The criminal justice system regularly fails to hold those responsible for homicides to account. Share this via Telegram Xiomara Castros crackdown on gangs is also an attempt to counter allegations the government hasnt done enough to combat crime. But it has not yet resulted in an increase in police reports a key measure of public trust. We go into the field to interview, report and investigate. Get fresh updates on organized crime from across the region delivered to your inbox. Weve covered the main safety concerns already, but there are a few more things to know. And were not going to lie,Honduras doesnt exactly lend itself to solo travel. This perception has grown despite a slight reduction in homicides this year, according to preliminary data, and a significant drop over the past decade since Honduras held the ignominious title of the worlds most violent country. This is when things can get sketchy. Activist groups, like the Grupo Prisma, have formed that educate and inform the general public as well as fight the current rules against homosexual relationships. We are going to be covering a whole lot of topics in this epic Honduras safety guide. There are probably more sketchy areas in Honduras than there are safe ones. See the State Department's travel website for the Worldwide Caution and Travel Advisories. How Gangs Control Honduras - YouTube 0:00 / 11:46 Sign in to confirm your age This video may be inappropriate for some users. TEGUCIGALPA, Jan 7 (Reuters) - The Honduran government on Saturday extended a state of emergency declaration for 45 days, expanding it to additional areas of the country in an effort to fight. Please donate. Every dollar supports our mission. Do your own research. And that is pretty cool. By 2020 they want an additional milliontourists annually. In April, Public Order Military Police (PMOP) officers severely beat three brothers and shot two of themone fatallyfor allegedly violating a curfew in El Paraso in order to sell bread. There is limited data on the effectiveness of the program in Honduras. Instead, buy an eSIM! A ferry also runs betweenTrujilloandGuanaja. We are going to eradicate extortion in every corner of our country.. It may have improved it actually. The island attracts a very different crowd indeed. But it was not a tremor, nor a tsunami. Classes were broadcast on television, radio, and online, in some cases with assignments sent via Whatsapp. In March 2020, the government declared a state of emergency in response to the pandemic, imposing a lockdown and restricting movement and freedom of expression. In Honduras, steps were taken to demilitarize public security forces and a community policing model was announced, with the hope being that the measures would increase public trust in an institution that has historically been dogged by corruption and infiltrated by the very same organized crime groups it is supposed to combat. Lanza said drivers had been asking for a crackdown for years. The inmates, all from Honduras, had reportedly escaped custody yesterday in . Even if they graduate high school, they can't get a job." Some areas are also safer than others. This is due to negotiationsbetween criminal groups and the government, and possibly because of economic aid from the US. FILE PHOTO: A member of Honduras' DIPAMPCO (Police Anti Maras and Gangs Against Organised Crime Directorate) stands guard as other DIPAMPCO members frisk people while doing rounds in a low-income neighbourhood, after President Xiomara Castro declared a national security emergency implementing a new plan to combat a rising number of cases of extortion by violent criminal groups operating across the country, in Tegucigalpa, Honduras November 26, 2022. Police raid a house in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, on 8 December. Iris Argentina lvarez of the Cerro Escondido peasant cooperative, which has been working to recover land currently owned by a sugar company, was killed and three people were injured during a violent and allegedly illegal eviction in Choluteca in April 2020. You can also visit the island through a guided tour, which will add another layer of safety to your trip. Gracias a Dios Department due to crime. FromLimonestoLa Union, fromGualacotoSan Esteban,and fromLa EsperanzatoGraciasThese routes can bedangerous. Lots of travelers stick to bottled water,but please dont. Category 5 hurricanes Eta and Iota hit Honduras in November 2020 and have had enduring impacts on farmersand the public generallyby destroying subsistence farms, killing livestock by the hundreds of thousands and reducing agricultural production. In Honduras, Police Accused Of Corruption, Killings Hernndez ran for reelection in 2017 a controversial move in Honduras. Weve made it pretty clear that Honduras isnt the safest country. Violent crime is at its peak in Honduras. LGBTpeople in Honduras are frequently the targets of violence and discrimination, according to Human Rights Watch research. The UNspecialrapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders called Honduras one of the most dangerous countries for human rights defenders in Latin America. Share this via LinkedIn Your little ones get to see the Mesoamerican Reef,thesecond largest barrier reef in the world. Historically, governments have responded with iron-fist security strategies to combat organized crime, enacting tougher legislation and increasing police presence and mass detentions. Despite recent educational advances, around a third of children aged 3-17 did not attend school in 2018, according to the most recent survey by the National Statistics Institute. Political power brokers also have ties to drug smuggling and have even run trafficking operations themselves. Politicians are manipulated by criminals or other politicians. Womenand girls who terminate pregnancies face prison sentences of up to six years. Juan Aguilar, 41, and his wife, Margaret Wilson, 39, both of San Leandro, face charges of kidnapping to commit a sex crime, human trafficking of a minor, forcible rape, and forcible oral copulation. Couple that with 470 miles of (mainly) Caribbean coastline, a load of beaches and tropical islands, as well asMayan ruinsand you got yourself adream destination. And if youre visiting as part of a tour, then youre likely to stay safe. But before arriving, the car stopped and the caravan split. Until his life grew increasingly violent. That means getting used to gangs, violence, and corruption. So. At the same time, traveling alone can be stressful, boring, lonely, anddangerous in varying quantities. Locals have to pay war taxes which keeps the poverty rate high as well. After a 2019 wave of gang violence that killed 37 detainees, President Hernndez declared a state of emergency and put prisons under military control. In these demonstrations, more than 1,500 were arrested and30 people were killed. An illegal immigrant from Honduras was sentenced to 60 years in prison Friday for the killing of a Florida man in Jacksonville in 2021, prosecutors said. TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras -- Honduras became the second country in Central America to declare a state of emergency to fight gang crimes like extortion. Read on for more detailed information on how to have a safe trip to Honduras. So no. Honduras is one of the most important drug trafficking operation centers between South America and Mexico. Dont expect to discover an undeveloped private island. Patrick said the inmates were captured about 7:45 AM in downtown Newton. Living in Honduras means youll have to adjust your life to the way of life here. Honduras is exposed to other climate shocks as well. In July, police arrested two men in connection to the 2020 killings of 45 TV reporter Germn Vallecillo Jr. and his cameraman, Jorge Posas, in La Ceiba. Rights activists say young men are frequently arrested just based on their age, appearance or whether they live in a gang-dominated slum. On 24 November, Hondurass leftwing president, Xiomara Castro, declared war on extortion a very real problem that causes economic stagnation, fuels violence and forces countless Hondurans to flee the country. In El Salvador, a Thin Line Between Community Policing and Vigilantism. Im nervous, repeated a young police officer driving a pickup truck crowded with heavily armed special forces officers. All that in mind, there are places that expats dolive in Honduras. Locals drive atcrazy speeds on the highways, there are random toll roads that make the cost high (but if you dont take them, alternative routes are often not paved), and there are animals on the road. Some are deprived of full legal capacity and are institutionalized in different settings, including psychiatric hospitals. Again, thank you! A Honduran woman and her children manage to cross the remnants of a bridge destroyed by Hurricane Iota. Poor health infrastructure and limited access to sanitation services has contributed to the spread of the virus. So when it comes to safetyin Honduras, we think youllgenerallybe fine, especially in the Bay Islands. This Central American country actually has one of the highest murder rates in the world. Not only that, but thecorruptionin everything the low to the high levels of the politics here is standard. So far, the state of exception in Honduras has produced some arrests and forced the gangs and other criminal groups to keep a lower profile. Its also a nice place since the ferry toUtilaruns from here, making it easy to escape to the tropical paradise of theBay Islandswhenever you feel like it. Gangs, particularly the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) and the 18th Street Gang (Barrio 18), are considered to be largely responsible for Honduras murder rate, and are infamous for extortion and drug peddling. You can definitely push your luck by staying in the wrong neighborhood as well. So whilst its gettingsafer, its a slow process. . It may not exactly be classed as safe, but Honduras shouldnt be ignored. In December 2018, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights found Honduras responsible for failing to investigate Hernndezs death. Youre connected. Although there is a law that provides higher penalties for bias-based crimes, including on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity, the Attorney Generals office told Human Rights Watch in September 2020 that no one has been convicted under the law. And taxi driversprobably wont have enough change to cover a big bill, socarry small denominations. And Honduras has been struggling to build representative democracy, to fight corruption and crime. In November 2020, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights heard the case of Vicky Hernndez, a trans woman allegedly extrajudicially executed in 2009. Late Thursday, Honduran President Xiomara Castro proposed a measure to limit constitutional You dont know how clean the persons hands are whos been peeling and chopping the, Dont go TOO in on the food when you first arrive, especially if you get ill from food quite easily. Marvin Damin Castro Molina, who, as part of the Coordination of the Southern Social Environmental Movement for Life, fought mining, agro-industry, and hydroelectric projects, was abducted and found dead in Choluteca in July 2020. Then there are quite a lot of gang wars as well. Most who can access the internet do so on their phones. Were not going to lie its pretty sketchy. Often, people with disabilities are threatened and subjected to extortion by criminal gangs. Members of the military police of public order patrol a street during a special operation against criminal gangs in Tegucigalpa on 6 December. Honduras became the second country in Central America to declare a state of emergency against gang crimes like extortion. El Salvador and Honduras have been condemned by the "civilized" world. - The New York Times Inside Gang Territory In Honduras 'Either They Kill Us or We Kill Them' In one of the deadliest cities in the world, an embattled group of young men had little but their tiny. Violence has long ruled here. REUTERS/Fredy Rodriguez/File PhotoReuters. Plus theres Copan: the ancientMayanarchaeological site, complete with amazing sculptures. It has experienced one of the world's highest homicide rates, with multiple forms of violence linked to drug trafficking groups. In the streets where insecurity lurks around each corner, many ordinary Hondurans want to see extreme measures human rights be damned and believe that anything short of that is not enough. As VP Kamala Harris prepares to visit #Honduras for the presidential inauguration, we call for international cooperation and funding to respond to the humanitarian crisis displacing thousands in the country. The poverty resulting from all this is what youll have to watch out for. Judges continue to face interference, including political pressure, threats, and harassment, from the executive branch, private actors with connections to government, and organized crime.