Honduras Wants to Build the West's Only Island Prison Colony
TimeJul 31, 2023
Honduras Announces New Anti-Gang Measures
Above: Honduran President Xiomara Castro attends a meeting with Chinese Premier Li Qiang at the Great Hall of the People on June 13, 2023 in Beijing, China. Image copyright: Jade Gao/Pool/Getty Images News via Getty Images
The Facts
Xiomara Castro, the leftist president of Honduras, has announced in a televised address a series of emergency measures to expand her government's larger crackdown on gang violence.
Her "plan of solutions against crime" includes the deployment of armed forces and police to areas with the highest rates of gang crimes, as well as the construction of the Emergency Reclusion Center, a new 20K-capacity "megaprison."
The Spin
Pro-establishment narrative
Regardless of their ideologies, several governments across Latin America have sought to replicate the unique success of Nayib Bukele's authoritarian anti-crime push in El Salvador — and neighboring Honduras is no exception. The problem is that his policies are feasible in his country only, a small nation where drug-related crimes are relatively rare.
Establishment-critical narrative
It's certain that the success of Bukele's security model in El Salvador serves as an example to the rest of Latin America, but mainstream media seems to be condescendingly painting any attempt to crack down on gangs in the region as "bukelization." Honduras has carried out its own policies — and maybe that's why it didn't achieve the same results.