There’s an interesting article on Bishop Romulo Emiliani in
ACI Prensa (accessible here in Spanish)on what many are calling a truce between the two major gangs in
Honduras.
Bishop Emiliani said, “they have made a declaration of
principles for reconciliation, with God, the society and the government; both
gangs have concurred on this, without speaking with each other.”
Many commentators have
spoken of a truce that included no crimes, no violence, and no extortion. I was
skeptical about the promise of no extortions, which I had not heard. Up to this
point, that gangs have been demanding “war taxes” or what we might call
“protection money” from taxi drivers, bus companies, small businesses.
But,as Bishop Emiliani
notes, one gang leader promised no crimes against the civilian population and
the other said no more extortions.
It is a long process,
which, according to the bishop, could last decades. He called it a process of
“iluminación” – illumination, based in the desire of the gang members to stop
the suffering of their children.”
What I heard in the
statements of the gang leaders was a concern that there are no jobs, there is
no real commitment to rehabilitation in the jails, there is discrimination
against gang members, there are cases where the police violate their right and
even, some say, kill gang members without cause. They want their children to
have real jobs, real opportunities.
It is thus a process
which needs not only dialogue and reconciliation between the gangs as well as
between the gangs and society; it needs the involvement of the government,
which, according to Bishop Emiliani, is participating in the process very timidly.
There is hope – but it’s
a long journey.
Meanwhile, violence continues
and people suffer the effects of structural poverty.
1 comment:
Not sure if you saw this last week but you're not the only one confused about what the gangs did and did not agree to.
http://www.insightcrime.org/news-analysis/3-questions-about-honduras-gang-pact
Post a Comment