Violence in Honduras: an analysis of the failure in public security and the state’s response to criminality
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Authors
Carvajal, Roger A.
Subjects
Honduras
Transnational Organized Crime
Militarization
TIGRES
Policia Militar
Maras
Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13)
Pandilla Calle Dieciocho
Juan Orlando Hernandez
Drug Trafficking
Corruption
Impunity
Fragile State
Honduran Armed Forces
Honduran National Police
Death Squads
Partido Nacional de Honduras
Partido Liberal de Honduras
San Pedro Sula
Homicide Rates
Northern Triangle
Transnational Organized Crime
Militarization
TIGRES
Policia Militar
Maras
Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13)
Pandilla Calle Dieciocho
Juan Orlando Hernandez
Drug Trafficking
Corruption
Impunity
Fragile State
Honduran Armed Forces
Honduran National Police
Death Squads
Partido Nacional de Honduras
Partido Liberal de Honduras
San Pedro Sula
Homicide Rates
Northern Triangle
Advisors
Nieto-Gomez, Rodrigo
Date of Issue
2014-06
Date
Jun-14
Publisher
Monterey, California: Naval Postgraduate School
Language
Abstract
The incidence of violence in Honduras currently is the highest in Honduran history. In 2014, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime reported the Honduras homicide rate, at 90.4 per 100,000 inhabitants, as the highest in the world for nations outside of war. It is the foundation of this thesis that the Honduran security collapse is due to unresolved internal factors—political, economic, and societal—as well as the influence of foreign factors and actors—the evolution of the global illicit trade. Two of the most important areas affecting public security in Honduras are the challenges posed by transnational organized crime and the relative weakness and fragility of the Honduran state to provide basic needs and security to the population. The emergence of criminal gangs and drug traffickers, and the government’s security policies, are all factors that have worsened public security. The crime environment has overwhelmed the police, military, judicial system and overcrowded the prison system with mostly juvenile petty delinquents. Moreover, with a high impunity rate of nearly 95 percent for homicides, killing in Honduras has become an activity without consequences. The latest state’s response is with re-militarization of security, highlighting the dilemma of the challenges of combatting internal violence and transnational organized crime in a weak state.
Type
Thesis
Description
Series/Report No
Department
National Security Affairs
Organization
Identifiers
NPS Report Number
Sponsors
Funder
Format
Citation
Distribution Statement
Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited.
Rights
This publication is a work of the U.S. Government as defined in Title 17, United States Code, Section 101. Copyright protection is not available for this work in the United States.