| José Bueso Rosa | |
| Rank: | General |
| Awards: | Legion of Merit |
José Bueso Rosa is a former Honduran military officer, and was chief-of-staff of the Honduran Army until March 1984. In July 1986 he was sentenced to five years in prison by a US court for his part in planning an assassination attempt on Honduran President Roberto Suazo Córdova.[1]
Bueso Rosa was chief-of-staff of the Honduran Army until March 1984, when he was ousted together with Gustavo Álvarez Martínez, the Commander-in-Chief of the Honduran military.[1] Bueso Rosa had played a significant role in the US support to the Nicaraguan Contras, and was awarded the Legion of Merit for his efforts.[2] After being ousted, Bueso Rosa was sent to Chile as a military attache.[1]
Bueso Rosa was detained in Chile for eight months while the US sought his extradition in connection with a 1984 plot to assassinate Honduran President Roberto Suazo Córdova; he surrendered voluntarily to the US in late 1985. In June 1986 he pleaded guilty in a US court to "two counts of traveling in furtherance of a conspiracy to plan an assassination", and was sentenced to five years.[1] The plot was due to be financed by the sale of cocaine in the US, of an amount variously reported as worth $10 million[1] and $40 million.[3]
In 1987, United States National Security Council documents were released indicating that Oliver North urged officials with the Department of State and Department of Justice to seek leniency for Bueso Rosa.[1] Francis J. McNeil said "Justice and State turned off an ill-advised effort by some U.S. military officials to assert a United States Government interest in going light on General Bueso".[1]