Newly elected Honduran President Manuel Zelaya (see photo left) is wasting little time in dramatically distancing himself from the policies of his predecessor Ricardo Maduro (see photo right). Eliminating Maduro’s security cornerstone, Mano Dura (Hard Hand), Zelaya announced earlier this week that the government’s former harsh crackdown on suspected gang members would be altered to focus narrowly on violent gang leaders, arguing that the policy merely perpetuated the level of violence that has plagued the Central American country. Zelaya, citing ever-increasing levels of death squads, wrongful imprisonment allegations, and extrajudicial killings, has instructed the Honduran security apparatus to focus exclusively on gang leaders and narco-traffickers. Honduras has become a transit route for the Colombian narcotics industry with drug cartels working in conjunction with Honduran maras to service the demand of US customers, thus blurring the line between gang-oriented criminal enterprises and pseudo gang drug cartels.
As discussed in the March 1, WAR Report, escalating levels of criminality in Central America have resulted in the rampant growth of vigilante groups among the local citizenry and security apparatus that are more aptly characterized as death squads. The general populous that believes the heavy-handed tactics of such organizations reduces crime rates initially embraced these groups. Eventually, however, self-styled justice groups became a greater security threat than groups they were initially designed to combat. Purporting to act under the guise of community servants, death squads and police units, according to Amnesty International, have perpetrated 2,300 murders or extra-judicial killings of youth since 2004 with the passive approval of Honduran authorities.
Zelaya’s curtailment of Mano Dura, however, should not give the appearance that the newly-elected left-of-center president is soft on crime. Rather, Zelaya is refocusing the attention of the Honduran authorities and curtailing the activities of nefarious elements within the Honduran security service. Similar to Colombia’s President Alvaro Uribe’s policy toward AUC members, Zelaya has expressed his willingness to engage in dialogue with youth gang members and provide rehabilitated members with job-training programs, although he has stopped short of declaring a general amnesty. Secondly, Zelaya has signified his intention to curtail drug trafficking routes in Honduras, eliminating a large source of revenue for the maras.
Honduran security initiatives must be undertaken with the support of the US government that continues to repatriate undocumented gang members to Honduras, among other Central American countries. Upon returning to their native countries, gang members engage in similar criminal enterprises merely adding to the already present criminal gang base. US authorities must work in conjunction with Honduran and other Central American states if the rampant growth in gangs is to be curtailed in the near future.