HomeNewsBriefMilitary Police Occupy Honduras Neighborhood After Gang Threat
BRIEF

Military Police Occupy Honduras Neighborhood After Gang Threat

BARRIO 18 / 23 MAR 2016 BY MIKE LASUSA EN

Authorities in Honduras have deployed military forces to a neighborhood threatened by the Barrio 18 street gang, but the soldiers' presence is unlikely to provide a long-term solution to the community's security concerns.

On March 21, residents of the Reparto Lempira neighborhood of San Pedro Sula received a message from Barrio 18 ordering them to leave their homes within 24 hours. The note threatened residents with violent reprisals if they refused to comply. (see below)

16-03-23-Honduras-Barrio18Letter

"You won't just be sorry. You'll see people losing their lives just for opening their front door," the note says.

Authorities also seized a cellphone from an alleged Barrio 18 member that contained threatening text messages, reported La Prensa

"If you don't reply in less than 24 hours... you will see that we are not playing around," reads one of the texts. 

A television news crew from HCH Noticias captured video of distraught neighbors scrambling to pack up their belongings, while media outlet El Heraldo reported that others were asking authorities for police protection to allow them to stay in their homes.

The following day, a contingent of military police arrived in Reparto Lempira. A spokesperson for Honduras' inter-institutional security force (Fuerza de Seguridad Interinstitucional Nacional - FUSINA), José Antonio Coello, promised residents the soldiers' deployment would be permanent.

"There will be checkpoints and roadblocks to protect the lives of the residents," Coello said, according to La Tribuna. "The collaboration of these residents is requested to provide information about any criminal groups, to carry out intelligence operations."

Coello also said authorities had already identified the individuals responsible for the threat and that they would be captured soon, according to La Prensa.

InSight Crime Analysis

For the moment, it appears the military occupation of Reparto Lempira has helped stave off a mass eviction of the neighborhood's residents by gang members. However, the soldiers' presence does little to address the principal factors that allow groups like Barrio 18 to wield so much power in Honduras.

A report (pdf) published last year by the Center for International Policy and the Latin America Working Group described San Pedro Sula as "nearly a war zone." The authors cited a lack of economic opportunities and inadequately trained and funded security institutions as some of the root causes of widespread violence and impunity in the city.

Moreover, the researchers pointed out the government often deploys military police to neighborhoods suffering from high levels of criminal violence. But these soldiers do not carry out investigations that could lead to criminal prosecutions, which means that "underlying problems in San Pedro Sula's worst neighborhoods are generally left unsolved."

SEE ALSO: Barrio 18 News and Profile

While Honduras has seen a substantial drop in its murder rate in recent years, the militarized security strategy pursued by the government has largely failed to tackle longstanding issues like corruption and lack of capacity in police and judicial institutions.

Given the immediate threat faced by the residents of Reparto Lempira, the decision to deploy the military is understandable. But in order to achieve sustainable gains in citizen security, the Honduran government should remain focused on addressing the socioeconomic and institutional factors that allow groups like Barrio 18 to flourish in cities like San Pedro Sula. 

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

BARRIO 18 / 26 JUL 2022

Almost four months into a nationwide crackdown, El Salvador's government has failed to disarm its notorious street gangs.

EL SALVADOR / 13 DEC 2021

Efforts to reduce gang violence are often thought of as highly dependent on local conditions, but a recent report looks…

COCAINE / 6 MAY 2022

The US has offered a $5 million reward for information leading to the arrest of leaders of the Montes Bobadilla…

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…