Honduras–Mexico relations

History

Honduras and Mexico have always had a close relationship and also share a history and several socio-cultural traits in common. Both nations have national heritages of Mesoamerican cultures such as the Maya, both were conquered by the same conquerors such as Hernán Cortes, Cristóbal de Olid, and Pedro de Alvarado and subsequently belonged to the Spanish Empire, both are mostly Catholic, and both nations were part of the Viceroyalty of New Spain from 1535 to 1821. Shortly after achieving Independence from Spain in 1821, Honduras belonged to the First Mexican Empire for a very short time until 1823 when it then joined the Federal Republic of Central America. Among the Mexicans who joined the Army Allied Protector of the Law, commanded by the Honduran Francisco Morazán during the so-called Central American Civil Wars, were General Agustín Guzmán, a native of Quetzaltenango and many others. After its dissolution in 1838, Honduras became an independent nation .[1]

Honduras and Mexico established formal diplomatic relations in 1879 during the terms of Dr. Marco Aurelio Soto in Honduras and Don Porfirio Díaz in Mexico.In 1908, both nations established resident diplomatic missions in each other's capitals, respectively. That same year, a treaty of 'Friendship, Commerce and Navigation' was signed between both nations. In 1943, their diplomatic missions were elevated to embassies.[2]

Mexico has actively observed and become involved in Honduran affairs throughout the country's early turbulent history which involved coup d'état, military rule, US intervention and wars with neighboring countries. In 1969, Honduras went to war with El Salvador known as the Football War for which Mexico intervened diplomatically and tried to resolve between the two countries. In June 2009, Honduran President Manuel Zelaya was ousted in a coup d'état and taken to neighboring Costa Rica. Like several other Latin American nations, Mexico temporarily severed diplomatic relations with Honduras. In July 2010, full diplomatic relations were once again re-established.[3] As of January 2019, the ambassador of Mexico to Honduras is Dolores Jiménez Hernández.[4]

Migration
President Francisco Cruz Castro was the son of Don José María Cruz, a Mexican immigrant in Honduras.

During the 19th century, after the Honduran liberal reform and the modification of the immigration laws issued by the Honduran government, many Mexicans undertook the journey to the south, until they reached Honduras and settled in the cities of Tegucigalpa, San Pedro Sula, La Ceiba, and among other places and thus settle down to found their companies or search for better opportunities.

For several decades, Mexico has been a transit country for thousands of Honduran migrants who enter the country on their way to the United States. Many Honduran migrants flee to the United States for better economic opportunities and/or to escape rampant crime and gang violence in their country, especially from the MS-13/Mara Salvatrucha.[5] In 2014, Mexico deported over 33,000 Honduran migrants back to Honduras.[6]

Both the governments of Honduras and Mexico have increased mutual cooperation to provide legal and humanitarian assistance to Honduran migrants in Mexico and to combat human trafficking and violence against migrants in Mexico. Both nations have also agreed to combat the presence of Mexican cartels operating in Honduras.[7]

In 2018, several hundreds to a few thousands Hondurans formed part of the Central American migrant caravans and traversed all of Mexico to the northern city of Tijuana to request asylum in the United States.[8] In 2018, over 640 Hondurans requested and obtained asylum in Mexico where many are choosing to remain rather than face the uncertainty of trying to request asylum in the US and also not wishing to be denied and deported back to Honduras.[9][10]

High-level visits
Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández meeting with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto in Tegucigalpa, 2015.

Presidential visits from Honduras to Mexico[11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20]

Presidential visits from Mexico to Honduras[21][22][23][24]

Bilateral agreements

Both nations have signed several bilateral agreements such as an Agreement on Touristic Cooperation (1990); Agreement on Combating Drug Trafficking and Drug Dependency (1990); Agreement on Scientific and Technical Cooperation (1995); Agreement on Educational and Cultural Cooperation (1998); Treaty on Joint Execution of Criminal Sentences (2003); Treaty on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters (2004) and a Treaty on Maritime Delimitation (2005).[25]

Transportation

There are direct flights between Mexico City and San Pedro Sula with Aeroméxico Connect.

Trade relations

In 2001, Mexico and Honduras (along with Guatemala and El Salvador) signed a free trade agreement known as the Free Trade Agreement with the Northern Triangle. In January 2013, the free trade agreement expanded to include Costa Rica and Nicaragua.[26] In 2018, total trade between Honduras and Mexico amounted to US$1 billion.[27] Hondura's main exports to Mexico include: automobile parts; shrimp and lobsters; cotton; lead; palm oil; coffee and textiles. Mexico's main exports to Honduras include: electronics (televisions, sound equipment and refrigerators); toys; equipment for the cement industry; leather; avocados; medicines; diapers and personal hygiene products.[28]

Since 2012, relations have improved since the coup in Honduras in 2009, thus Mexico becomes the largest foreign investor within latin america direct in Honduras. In 2016, Mexico invested more than $ 138 million in Honduras.[28] Mexican investments represent 12% of all total foreign investments in Honduras. Several Mexican multinational companies such as América Móvil, Cemex, Grupo Bimbo and Gruma (among others) operate in Honduras.

Resident diplomatic missions

See also

References
  1. Encyclopædia Britannica: History of Honduras
  2. Bilateral relations between Mexico and Honduras (in Spanish)
  3. "México restablece las relaciones diplomáticas con Honduras (in Spanish)". Archived from the original on 2015-03-30. Retrieved 2014-11-20.
  4. "Datos biográficos de la Embajadora Dolores Jiménez Hernández" [Biographical Data of Ambassador Dolores Jiménez Hernández] (in Spanish). Secretariat of Foreign Affairs. Retrieved 7 January 2019.
  5. The Surge of Unaccompanied Children from Central America
  6. Unos 33 mil migrantes hondureños han sido deportados de México en lo que va del año (in Spanish)
  7. Mexican Cartels Expand into Honduras
  8. Migrant Caravan
  9. New Caravan of Honduran Migrants Crosses Into Mexico
  10. México procesa peticiones de asilo de migrantes hondureños (in Spanish)
  11. "Los años de Díaz Ordaz: el interés en los vecinos (in Spanish)" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-05. Retrieved 2015-08-16.
  12. Discurso de Toma de Posesión de Carlos Salinas de Gortari como Presidente (in Spanish)
  13. Visita de Estado del Presidente de Honduras (in Spanish)
  14. Presidente de Honduras visitará México el 8 de noviembre (in Spanish)
  15. Visita de trabajo del Presidente de la República de Honduras, José Manuel Zelaya Rosales (in Spanish)
  16. Visita a México del Presidente de Honduras José Manuel Zelaya (in Spanish)
  17. Efectuará presidente hondureño visita privada a México (in Spanish)
  18. Viaje Presidente de Honduras a México para reunion con FCH (in Spanish)
  19. Acuerdos entre México y Guatemala traerán prosperidad a ambos países (in Spanish)
  20. Visita Oficial del Presidente de Honduras, Juan Orlando Hernández Alvarado (in Spanish)
  21. Visita Presidente Carlos Salinas de Gortari a Honduras (in Spanish)
  22. Permisos concedidos al Presidente de la República Vicente Fox Quesada para ausentarse del territorio nacional (in Spanish)
  23. Viajes realizados al extranjero por el Presidente Felipe Calderón (in Spanish)
  24. Peña Nieto visita al presidente de Honduras, Juan Orlando Hernández (in Spanish)
  25. Bilateral agreements between Mexico and Honduras (in Spanish)
  26. "Entra en vigor con Honduras el tratado de libre comercio entre México y las repúblicas de Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala y Nicaragua (in Spanish)". Archived from the original on 2014-11-29. Retrieved 2014-11-20.
  27. Mexican Ministry of the Economy: Honduras (in Spanish)
  28. Cooperación para el Desarrollo Honduras-México (in Spanish)
  29. Embassy of Honduras in Mexico City (in Spanish)
  30. Embassy of Mexico in Tegucigalpa (Spanish)
  31. Consulate of Mexico in San Pedro Sula (in Spanish)
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