MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Honduras declared free of land mines.

The Assistance Program for Removing Mines in Central America, PADCA, finished last Friday clearing Honduran territory from dangerous war devices left over from the eighties in the midst of the Cold War.

Honduran civil and military officials, diplomats and Organization of American States representative in Honduras Karen Reyes, were all present for the ceremony celebrated in a military unit in the country's capital, Tegucigalpa.

The organization responsible for the Mine-Removal Program, created in 1994, was the OAS Inter-American Defense Board with military cooperation from the Latinamerican continent.

Mine removal and elimination of the deadly antipersonnel artefacts took place along the border areas of the country, in the northern region of Naco, the western region of Cerro Montecristo, Choluteca in the south and El Paraiso in the west.

The task included clearing lethal devices from 1,479 square kilometres (365 acres) of farmland, benefiting 67,000 peasant families who live from agriculture. Honduran authorities said the total eliminated was 2,191 landmines, 214 explosives, 60,521 items of war surplus materials and undeclared antipersonnel mines.

Other countries that supported mine sweeping operations in Honduras include Germany, Brazil, Canada, South Korea, Denmark, Spain, the United States, France, the Netherlands, Italy, Japan, Sweden and Taiwan.