Global Courant
San Pedro Sula, Honduras.
Honduras completed the first semester of 2023 with 1,220 homicidesat a rate of a daily average of 6.68 deaths, the lowest number in recent 25 years.
These figures are similar only to those observed between 1995 (1,534) and 1999 (2,563 cases), when the country’s population was less than the 6.5 million inhabitants.
The recently concluded semester was marked, according to National Police statistics, by multiple bloody events that occurred last month, including the death of 46 inmates in the Women’s Center for Social Adaptation (Cephas). That day alone (June 20) homicides rose to 61.
In addition to that critical date, on June 24, the authorities recorded 26 murders, the second most tragic figure of the year. Most of these occurred in Choloma (14) and the rest in San Pedro Sula, Puerto Cortés, La Lima and San Manuel, municipalities in the department of Cortés.
Despite the fact that the latest homicide figures are lower than those of the period when Honduras had between 14 and 20 daily deaths (2009-2016), the government, in order to stop an escalation, made the decision to establish a curfew in Choloma from June 25 and in San Pedro Sula from July 4 between 11:00 p.m. and 04:00 a.m.
Honduras was involved in a whirlwind of violence between 1999 and 2021 that left more than 67,000 dead, according to figures from the National Police, a figure higher than the approximately 47,225 civilian deaths left by the war in Afghanistan for twenty years (2001-2021). ), according to the Costs of War project at Brown University (United States).
Curfew
The curfew and police operations have allowed the authorities to capture individuals engaged in extortion, hit men and drug trafficking in recent days.
Yesterday, for example, police officers from the Police Investigations Directorate (DPI) and the National Directorate for Prevention and Community Safety (DNPSC) captured a 31-year-old citizen from the city of San Pedro in the Juan Orlando de Choloma neighborhood. Sula, responsible for assassinating Luis Milla Bueso on June 19.
While in Brisas del Cacao, Lomas del Carmen, they captured a member of the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) who was dedicated to selling drugs.
However, for a woman living in the community of Champerío, Choloma, “the curfew is not working because the criminals are free.”
“The policemen seem to be afraid to get in here at night. They reach the colonies that are closest to the center. They don’t come here and they should come because since 2020 gang members from El Salvador began to arrive, fleeing Bukele’s measures,” said the woman who requested anonymity.
While owners of 750 bars and restaurants in San Pedro Sula consider that the curfew that begins this day in San Pedro Sula starting at 11:00 p.m. will affect the economy of the city and more than 20,000 workers who live from activities nocturnal
The night entrepreneurs hope that the Government will reconsider the curfew to avoid an economic crisis. They recommend that the authorities “sectorize” the curfew, where there is a criminal incidence.
They will not take money to their homes
From waiters to musicians, they depend on the night In addition to daytime productive activity, San Pedro Sula depends on nighttime activities that regained strength when Covid-19 ceased to be a pandemic.
Men and women who serve tables in restaurants and bars, who earn a salary and tips, will be severely affected because they will not take money home from today. Their workplaces will close today due to the touch.
