We've had 5 murders in our municipo (the equivalent of an American county), over the past two days. 4 dead in the aldea of La Bomba, a neighboring town, and yet another murder about a block away from my apartment. The size of our municipo is roughly 30,000. These murders verify the recent news that Honduras has the highest homicide rate in the world.
People talk about the growing violence all of the time in Honduras, but it is almost always behind closed doors. This recent violence, however, has led to a noticed public change. Maybe it's because this part of the country has finally reached a tipping point. With land disputes commonly terminating in violence, and drug traffickers becoming even more brazen, it is hard to find a person in Jutiapa who hasn't been affected.
The reaction of the town is part apathetic, part outraged, but at the same time timid. Worried that tomorrow they could be the next story splashed on the front pages of La Prensa or El Heraldo. There is lots of blame to pass around starting with American drug consumers who drive the market, but if we look to the evolution of the Cartels in Mexico we begin to see that these organizations are no longer one-trick ponies, relying on just drug profits to fuel their operations. They are diversified conglomerates, more akin to the mafia than just running drugs. Today they are working in everything from human trafficking, "protection," and of course arms trafficking. Hypothetically, say you legalize all drugs in the United States and win the "War on Drugs," knocking out that aspect of the cartel's operations. It doesn't matter. These organizations are past drugs. We continue to fight a war against criminal organizations who have already diversified, expanded, and which have now become something else entirely.
The cartels are followed closely in culpability by Honduran media. Which, in my opinion, instills more fear than it does understanding of the subject. Trying to find even handed, intelligent, Spanish reporting on the violence in Honduras is bound to meet futile ends. Splashy murder pictures dominate the front page, followed by women in bikinis, and closed up by 10 pages of soccer. No joke, pick up any Honduran newspaper and that will be the order.
Strangely, I think that regular Hondurans should be placed on this list as well. Murder rates do not double in 5 years without some amount of apathy existing in the populace. That is perhaps the most fascinating aspect of this recent violence. Sadly now, on the streets of Jutiapa, the obligatory Adios has been replaced with cuídese, a small, but deeply implicative statement of the general sentiments here within the town center.
"Who is to blame though?"
The reaction of the town is part apathetic, part outraged, but at the same time timid. Worried that tomorrow they could be the next story splashed on the front pages of La Prensa or El Heraldo. There is lots of blame to pass around starting with American drug consumers who drive the market, but if we look to the evolution of the Cartels in Mexico we begin to see that these organizations are no longer one-trick ponies, relying on just drug profits to fuel their operations. They are diversified conglomerates, more akin to the mafia than just running drugs. Today they are working in everything from human trafficking, "protection," and of course arms trafficking. Hypothetically, say you legalize all drugs in the United States and win the "War on Drugs," knocking out that aspect of the cartel's operations. It doesn't matter. These organizations are past drugs. We continue to fight a war against criminal organizations who have already diversified, expanded, and which have now become something else entirely.
The cartels are followed closely in culpability by Honduran media. Which, in my opinion, instills more fear than it does understanding of the subject. Trying to find even handed, intelligent, Spanish reporting on the violence in Honduras is bound to meet futile ends. Splashy murder pictures dominate the front page, followed by women in bikinis, and closed up by 10 pages of soccer. No joke, pick up any Honduran newspaper and that will be the order.
Strangely, I think that regular Hondurans should be placed on this list as well. Murder rates do not double in 5 years without some amount of apathy existing in the populace. That is perhaps the most fascinating aspect of this recent violence. Sadly now, on the streets of Jutiapa, the obligatory Adios has been replaced with cuídese, a small, but deeply implicative statement of the general sentiments here within the town center.
