From poverty to gangs, this episode of Latino USA takes a deep dive into the root causes of why people leave Honduras to travel through Mexico and to the U.S.
This episode was the recipient of a 2014 Peabody Award and was produced in collaboration with Round Earth Media.
Photo by Marlon Bishop
We’ll Be on TV! Peabody Awards to Air July 21 on Pivot
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Honduras, from banana companies to gang rule
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The Economics of Extortion
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For migrants, a safe place to lay your head in Mexico
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A more dangerous road
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For teen migrants, being deported home is the scariest journey of all
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May 8, 2015
Our organization has worked with social justice and rural organizations in Honduras since Hurricane Mitch in 1998 and we want to thank you for taking the time to highlight the difficult situation in Honduras and the people’s bravery and resilience. We hear so little about Honduras in the US despite the apparent strategic importance of the region for our government.
However, we were surprised that there was no mention of the 2009 coup d’etat and its role in
shaping the situation of increasing poverty and violence which has led to massive migration. According to the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) the first two years of the coup regimes) the poverty rate increased by 13.2% and extreme poverty in Honduras increased by 26.3%. It’s economic inequality measure (GINI coefficient measure) increased by 12.3% while its neighbors’ decreased: Guatemala by 2.5% and El Salvador by 5.8%. Prior to the coup (2006-2009) poverty levels decreased by 7.7% and extreme poverty decreased 20.9%. (CEPR article (CEPR Lefebvre S. Johnson J. November 2013- Honduras since the coup: economic and social outcomes).
Another effect of the coup and subsequent government policy is the increased political violence and human rights violations. A June 2014 article published by Al-Jazeera referenced reports of the following statistics since the 2009 coup: femicides increased 62%; murders included more than 116 LGBTQ persons; more than 100 agrarian activists (2009-2013); more than 30 journalists (2009-2013), 74 lawyers/judges (2009-2012). More than 20 members of the newly formed opposition party (LIBRE) were killed in 2013 alone. The number of total political murders since the coup is uncertain but is estimated to be in the hundreds.
Public security policy since the coup has focused on increasing the militarization in the country. This includes the creation of a new Military Police, a special division of the National Police (Los Tigres), heavily armed private security forces, and the ongoing military presence of the US Military and DEA. However, despite or, more likely, because of this increased militarization, violence has increased. While there have been some highly publicized crack downs on a small number of government officials for corruption and on some narcotics trafficking, impunity for human rights violations and political murders as well as for street crime remains the norm. The United Nations estimates a 90% impunity rate in Honduras.
It is important to understand that the US government supported the coup in practice and continues to support the oligarchy. It not only supports the oligarchic governments but has brought its own pressure to bear in favor of the economic and political policies that have dramatically worsened life for the majority of Hondurans.
We would welcome more reports on Honduras that look more deeply into the underlying causes of extortion and increased migration, including U.S. policy in Central America.
Sincerely
Victoria Cervantes
Tricia Black
La Voz de los de Abajo Chicago
lavozchicago@yahoo.com
May 8, 2015
Our organization has worked with social justice and rural organizations in Honduras since Hurricane Mitch in 1998 and we want to thank you for taking the time to highlight the difficult situation in Honduras and the people’s bravery and resilience. We hear so little about Honduras in the US despite the apparent strategic importance of the region for our government.
However, we were surprised that there was no mention of the 2009 coup d’etat and its role in
shaping the situation of increasing poverty and violence which has led to massive migration. According to the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) the first two years of the coup regimes) the poverty rate increased by 13.2% and extreme poverty in Honduras increased by 26.3%. It’s economic inequality measure (GINI coefficient measure) increased by 12.3% while its neighbors’ decreased: Guatemala by 2.5% and El Salvador by 5.8%. Prior to the coup (2006-2009) poverty levels decreased by 7.7% and extreme poverty decreased 20.9%. (CEPR article (CEPR Lefebvre S. Johnson J. November 2013- Honduras since the coup: economic and social outcomes).
Another effect of the coup and subsequent government policy is the increased political violence and human rights violations. A June 2014 article published by Al-Jazeera referenced reports of the following statistics since the 2009 coup: femicides increased 62%; murders included more than 116 LGBTQ persons; more than 100 agrarian activists (2009-2013); more than 30 journalists (2009-2013), 74 lawyers/judges (2009-2012). More than 20 members of the newly formed opposition party (LIBRE) were killed in 2013 alone. The number of total political murders since the coup is uncertain but is estimated to be in the hundreds.
Public security policy since the coup has focused on increasing the militarization in the country. This includes the creation of a new Military Police, a special division of the National Police (Los Tigres), heavily armed private security forces, and the ongoing military presence of the US Military and DEA. However, despite or, more likely, because of this increased militarization, violence has increased. While there have been some highly publicized crack downs on a small number of government officials for corruption and on some narcotics trafficking, impunity for human rights violations and political murders as well as for street crime remains the norm. The United Nations estimates a 90% impunity rate in Honduras.
It is important to understand that the US government supported the coup in practice and continues to support the oligarchy. It not only supports the oligarchic governments but has brought its own pressure to bear in favor of the economic and political policies that have dramatically worsened life for the majority of Hondurans.
We would welcome more reports on Honduras that look more deeply into the underlying causes of extortion and increased migration, including U.S. policy in Central America.
Sincerely
Victoria Cervantes
Tricia Black
La Voz de los de Abajo Chicago
lavozchicago@yahoo.com