgardo PAZ Barnica, who is known to
sympathize with the current Nicaraguan Government. The
Honduran military is even more anti-communist than the
administration, and it is likely the military would overthrow
SUAZO if the latter moved toward the left or proved incapable
of dealing with the very serious economic problems facing
Honduras.
S E C R E T
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The following are three major problems facing the Government:
1), increasing unemployment, coupled with increasing
inflation, a declining Gross National Product,
and a general lack of investor confidence
2), increasing Cuban influence in Nicaragua, coupled
with the dramatic expansion of the Nicaraguan
military and the fear that Nicaragua may invade;
and
3), use of Honduras as a transit point for arms from
Nicaragua to guerrillas in El Salvador and
Guatemala
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