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migrant hondurans se préparent à to cross the Goascorán, on 18 October, to d’enter illéalso in el Salvador and to join the caravan of migrants heading to the United States.
MARVIN RECINOS / AFP
“Access to the portfolio” They don’t run after the american dream, they are fleeing from the nightmare of honduras. “It is with these words that the opposition politician honduran Jari Dixon commented on the journey of 7,000 of his fellow countrymen, political parties at the foot of San Pedro Sula last week to win the United States. Launched following a call on social networks, the procession of migrants has first crossed the border to guatemala before winning the Mexico, Friday, October 19.
This is not the first time that such a crowd movement occurs. In may, already, several hundred Hondurans trying to reach the United States in a convoy. Only a handful had been able to win the american soil and apply for asylum. “These migrations grouped for the purpose of raising awareness among the public on the social situation, drama “, analysis Christophe Ventura, a researcher at the Institute of international and strategic relations (IRIS).
poverty Rate of 64.3 %
Despite a growth of nearly 5 % in the past year, Honduras figure in twenty-seventh position of the poorest countries of the planet. In central America, it is the second most country in economic difficulty, behind Nicaragua. Rotting with unemployment, this country of 9.1 million inhabitants shows a poverty rate of 64.3 %. Over the same period, in the rural areas of the country, nearly one person in five lived even in a situation of extreme poverty – is less than 1.90 usd per day (1,66 euro).
above all, this country bordered by the Caribbean sea suffers from a homicide rate among the strongest in the world – outside of the conflict militarized. The united Nations established in 2015, a rate of 63.8 homicides for 100 000 inhabitants. This figure had peaked to 93.2 in 2011.
Interview with Jorge Martinez Pizarro, a geographer and demographer chilean : “Refer to the migrants as a threat is irresponsible,”
why was this ultraviolence ? First of all because the country, independent since 1821, has seen its history punctuated by multiple coups – the last in 2009, with a civil war and conflicts and recurring with its neighbors – Guatemala, in 1880 and el Salvador during the brief “war of football” in 1969.
“Exporting the offending”
But the great turning point in the violence in Honduras occurs at the end of the 1990s. The United States then proceed to large waves of ” deportations “, referring to their country of origin of the offenders arrested on their territory. “This export of delinquency americanized upset the fragile social equilibrium of the country favoring the emergence of gangs ultraviolents,” notes Christophe Ventura, the IRIS. A movement which is accompanied by” an extension to the whole of Latin America from drug trafficking, following the failure of the militarization of the fight against trafficking of drugs, imposed by the United States “.
Result : with the Guatemala and the Salvador, the Honduras is now part of the Triangle north of central America. Point of attachment of the drug trafficking continental, this area has become the place through which passes the drug conduct of the British towards the United States. “Honduran society is being undermined by the ultraviolence of the gangs, especially the mafia-like organizations of the MS13 and the Barrio 18 “, underlines Christophe Ventura. These maras ” have become the entrepreneurs of the crime and engaged in extortion and all forms of barbarity on all strata of the population “, recalls the researcher. According to Radio Progreso, cited by a report of the Commission of immigration of Canada, “a contract can be executed for as little as 200 HNL” (7.23 rate of euro).
Wide format : el Salvador, and Honduras, gangrene of the “maras”
Purges in the police
This context of extreme violence generates, in addition, a political system corrupted. In 2017, many Hondurans were also taken to the streets of Tegucigalpa to protest against the results of the presidential election of 26 November, which they felt was rigged. According to Amnesty International, at least 31 people have been killed by the police and the army.
The government has attempted some reforms to combat the corruption of its agents – the country was ranked 123rd out of 176 by the NGO Transparency International in 2016. The president, Juan Orlando Hernandez, has announced the creation of a ministry of human rights and justice, which should be operational in 2018. In April 2016, a special commission for the purging and the process of transformation of the national police had been put in place to conduct a survey among the police forces. According to Migdonia Ayestas, coordinator of the Observatory of violence in Honduras, over 5 000 of the 17 000 police in the country have been returned on this occasion.
Threats american
“Caught between extreme poverty and ultraviolence, more and more Hondurans choose to flee their country, driven by utter despair,” sums up Christophe Ventura, the IRIS. In 2014, for the first time in the history of the immigration from Latin America, the number of migrants from the Triangle of the north exceeded those of Mexico to the border with the United States.
A situation which displeases strongly to Donald Trump. The us president has announced, Monday, October 22, that the United States would reduce aid to Guatemala, el Salvador, and Honduras, deploring the fact that these States have not been able to ” prevent people from leaving their country to illegally enter the United States “. “We’re going to start to cut, or significantly reduce, the enormous international aid that we give them,” said Mr. Trump in a Tweet.
Analysis : A “caravan” of migrant honduran prompt in the american campaign
The decision will have far-reaching consequences for Honduras. “The country, which exports very little, will not be able to defend its political and economic sovereignty “, underlines Christophe Ventura, who speaks of the “vicious circle” : “The line defended by Donald Trump is to continue to outsource the management of migration to countries of origin, without helping to address the social problems that create these situations of distress and lead people to the exile. “
