HomeNewsBriefHonduras Ends Strike with Promise to Confront Public Transport Gang Violence
BRIEF

Honduras Ends Strike with Promise to Confront Public Transport Gang Violence

EXTORTION / 24 OCT 2014 BY DAVID GAGNE EN

Public transport workers in Honduras called off a strike after the government agreed to new security measures to stem violence and extortion affecting bus drivers. However, other experiences around the region suggest that this move may not be enough.

The strike took place over the course of eight hours on October 22 in capital city Tegucigalpa and was resolved after the government agreed to boost police patrols and install security cameras in buses and bus stops, reported La Prensa. The government also agreed to introduce military patrols in markets, as well as bus terminals and stops. 

The strikers called for the government to take action to halt a wave of violence that has seen 58 bus drivers killed so far in 2014, according to La Prensa. The most recent murder came just two days before the strike.

The head of the Honduran government's transportation division claimed that the protesters were seeking to recuperate missed subsidy payments, a claim denied by the president of the Honduras National Transportation Council.

InSight Crime Analysis

Extortion of public transportation is rife in Honduras and other countries around the Northern Triangle region. Street gangs charge bus companies for the right to move through their territory; drivers are killed and buses torched if the payments aren't made. Such incidents have become so common in places like Guatemala that being a bus driver there has been dubbed the "most dangerous job in the world."

While these new measures could provide some additional security for bus drivers, it remains to be seen whether it will actually lead to decreased violence against public transport workers. Putting more security cameras at bus stops could yet prove to be just a band-aid solution, one that doesn't fully address the power of the gangs that are able to harass and kill bus drivers with impunity.  

SEE ALSO: Honduras News and Profile

Other countries have struggled to resolve the issue of violence against public transport workers. In neighboring El Salvador, the government once deployed anti-terrorist units to patrol bus routes, and also made it obligatory to use electric cards to pay for bus fare -- a system Honduras is also exploring. However, these measures haven't made much of a dent in El Salvador: extortion fees of bus companies reportedly doubled between 2013 and 2014.

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

ELITES AND CRIME / 10 MAR 2022

The arrest and possible extradition of a former Honduras police chief suspected of drug trafficking could provide explosive evidence in…

COCA / 15 MAR 2023

Coca cultivation remains concentrated in the Andes, but escalating seizures suggest it could eventually be successful elsewhere.

ELITES AND CRIME / 6 JUL 2021

A high court in Honduras has found one of the intellectual authors of the high-profile murder of renowned Indigenous activist…

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

All Eyes on Ecuador

2 JUN 2023

Our coverage of organized crime in Ecuador continues to be a valuable resource for international and local news outlets. Internationally, Reuters cited our 2022 Homicide Round-Up,…

WORK WITH US

Open Position: Social Media and Engagement Strategist

27 MAY 2023

InSight Crime is looking for a Social Media and Engagement Strategist who will be focused on maintaining and improving InSight Crime’s reputation and interaction with its audiences through publishing activities…

THE ORGANIZATION

Venezuela Coverage Receives Great Reception

27 MAY 2023

Several of InSight Crime’s most recent articles about Venezuela have been well received by regional media. Our article on Venezuela’s colectivos expanding beyond their political role to control access to…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime's Chemical Precursor Report Continues

19 MAY 2023

For the second week in a row, our investigation into the flow of precursor chemicals for the manufacture of synthetic drugs in Mexico has been cited by multiple regional media…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime’s Chemical Precursor Report Widely Cited

THE ORGANIZATION / 12 MAY 2023

We are proud to see that our recently published investigation into the supply chain of chemical precursors feeding Mexico’s synthetic drug production has been warmly received.