HomeNewsBriefHonduran Gangs May Replicate El Salvador Truce
BRIEF

Honduran Gangs May Replicate El Salvador Truce

BARRIO 18 / 27 MAY 2013 BY JAMES BARGENT EN

The MS-13 and Barrio 18 street gangs in Honduras may be set to declare their own version of the El Salvador gang truce, although they admit it is unlikely to have the same impact in reducing the country's murder rate.

According to the Bishop of San Pedro Sula, Romulo Emiliani, on May 28th gang leaders will make a declaration of peace and announce their intention to seek "reconciliation" with the Honduran government and society.

However, Emiliani added the gang leaders have already warned that a truce would not necessarily lead to the sort of drop in murder rate witnessed in El Salvador -- where the truce has led to 45 percent less murders. "They say that in Honduras there are a lot of murders that are not caused by them," he said.

In an interview with Canal 3, one incarcerated Barrio 18 leader confirmed the gangs are ready to negotiate and called on President Porfirio Lobo to name a commission to facilitate talks.

The Ambassador for Security Affairs of the Organization of American States (OAS), Adam Blackwell, said dialogue with the gangs has been going on for eight months, and began after he and Emiliani visited leaders in prison, reported the AP.

InSight Crime Analysis

While the El Salvador gang truce has proven controversial, and doubts remain over its sustainability and whether it has truly been as successful as is claimed, there can be no doubt it has led to a dramatic drop in the murder rate.

Honduras has the highest murder rate in the world and any attempt to replicate this success and regain control over the spiraling violence of recent years should be welcomed.

However, even if negotiations are successful, a truce is unlikely to match the results seen in El Salvador. The street gangs -- known as "maras" -- are less centralized in Honduras and it will be much more difficult for the leadership to assert their control over local factions.

It is also possible, as Emiliani points out, that the Honduran maras are not responsible for such a high percentage of murders as their Salvadoran counterparts, as while the gangs undoubtedly play a major part in driving violence, they are far from the only criminal actors in Honduras.

There is also the role of the security forces to consider. Corrupt factions of the police and military are sometimes behind some of the criminal violence, and the police have been accused of running death squads targeting gang members, which will make it difficult for the gangs and police to build trust and keep the peace.

share icon icon icon

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

What are your thoughts? Click here to send InSight Crime your comments.

We encourage readers to copy and distribute our work for non-commercial purposes, with attribution to InSight Crime in the byline and links to the original at both the top and bottom of the article. Check the Creative Commons website for more details of how to share our work, and please send us an email if you use an article.

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

Related Content

EL SALVADOR / 15 JUN 2022

El Salvador's sweeping crackdown, which has seen over 30,000 people arrested, may in fact drive many desperate young people straight…

COCAINE / 28 OCT 2022

Murders in Esmeraldas, northern Ecuador, have exploded. Gangs battling for control of drug trafficking routes are to blame.

BARRIO 18 / 14 SEP 2022

In the mountains of Michoacán, Mexico, Carlos was trained to become a ruthless soldier for the Cárteles Unidos.

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Contributes Expertise Across the Board 

22 SEP 2023

This week InSight Crime investigators Sara García and María Fernanda Ramírez led a discussion of the challenges posed by Colombian President Gustavo Petro’s “Total Peace” plan within urban contexts. The…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Cited in New Colombia Drug Policy Plan

15 SEP 2023

InSight Crime’s work on emerging coca cultivation in Honduras, Guatemala, and Venezuela was cited in the Colombian government’s…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Discusses Honduran Women's Prison Investigation

8 SEP 2023

Investigators Victoria Dittmar and María Fernanda Ramírez discussed InSight Crime’s recent investigation of a massacre in Honduras’ only women’s prison in a Twitter Spaces event on…

THE ORGANIZATION

Human Trafficking Investigation Published in Leading Mexican Newspaper

1 SEP 2023

Leading Mexican media outlet El Universal featured our most recent investigation, “The Geography of Human Trafficking on the US-Mexico Border,” on the front page of its August 30…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime's Coverage of Ecuador Leads International Debate

25 AUG 2023

This week, Jeremy McDermott, co-director of InSight Crime, was interviewed by La Sexta, a Spanish television channel, about the situation of extreme violence and insecurity in Ecuador…