Honduras gang truce offers ‘peace from depths of hell’

The Mara Salvatrucha and Barrio 18 gangs said they will commit to zero violence and zero street crime in an unprecedented show of good intention, with the declaration of a ceasefire which is being seen as a step towards enduring agreement.

Gang leaders spoke to the media from prison cells in San Pedro Sula, the Central American country’s industrial capital – and reportedly the world’s most violent city.

One leader, his face hidden by a bandana, said: “We’re here wanting to talk, wanting the government to listen… We ask society and authorities to forgive us for the damage we have done.”

The pact in Honduras, which follows a similar deal reached in early 2012 in neighbouring El Salvador, has yet to be formally signed but comes after eight months of negotiations.

Honduran President Porfirio Lobo openly offered his support on Monday, saying he would fully participate in the peace process.

Central American affiliates

Honduras is said to be the most violent country outside a war zone. For a nation with a population of just 8 million, homicide rates are estimated at between 85 to 91 killings per 100,000 people (Venezuela stands at 56 per 100,000 and the UK at 1.2). About 20 people were slain across Honduras every day in 2012.

The peace talks in both Honduras and El Salvador involve the two largest gangs in the region, which track their roots to immigrant street gangs of Los Angeles.

Their ranks swelled in the United States with young men fleeing civil war in Central America throughout the 1980s. Many were subsequently deported for crimes committed in the US, exporting their gang ties with them and spawning large affiliates across Central America.

There is doubt that a gang truce could greatly cut violence in Honduras. A 2010 UN crime report said only 30 per cent of the killings are the result of gang violence.

‘Multiple actors’

“The dynamic of violence in the country goes beyond gangs and reflects the existence of multiple actors that are difficult to pinpoint,” said Julieta Castellanos, the National University of Honduras rector. Her son and a friend were murdered in 2011, allegedly by Honduran police and not gang members.

Castellanos said she is concerned the agreement will mean fewer criminal prosecutions in a country were impunity already runs high.

In El Salvador however, the truce still stands and, according to Salvadoran authorities, murders have dropped about 52 per cent in the 14 months since it began.

Alex Sanchez, a former Salvadoran gang member who directs Homies Unidos, an anti-violence project in Los Angeles, is full of hope for Honduras.

“Yes, this is real. Even if homicides were only to be reduced by 30 per cent, it would take Honduras off the list of being the most violent country in the world and it would save the lives of a lot of people in one of the poorest countries.”

Out of the political process

The gang leaders who spoke to journalists in San Pedro Sula blamed unemployment and lack of opportunities for driving young men into gangs.

“We’re asking for nothing more than to work… We ask the government to help us so our young people learn a trade and don’t turn out like us,” they said.

“What we need to see now is government acknowledgement in Honduras, and commitment to the process,” said Sanchez. “The gangs are tired of being left out of the political process.” His hope is that their declarations of peace will have wider impacts across smaller criminal groups.

“It’s really significant what’s happening in Central America right now. We’re seeing the start of peace coming from the depths of hell,” he concluded.