The homicide rate in Honduras, one of the most violent countries in the world, has reached 35.79 per 100,000 inhabitants, its lowest level for 16 years, authorities announced on Sunday (January 1st).
"
Since 2006, the country had never recorded such a low number of homicides
", welcomed the Secretariat for Security in a press release, attributing this performance to "
the implementation of new strategies in terms of security
”.
However, this homicide rate remains almost four times higher than the world average.
The secretariat recorded 1371 arrests of members of the "
maras
", criminal gangs which terrorize the population in the "
triangle of death
" (Honduras, Salvador, Guatemala) an area of Central America plagued by violence, poverty and corruption.
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Honduran President Xiomara Castro declared a state of exception in early December in order, according to her, to reinforce the government's strategy aimed at "
immediately recovering the territories of lawlessness
".
She was under pressure, many citizens asking her to follow the example of El Salvador, neighboring country of Honduras where the government of Nayib Bukele imposed a state of emergency allowing the police to make arrests without warrants to fight against the gangs.
