Honduras: On 25 March the US Southern Command (Southcom) reported that at the request of the US Department of State and at the direction of Southcom, a US Air Force C-130J Super Hercules plane transported 78 US nationals back to the country from the Soto Cano air base in Honduras. The US nationals became stranded in the Central American country after it closed its borders to try to contain the outbreak of the coronavirus (Covid-19). The Southcom statement notes that the mission is part of an ongoing inte-ragency effort, led by the US Department of State, to assist US nationals unable to return home from countries around the world during the Covid-19 pandemic. Honduras closed its borders on 16 March, but on 20 March President
Juan Orlando Hernández gave authorisation for commercial, charter, and private aircraft to land in the capital Tegucigalpa, San Pedro Sula (Cortés department), and Roatan (Bay Islands department), in order to fly out stranded foreigners. US President
Donald Trump had said that US nationals abroad will be helped to return home by the US military.
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