Honduras Says Trump’s Deportation Plan Could Push It Closer to China

U.S.|Honduras Says Trump’s Deportation Plan Could Push It Closer to China

Many Latin American leaders have remained silent or responded cautiously to President Trump’s plans to deport large numbers of immigrants, but one small Central American nation has taken a stronger stand.

After Mr. Trump signed executive orders this week aimed at sealing the U.S. southern border, expelling migrants and slashing foreign aid, Honduran officials said such measures could push their country closer to China, even as Mr. Trump has criticized China’s advances in Latin America.

Enrique Reina, the Honduran foreign minister, said in a television interview this week that while the United States provides his country with important help, Honduras had increasingly been approaching other countries, including China.

Earlier this year, President Xiomara Castro also warned that she could expel the U.S. military from a large Honduran air base where it has operated for decades if the Trump administration carried out widespread deportations.

Honduras, like other countries in Latin America, has had to respond to Mr. Trump’s threats in the absence of concrete information, because the administration has so far shared few details about its deportation plans.

But by touting their ties to China, Honduran officials are setting themselves apart from other regional leaders, who have recently been rushing to distance themselves from Beijing in an apparent effort to reassure Mr. Trump about China’s influence in the region.