HONDURAS - US Feeding the Monster: Militarization and Privatized "Security", by Annie Bird  http://quotha.net/node/2054 Last week the Honduran National Congress passed a law allowing the military to perform police functions, and Assistant Secretary of State Maria Otero visited Honduras with Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, Todd Robinson, to promote security initiatives.The US is advancing a regional security strategy which apparently is oriented toward the militarization of Central America and the participation of private security contractors in policing, a strategy also being promoted for Central America by the IDB (Inter American Development Bank) and former Colombian president Alvaro Uribe.The police reform team's first public statements focused on the need for funding, which they should be well positioned to obtain since Villanueva's previous job was as a consultant to the IDB. In addition, the same day they were installed US Assistant Secretary of State Maria Otero arrived in Honduras with a senior official from State Department's Bureau on International Narcotics and Law Enforcement, the agency charged with administering the Central American Regional Security Initiative [CARSI] funds.In the beginning of November Julieta Castellanos called for an end to police and military aid, explaining that international support for those extremely corrupt institutions only 'feed the monster.' Just days after Castellano's call to suspend military and police assistance, the IDB announced it planned to release a $60 million loan to Honduras designated for police assistance. This loan is a bilateral loan. The vast majority of security assistance will filter through to the countries of Central America through the Central America Regional Security Strategy administered by the Central American Integration System, SICA.SICA has been spearheaded by the US State Department and the IDB that, in April 2011, formed a 'Group of Friends' of the Central America Regional Security Strategy consisting of the US, the IDB, the World Bank, the Central American Bank for Economic Integration, the Organization of American States, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, the European Union, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Finland, Germany, Holland, Italy, Israel, Mexico, South Korea, Spain, and the United States.

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