Despite a rash of recent negative headlines and its own travel warnings, the State Department announced Monday increased security cooperation with Honduras and praised its controversial government.
After a “High Level Security Dialogue,” department spokesperson Marie Harf said that the pair of countries “discussed areas where we can continue to work together to prevent and reduce crime, hold accountable narcotraffickers and other criminals, and further strengthen judicial institutions.”
Harf also said that the Honduran government had “notable successes” over the past 12 months—achievements which include “the extradition of major drug traffickers” to the US and “an impressive drop in the homicide rate.
“Honduras reiterated its commitment to improve its security in a framework of respect for human rights with special protection for human rights defenders,” she wrote. “In this regard, both the United States and Honduras expressed support for their bilateral human rights dialogue.”
But other assessments, including its own analyses, appear to contradict Monday’s announcement by the State Department. TeleSur reported that there have been over 100 recorded murders in Honduras in the first ten days of 2015, and that the government is seeking to deepen its military’s involvement in policing. However, the militarization of law enforcement since the 2009 coup d’etat has made matters worse, history professor and expert Dana Frank claimed on Jan. 2. Over the past two years, Frank said, “the Honduran military and its new police have committed widespread human rights abuses with near-complete impunity,” citing a July 2013 murder of a peaceful indigenous activist, a May 2014 beating of an advocate for children, and the kidnapping of a young woman six months later. She also pointed out that the government has just named an active-duty general to be Minister of Security, “even though the Honduran constitution explicitly bars the military from engaging in domestic policing.” The State Department has also previously advised US citizens against carefree travel to the Central American country, warning that “the level of crime and violence in Honduras remains critically high.”
“Since 2010, Honduras has had the highest murder rate in the world,” the advisory, last updated in June, cautioned. “Members of the Honduran National Police have been known to engage in criminal activity, including murder and car theft,” it also noted.
In 2009, the Honduran military seized power after deposing the democratically-elected populist president Manuel Zelaya. In late 2013, the conservative ruling party won a poll described by The Nation as being characterized by “election fraud and ongoing murders of opposition supporters.”
As The Sentinel pointed out last month, Honduran officials are often praised and welcomed by Washington lawmakers who are critical of the Cuban government’s human rights record.
