Honduras, the politics of violence
Honduras, the politics of violence
Matt Kennard 28 November 2012
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The incidence of targeted social violence in the central American country is a growing political concern as presidential elections approach, finds Matt Kennard in Tegucigalpa.
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Julio Funes Benítez was shot dead in broad daylight outside his house in the Honduran capital Tegucigalpa in early 2010. The assassins had unleashed a hail of bullets in his direction while driving past on a motorbike. Mr Benítez had been active in the resistance movement, which flourished after the coup against the president, Manuel Zelaya, in June 2009. But nearly three years on, no one has been charged with his murder.
"From when they killed my husband to now, I never got any support from the authorities," Lidia Marina Gonzales, Mr Benitez’s widow, tells me. "There was never an investigation, the culprits are free. The agent who was meant to investigate told me that if I wanted there to be an investigation I would have to pay."
The fact that Mr Benítez’s killers got away with murder is not an exception in modern-day Honduras. The central American country, with a population of 8 million, is now the most dangerous country in the world, according to the United Nations. There are ninety-one homicides per 100,000 people, or one every seventy-four minutes. Nearly all remain unsolved, and many, as in the case of Mr Benítez, not even investigated. The impunity rate ranges from 95-98%, depending on who you ask.
Honduras's newfound reputation as the world’s "murder capital" is something the current administration of President Porfirio Lobo Sosa, alongside the large number of United States agencies working in the country, is trying desperately to shed as the presidential elections approach in 2013. But there is a shortage of quick solutions.
More:
http://www.opendemocracy.net/matt-kennard/honduras-politics-of-violence
