While in the
US last month, many people asked me about violence in Honduras, in particular,
where I live. As I tried to answer this question, I began to see that it helps
to distinguish different types of violence. The trouble is that we fail to make
distinctions and thus call Honduras the most violent country in the world,
without distinguishing the types, where they are more likely to occur, and the
risks involved in living or visiting here.
I started
with five types of violence then added two more, and just this week I decided
that there was one more type of violence to add. This is, of course, a
completely biased list, based not on research but on my reading and my
experiences. Beware, This is a long and biased analysis - but I invite comments so that we can understand what is happening here and change the situation.
In addition, this analysis should not be used to deter people from coming to visit. It sure doesn't deter me from staying here. But looking at the types of violence can help us respond to the injustice as well as to avoid the risk of personal violence.
Types of
Violence
Organized
crime
Organized
crime, including drug dealers, drug smugglers, and smugglers of contraband and
arms, are sources of violence, though I believe this violence is limited to
certain areas and to targeted persons. There has been violence in certain areas
of the north coast related to drug smuggling and conflicts between organized
crime families. Close to hone, I remember that a few years ago a congressman
was killed in Copán Ruinas, possibly related to organized crime. Most people I
know – Hondurans and others – are not seriously threatened by organized crime
violence.
Gangs
Gangs are a
problem in the major cities – especially Tegucigalpa, La Ceiba, and San Pedro
Sula, as well as in the prisons.
Several of
the gangs in part owe their current existence to the deportation of Hondurans
who had fled to the US and joined gangs their. There are fights over territory,
extortion, and recruitment of youth that are particularly troublesome and
violence, but these are largely confined to a few cities and even certain
neighborhoods. If one can avoid these neighborhoods and is careful in the
cities, the risk of violence can be minimized. But if one is a poor Honduran
living in a big city, trying to eke out an existence, violence and threat of
violence can be a serious risk every day. But there has not been a major influx
of the gangs in Santa Rosa de Copán or in the municipalities of the parish of
Dulce Nombre de María where I serve.
Common crime
In a poor
country there are people who are desperate and will rob and assault people.
There are also people who seek to make a life through common crime.
These crimes
may be accompanied by violence or threats of violence.
There has
been at least one assault of an intercity bus recently near La Entrada, Copán.
There have also been some robberies of people on isolated rural paths in the
area. Santa Rosa has its crime.
But taking
precautions about when and where one travels are normal. People warned me of
pickpockets in Rome, Italy, as well as in Tegucigalpa.
Vendettas
and vengeance
In a country
where there is no really active justice system, a number of people will take
the law into their own hands. If someone has been killed, there is less than a
9% chance that the killer will be brought to trial. And so, frustrated by the
lack of justice, people have taken the law into their own hands.
This
sometimes plays out as part of a long history of killings between families or
groups of people – going on for generations. A new killing may provoke a series
of killings. This has happened in at least two villages in the parish. In one
case, it was probably a case of mistaken identity in which the grandfather of
the family was killed when the killers sought one of the sons who had been
involved in a killing.
In these
cases the killings are normally targeted.
The risk for
outsiders is minimal. In addition, visitors should avoid places where there is
an ongoing inter-family feud where violence has been involved.
As a worker
in the church, I find myself called to be careful but also to be present to the
people. A few months ago I joined our pastor, Padre German, when he went to say
the ninth-day Mass for someone who had been killed, probably as part of a cycle
of vengeance.
Sexual
jealousy
Occasionally
there are feuds, usually between men, over a woman. However, I once saw a woman
attack another woman over a man in a restaurant in Santa Rosa.
These again
are cases of targeted violence that could happen anywhere and anytime – even in
the US. Common sense and carefulness can mitigate any personal risk.
Domestic
violence
Violence
against women and rape are very serious problems in Honduras. The macho culture
and the structures of society that emasculate men contribute to this violence.
There are efforts being made by a number of groups to lessen the number of
cases of domestic violence, including women’s groups that help to empower
women. Santa Rosa de Copán also has a domestic abuse shelter for women and
their families, which does have a police officer always present.
I have
encountered one severe case of domestic violence. Leaving a village after a
church meeting, someone raced after the pickup and asked me to take someone to
the hospital. She had been macheteed by her companion. We got her to the
hospital where her arm was saved; I learned that she later returned to her family’s
village. The man was arrested and jailed, though I don’t know his current
status. The police probably came because people called the police and reported
it (at my insistence); one of those who called was the wife of one of the
mayors in the parish.
I am not so
sure that the police are also so willing to make arrests in these and other
cases.
“Saturday
night” specials
Alcoholism
and alcohol abuse are serious problems in Honduras. Drugs can also be found in
many places. Drinking or using drugs to excess can lead to fights, sometimes
over the smallest things. If a machete or a fire arm is available, serious
violence can result. Machetes are dangerous weapons, especially when they are
sharpened. Fire arms are all too available. Every once in a while I’ll see
someone with a pistol stuck in the waistband of their pants.
These cases
of violence are more likely to occur on weekend evenings and in places where
liquor is sold. So one should avoid bars and cantinas, especially in the
countryside. I would also avoid pool halls, which are often places where lots
of alcohol is consumed and sometimes places where prostitutes can be found.
The
government passed a law supposedly to try to control this about two years ago
that prohibited the sale of liquor, even in stores, between 6 pm Sunday night
and about 6 am Monday morning. But I think that many of the problems that lead
to violence happen Saturday night.
The violence
of the powers that be
The training
of the police and the military leads a lot to be desired here. That doesn’t
mean that there are not some very good policemen and soldiers.
In addition,
there is a military police – or better called a militarized police force – in
addition to the regular police.
There are
still cases of abuse and violence by the police. This can be seen especially in
cases such as a recent dismantlement of a squatter settlement as well as some
actions against street demonstrations.
In addition,
I would mention the large number of private security personnel, which, I
believe, have more persons than the police. In some cases, especially in the
north coast where the security forces are “protecting” disputed lands that have
been taken over by large landowners. These forces have used violence. I believe
that over 100 deaths have occurred in the Aguan Valley in the northeast of the
country, mostly of campesinos.
Another
serious category of this violence would have to note the ongoing deaths of lawyers
and journalists, as well as activists.
There are
probably other cases and types of violence which I have overlooked.
Structural Violence
But there is
the unseen violence, the structural violence, that keeps people in poverty,
that makes real change extremely difficult.
In their
1968 document on poverty, the Conference of Latin American Bishops, gathered in
Medellín, Colombia, wrote strongly against what they termed “institutional
violence” in their document on peace, ¶16.
If Christianity believes in the productiveness [fecundity] of peace in order to achieve justice, it also believes that justice is an inescapable condition for peace. It doesn’t fail to see that in many parts Latin America finds itself in a situation of injustice that can be called institutionalized violence, when, because of deficiency in the structures of industry and agriculture, of national and international economy, of cultural and political life, "whole populations lack necessities, live in such dependence as hinders all initiative and responsibility as well as every possibility for cultural promotion and participation in social and political life," thus violating fundamental rights. This situation demands all-embracing, courageous, urgent and profoundly renovating transformations.
(Translation revised by author.)
This was the
case in 1968 and it still continues here in Honduras. These structures need to
be changed if there is to be any real peace and end to violence and poverty.
1 comment:
You have covered a lot of territory. I would add the "violence of indifference", sometimes out of fear or not wanting to get involved, but often just callousness or some feeling that "if it doesn´t touch me then it is none of my business!" By tolerating the violence suffered by others, we in fact become part of the mechanism of violence. There can be no sitting on the fence.
I am remembering the famous quote of Martin Niemöller (1892–1984), a prominent Protestant pastor who emerged as an outspoken public foe of Adolf Hitler and spent the last seven years of Nazi rule in concentration camps.
First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.
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