 U.S. military assistance to Honduras increased from $4 million in 1981 to $77.4 million in 1984.While stressing internally that Honduran government forces commit "hundreds of human rights violations (...), most of them for political reasons", the CIA supports death squads which, in particular Battalion 3–16, torture, murder, or cause dozens of trade unionists, academics, farmers and students to disappear.Subsequently, declassified documents indicate that Ambassador John Negroponte personally intervenes to prevent possible disclosures of these state crimes, in order to avoid "creating human rights problems in Honduras".