Murder and Police Corruption in Honduras

It's good to see themedia begin to pick up on the fact that national police and governmentofficials in Central American are involved in all sorts of crime. It's not justdrug traffickers from Mexico and Colombia or gangs. (See the Miami Herald and McClatchy). Boz also has a write-up on Police Corruption in Honduras this morning.

A few things jumped outat me. I don't follow Honduran politics as closely as others, but how can youappoint a Security Minister to "lead a sweep of law enforcement" whohad no idea that criminals were operating out of police stations? Maybe not tothe extent that it was occurring, but not that it wasn't happening.

“It never occurred to me whenI took over this ministry that inside police stations there were peoplecommitting crimes and acting against human life,” said Security MinisterPompeyo Bonilla, named recently to lead a sweep of law enforcement. “We have aserious problem.”

While the Miami Heraldarticle wasn't bad, I can't help but notice that the 2009 coup against Zelayawasn't mentioned at all. Perhaps the the violence would have escalated inHonduras had the June 2009 coup not occurred. Obviously, we'll never know. Butit sure seems to me that violence committed by authorities has increased sincethat date. There's also the concern that drug traffickers stepped in to takeadvantage of the chaos that ensued following the coup. It should have beenmentioned even in passing.

Tim Johnson also has agood article for McClatchy on Crime booms as Central Americans fear police switched sides.I definitely don't like the title. Maybe they could have changed it to crimebooms as Central American police remains on both sides of the law.Maybe it's worse today but problem is nothing new.

Murder rates remain stubbornlyhigh across the region. El Salvador tallied 4,354 murders last year, slightlyunder Guatemala's 5,618 and the 6,723 that Honduras registered. The NorthernTriangle now approaches far more populous Mexico in the total number ofhomicides.

Now, notto be picky but these are not rates. It's also not good to present thesenumbers without taking into consideration population differences. El Salvadorhas a population of approximately 6 million, Guatemala somewhere in the 14million range, and Honduras about 8 million. 

Finally, changes in murder ratesfor each country do not look alike. While crime booms, the murder rate in ElSalvador has gone up some years and down other years. In Honduras, it has gonestraight up. And in Guatemala, it has remained pretty flat for the last fewyears. Unlike Honduras and El Salvador, it has declined two years in a row. Guatemala'smurder rate has also been significantly lower than those for the two countriesfor just about every year under consideration.

A comparison of the three countriesshould take these differences into account.

The Miami Herald (Therisks and rewards of helping Honduras) and HermanoJuancito also have stories worth checking out. Their focus is on doinggood work in the midst of such violence.