Crime in Honduras

Ok, so I know last week I alluded, or out-rightly talked about Honduras’ crime problem. There are several factors that contribute to this problem, but mostly it has to do with drugs. Because of the U.S. war on drugs in Colombia, a lot of the operations have moved to countries with less oversight, and that place just happens to be Honduras. This oversight allows drug dealers to basically pass whatever they want in and out of the country without really much of a problem.

A lot of the violence in Honduras is a result of the growing drug culture here. As usual, the biggest problem areas and the big cities: Teguz and San Pedro Sula. But, alas, as Honduras is such a small country, you can pretty much count on being robbed by someone just about anywhere. The big cities deal with kidnapping and murder; it’s the smaller towns that you have to worry about perverts and robberies.

Being that poor Peace Corps Volunteers/Trainees and other gringos are perceived to be innately wealthy, and we tend to stand out a bit here, we’re a constant target. Someone sees me walking down the street and automatically assumes I have a nice cell-phone and an MP3 player. As such, it’s hard to really get through your service without being robbed, and in Honduras you can pretty much count on being held up by a gun/knife.

On the extreme end our Safety and Security office, Juan Carlos, has warned us how to handle ourselves in case a bus we’re traveling on faces a roadblock and bandits (rarely happens). Juan Carlos used to be the deputy director for like the whole of Honduras before he “retired” (he can’t be more than 40 years old), and as such whenever a Volunteer has a problem they can count on him. Apparently, after an incident is reported to Juan Carlos, the local police are suddenly motivated and become the personal guards of said Volunteer until the situation has been resolved.

I know this is a shoddy explanation of the situation here, but I figure it’s best not to include all the scary statistics to upset people. Typically, Volunteers are guaranteed to get robbed at some point during their two years. Do some Volunteers, especially women, encounter more violent crimes? Yes.

Honduras doesn’t have this problem because people here are terrible people, it’s because people are so poor that they are constantly tempted by other people’s nicer possessions. Grass is always greener. The thing is Peace Corps has done a great job scaring us into not being careless. As in the States, you can protect yourself just by being smart and aware of the situation. Two times a week Juan Carlos drives out to our training center to tell us how to handle ourselves in different situations. I know not to carry my cell-phone unless I absolutely need it and to hide money in different pockets. If someone asks for all my stuff I most definitely give it to them. No more walking down the street with my IPod in, but alas, such is life in the Peace Corps!