So called gang truce in Honduras - more thoughts

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.

Gang truce in Honduras - second thoughts

I wrote yesterday on this blog about the truce between the two major gangs in Honduras.

I still hope that this will be a major step in controlling one aspect of the violence in Honduras.

Yet it is important to recognize that gang-on-gang violence is not the major source of violence in this country. It accounts for between 2% and 30% of the killings here, depending on what source you read.

Very significant are the revenge killings related to drug-trafficking, probably more than 23%. Drug cartels operate here – some very openly, some with the assistance of politicians, all with the consent and assistance of at least some of the police.

There are also concerns, expressed by the leaders of the gangs in their press conferences as well as by human rights organizations, of killings carried out by police and other government officials.

Some of these deaths are related to the land-struggles in the Aguan region of northeast Honduras and other areas.

There are also the killings of journalists and human rights advocates. The numbers may not be high proportionately but Honduras is a country where journalism and human rights advocacy carry risks of being killed.

But there are also the revenge killings, which I hear about more often than I would like.

Some are related to land.

I recently heard of the death of a woman by someone who was contesting a road on the woman’s property. The perpetrator was denounced and arrested. However, persons associated with the perpetrator threatened to kill all the family if they testified when the case went to court. All pulled back, except for one man. They offered him 5000 lempiras (abut $250) to shut up. He refused and was shot and killed a few days ago by three hooded men.

There are also cases when someone is killed and the family members kill the perpetrator because they see no way that he will be arrested and convicted.

These cases point to three of the most serious problems related to violence here.

First of all, there is the culture of revenge and the lack of cultural responses to conflict that don’t escalate into violence. Here there is a great need of work on developing a consciousness of alternatives to violence and transformative responses to conflict.

Secondly, people are reluctant to speak up in the face of injustice, in fear of suffering recrimination from the perpetrators.

But there is also, more seriously, the lack of a police and judicial system that deals with killings and violations of law. There is an investigative branch of the police, but very few cases of violence are investigated and even fewer result in prosecution. Impunity is rampant. People have very little confidence in the courts and the police.

In fact, some people fear the police as themselves perpetrators of violence. And the idea of militarizing the police could, I believe, cause even greater problems.

And so, the truce between the gangs is a tiny step in dealing with the violence here.

Where do we go from here?

Gang truce in Honduras - first thoughts

Yesterday, in a prison in San Pedro Sula, representatives of the two major gangs in Honduras announced that they were seeking a truce between them. One of the leaders promised “Zero violence,” but another leader stated, “"We're willing to work to lower the violence, but we need everyone to be on board, because we're not willing to be the only ones."  

This is good news, if it holds. A lot will depend not only on the actions of the two gangs but on the willingness of the wider society and the Honduran government to make major changes. More on this in a later blog entry.

San Pedro Sula is the city with the highest percentage of murders in the world and Honduras is one of the world’s most violent countries.

Where I am in western Honduras, we don’t see much gang activity, but the gangs are active in the major cities and on the north coast. To finance their wars they demand “war taxes” – protection money – from businesses, as well as bus and taxi drivers.

Central to this process was Monseñor Romulo Emiliani, the auxiliary bishop of San Pedro Sula. Adam Blackwell, a Canadian from the Organization of American States who has been involved in the gang truce in El Salvador, was also instrumental to arriving at an agreement.

Monseñor Emiliani, a Claretian from Panama, has been a major force in the church’s Prison Ministry throughout the country.

Monseñor Romulo Emiliani, August 2012

Last March, during a bloody prison riot in San Pedro Sula, he negotiated an end to the crisis. He assured the prisoners that the police would not try to end in by a violent attack. Though about 17 were killed in the riot, more deaths were prevented.

Last August at a meeting in Santa Rosa of the prison ministry in northern and western Honduras, he spoke of his trepidation when he entered the prison three times; in one sense, he did not know if he would come out alive.

I was impressed by his courage and his willingness to take risks. It became clear that he loves the prisoners, though he is realistic about the situation.

As he said in an interview in El Heraldo, “On the human level I’m not very optimistic, but seeing everything from the vantage point of faith, there is where one can maintain hope, and where God can intervene.”

There was a truce between the two gangs in 2005, but it only lasted two months.

I have a little more hope now, especially because Monseñor Emiliani is involved, a person of faith, committed to prisoners, who has gained their confidence by his courageous initiatives on their behalf.

In this situation we can pressure authorities in Honduras and in the US to respond to this initiative of the gangs and accompany our actions with prayer.