The US has a large military base in Honduras, which has led to accusations that both the current and previous US administrations are turning a blind eye to political violence … Americas. Violence has long ruled here. The suspects remain at large, and the police never investigated, because “the police don't go into these neighborhoods,” said the bricklayer, who had planned on taking his friend to groups that try to help young people avoid being recruited by gangs such as MS-13 and Barrio 18. Many children who migrate — over 43,000 since 2014 — are intercepted during their dangerous journeys and returned to Honduras… People hurry home before 9 p.m. or stay with friends and family elsewhere, to avoid being caught in the crossfire between rival gangs. One foot in the wrong place can lead to brutal murders. msn back to msn home news powered by Microsoft News “Militarizing schools is not a solution, because the military can stay in a school for, say, 10 days, and then they leave. Gangs control areas within the same communities, creating “invisible borders” sometimes marked by “moto-taxis” and gang-owned vehicles. But the problem comes back the 11th day, and even worsens," the principal said. News Opinion Sport Culture Lifestyle Show More News US news Elections 2020 World news ... ‘This was worse than Eta’: Hurricane Iota brings repeat destruction to Honduras. Recently, a classroom was ransacked by gang members, and later several assault weapons were found hidden in a school bathroom. A column of the army’s special forces stops vehicles along the paved road that winds through the mountains to La Esperanza, the capital of the department of Intibucá.The soldiers are here for just one reason: the intrusion of the MS13 gang from neighboring El Salvador into Honduras’ borderlands. Honduras, the second-largest country in Central America, is bordered by Guatemala to the west, El Salvador to the southwest and Nicaragua to the southeast. The population lives in fear of gangs which control the area. According to an analysis by InSight Crime, gang membership and activity have been on the rise in the past two decades, and the associated violence has hit the country’s urban areas the hardest. IN THE SAME CITY, workers at the Association for a More Just Society (AJS) try to lower the risks. Almost a quarter cited family violence. Teachers were the third-largest group of internally displaced people from 2016 to 2017. Surviving gang violence was the priority, and schools are not safe. A view of El Carrizal, outside Tegucigalpa, Honduras. Inside Your World{} Now, a new generation inside Honduras is raising its voice to try to put an end to the violence. Nearby shootings put an early end to recess in tiny schoolyards across many schools. The streets of major cities like Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula are gripped by crime and conflict. Absent students, murdered teachers: Gang violence permeates Honduras' schools For many families in Honduras, "the top priority is to protect … The education system is terribly lacking," she said. msn back to msn home news powered by Microsoft News The Friday Cover is POLITICO Magazine's email of the week's best, delivered to your inbox every Friday morning. Top, Debora Castillo, 17, outside her home in Corazol. Hundreds and sometimes thousands at a time, Honduran migrants have joined caravans of Central Americans making their way north through Mexico to seek refuge in the United States. All the latest news about Honduras from the BBC. Honduras is one of the poorest countries in Latin America. Crime in Honduras concerns how in recent years Honduras has experienced very high levels of violence and criminality. Honduras’ second-largest city is where many recent caravans of migrants have formed to head north to Mexico and then to the United States. Americas. In Honduras, thousands have been left homeless - something that is making the already critical COVID-19 health emergency even worse. Debora lost two children during childbirth. The Christian group researches issues related to poverty, violence, and corruption and works to address underlying problems. Top, the tag for MS-13 is sprayed across a wall in La Rivera Hernandez, one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in San Pedro Sula. All the latest news about Honduras from the BBC. There were over 62,000 asylum-seekers in Mexico since January 2019, while the number of internally displaced people in Honduras and El Salvador now total over 318,000. Part of the answer is reaching out to criminal gangs and creating options for at-risk youth, said the principal. IN THE SAME CITY, workers at the Association for a More Just Society (AJS) try to lower the risks. In 2009, a brawl between supporters left two dead and more than 15 injured. Violence and Discrimination Against LGBT People in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, and Obstacles to Asylum in the United States March 21, 2018 Report “I … TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras — He took a long, deep breath and covered his face with his hands as he recalled the day his friend was killed a month ago — a day that should have been the happiest day of his friend's life. In Honduras, femicide, political violence and military brutality are commonplace. Yet, they keep coming because of what they’re hoping to leave behind. A woman and her child rest on the floor with other participants in a migrant caravan leaving Honduras. The Gordon Ramsay Honduras Video . Even as the Trump administration and area governments have put in place measures to stop illegal migration, the worsening crime and violence in Central America continue to push people to attempt a dangerous journey to the United States. Contrary to Honduras and Guatemala, El Salvador has not seen a spike in criminal violence. The migrants travel the over 3,000-mile distance to the U.S. border in large groups for safety to avoid being robbed, kidnapped or killed by gangs on the way. Tegucigalpa. There are approximately 850,000 children who don't work or go to school, creating an incentive to flee the country or risk being recruited by gangs. Deadly violence breaks out during protests in Honduras . Two new reports called “ A Generation Out Of School ” found that children living in areas with violence in El Salvador and Honduras experience pressure, intimidation, sexual harassment and traumatic abuse by criminal groups. High levels of poverty and violence are pushing people out of Honduras. The bricklayer and human rights activists say extortion, carjackings and murders are commonplace, and so is forcibly taking teen girls as “jainas,” a slang term for girlfriends, and forcing them into small-time drug trafficking. The latest breaking news, ... Honduras. | Nichole Sobecki/VII, Buses ferry workers to and from their jobs at a clothing factory in Choloma, one of the most dangerous cities for women in the world. The entrance to the Honduran border town of Camasca is well guarded. The remote, forested northeastern Mosquitia region and small islands off the Caribbean coast have become prime landing spots for drug flights and boat shipments coming from Colombia… There’s no avoiding violence in Honduras, even at home. In Honduras, human rights activists and educators are alarmed by the effects of violence and poverty that keeps students out of the classrooms … This article is part of the Fall 2018 issue of Alert that highlights the urgent medical aid our teams provide to people on the move through Central America and Mexico. By signing up you agree to receive email newsletters or updates from POLITICO and you agree to our privacy policy and terms of service. Government figures show 83 teachers were murdered from 2009 to 2014, and security forces were deployed to 52 schools in 2017. News about Honduras, including commentary and archival articles published in The New York Times. This Central American country actually has one of the highest murder rates in the world. The US has a large military base in Honduras, which has led to accusations that both the current and previous US administrations are turning a blind eye to political violence … Kurt Ver Beek—a Calvin College professor who lives in Honduras—helped found AJS nearly 20 years ago. Gender-based violence is the second-leading cause of death for women of reproductive age. The entrance to the Honduran border town of Camasca is well guarded. Moreover, the Honduran police are both understaffed—in the northern district of San Pedro Sula, home to nearly 230,000 people and where well-known gangs like Barrio 18 and MS-13 operate, just 50 police officers watch over its 189 neighborhoods—and plagued by corruption and abuse. Americas. Just as countries control their borders, so, too, the gangs control theirs, by hiring children as young as 10 as “informants” to spy on people and activities in the communities, or to infiltrate meetings to draw out snitches. Two-thirds of its roughly 9 million people live in poverty, according to the World Bank, and in rural areas, 1 in 5 lives in extreme poverty. Two new reports called “ A Generation Out Of School ” found that children living in areas with violence in El Salvador and Honduras experience pressure, intimidation, sexual harassment and traumatic abuse by criminal groups. Caribbean struck by huge 7.6 magnitude earthquake. As expected, the video went viral and the local newspapers made sure they put this trusted news source on their front page. A police officer inspects tattoos on a Mara Salvatrucha gang member after his arrest in San Pedro Sula, Honduras. United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Guatemala wants to limit migrants returned under U.S. asylum agreement. Classrooms are no longer off-limits as gangs threaten and sometimes kill teachers who don't yield to their demands to give their children passing grades. Honduras is one of the deadliest countries in the world and has one of the highest impunity rates. Violence, gangs plague Honduras A woman reacts near the coffin containing the body of a man, who, according to the police, was kidnapped and killed, outside a morgue in Tegucigalpa, Honduras… The Gordon Ramsay Honduras Video . Now, Trump's asylum deal will trap migrants there. “In Honduras, there are no opportunities to get an education. The killing of women, or femicide, has exploded in Honduras. According to a State Department report last year, there are up to 10,000 gang members in Honduras, a country with roughly 8 million people. Saturday's clashes were not the first time that violence has broken out between Motagua and Olimpia fans. Violence is widespread in Honduras, but we’ve already seen incredible progress in making Honduras safer – in one of Honduras’ most violent neighborhoods, AJS’s interventions led to a 75% reduction in violence. International press freedom organizations report that journalists continue to be targets of threats and violence, both by individuals and state agents. Bottom, police officers frisk civilians and check their ID cards on a criminal database outside a pool bar, while others search the facility, in another neighborhood in San Pedro Sula. Recess in tiny schoolyards across many schools, long one of the poorest in... 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