Honduras army to take on drug gangs

[dipsydoodle]

Source: Reuters

Honduras has voted to deploy the army to fight encroaching Mexican drug cartels in an effort to curb violence in the country.

By an overwhelming majority, congress decided to follow a model used by the Mexican president, Felipe Calderón who launched an army-backed campaign against powerful drug gangs soon after taking office in late-2006.

Since then, more than 45,000 people have died in drug violence in Mexico. But on a per capita basis, the small nation of Honduras far outpaced every other country in the world in homicides, with 82 murders per 100,000 people last year, according to the UN.

About 20 people are killed in Honduras every day.

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/nov/30/honduras-army-drugs-gangs

[bemildred]

1. Hey, it's working great in Mexico and Colombia.

:sarcasm:

[Judi Lynn]

2. Honduras Base Shows U.S. Military Role in Drug War

Honduras Base Shows U.S. Military Role in Drug War
By Guy Taylor | 30 Nov 2011

Increased U.S. funding to fight drugs and organized crime in Mexico and Central America has attracted a good deal of attention in recent years. But flying largely under the radar is the growing role being played in that effort by the U.S. military, most notably now in Honduras, where U.S. Marines are engaged in a joint training exercise with Honduran troops and the Pentagon is financing a new naval base.

“There’s been a noticeable uptick in U.S. military aid and cooperation in Honduras during the past year,” says Adam Isacson, senior associate for regional security policy at the Washington Office on Latin America.

While the United States has a history of coordinating with the Honduran military, Isacson reminded Trend Lines this week that the “spigot of aid” was, for a time, shut off after the June 2009 military coup that ousted former President Manuel Zelaya.

The best illustration that those taps are once again flowing may be the $2 million base slated to open next month on the island of Guanaja, just off the northern Honduran coast east of Belize.

More:
http://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/trend-lines/10793/honduras-base-shows-u-s-military-role-in-drug-war