The USA CIA supplies torture equipment to Battalion 316, a Honduran army unit which kidnaps, tortures and kills hundreds of people using electric shock and suffocation. The battalion is trained by USA and Argentinian advisors. Victims include anybody deemed to be anti-American, supporters of social change in Honduras, or supporters of groups being attacked in neighbouring countries.
The director of the battalion, General Gustavo Alvares Martinez informs the USA ambassador that he wants to use Argentinian methods of eliminating his enemies. In 1983 the USA president, Ronald Reagan, would award Martinez the Legion of Merit "for encouraging the success of the democratic process in Honduras".
The USA newspaper, the New York Times, would report in 1988 that: "American diplomats exercise more control over domestic politics in Honduras than in any other country in the hemisphere..."