{"code":"26588","sect":"Central America","sect_slug":"central-america","hits":"632","link":"https:\/\/elfaro.net\/en\/202212\/centroamerica\/26588","link_edit":"","name":"Honduran State of Exception Expands Bukele\u2019s Echo in the Region","slug":"honduran-state-of-exception-expands-bukele-rsquo-s-echo-in-the-region","info":"Central America, in Brief: The same day Nayib Bukele staged a military siege of the gang bastion Soyapango, Xiomara Castro decreed a state of exception before deploying police and military in 162 of Honduras\u2019 most marginalized urban communities. The suspension of constitutional guarantees goes even further than in the Salvadoran model.","mtag":"Newsletter","noun":{"html":"\u003Cspan class='tint-text--dark' data_href='\/user\/profile\/rgressier'\u003E Roman Gressier\u003C\/span\u003E y \u003Cspan class='tint-text--dark' data_href='\/user\/profile\/cbarrera'\u003E Carlos Barrera\u003C\/span\u003E","data":{"roman-gressier":{"sort":"rgressier","slug":"roman-gressier","path":"roman_gressier","name":"Roman Gressier","edge":"0","init":"0"},"carlos-barrera":{"sort":"cbarrera","slug":"carlos-barrera","path":"carlos_barrera","name":"Carlos Barrera","edge":"1","init":"0"}}},"view":"632","pict":{"cms-image-000038407-jpg":{"feat":"0","sort":"38407","name":"cms-image-000038407.jpg","link":"https:\/\/elfaro.net\/images\/cms-image-000038407.jpg","path":"https:\/\/elfaro.net\/images\/cms-image-000038407.jpg","back":"","slug":"cms-image-000038407-jpg","text":"<p>Soldiers interrogate a young man in the colonia Las Margaritas in Soyapango during what the Bukele government has billed to the public as a\u00a0\u201cmilitary lockdown\u201d of Soyapango.\u00a0Photo: Carlos Barrera\/El Faro<\/p>","capt":"\u003Cp\u003ESoldiers interrogate a young man in the colonia Las Margaritas in Soyapango during what the Bukele government has billed to the public as a\u00a0\u201cmilitary lockdown\u201d of Soyapango.\u00a0Photo: Carlos Barrera\/El Faro\u003C\/p\u003E"},"cms-image-000038408-jpg":{"feat":"0","sort":"38408","name":"cms-image-000038408.jpg","link":"https:\/\/elfaro.net\/images\/cms-image-000038408.jpg","path":"https:\/\/elfaro.net\/images\/cms-image-000038408.jpg","back":"","slug":"cms-image-000038408-jpg","text":"<p>Accompanied by a line of tanks, Salvadoran troops marched through Las Margaritas, a colonia of Soyapango, on Saturday, December 3, 2022 in an operation President Bukele claimed would \u201cremove every gang member there, one by one.\u201d Only state media outlets were permitted to enter with the Army, but this photo was taken at their exit point. Photo: Carlos Barrera\/El Faro<\/p>","capt":"\u003Cp\u003EAccompanied by a line of tanks, Salvadoran troops marched through Las Margaritas, a colonia of Soyapango, on Saturday, December 3, 2022 in an operation President Bukele claimed would \u201cremove every gang member there, one by one.\u201d Only state media outlets were permitted to enter with the Army, but this photo was taken at their exit point. Photo: Carlos Barrera\/El Faro\u003C\/p\u003E"},"cms-image-000038409-jpg":{"feat":"1","sort":"38409","name":"cms-image-000038409.jpg","link":"https:\/\/elfaro.net\/images\/cms-image-000038409.jpg","path":"https:\/\/elfaro.net\/images\/cms-image-000038409.jpg","back":"","slug":"cms-image-000038409-jpg","text":"<p>Members of the Military Police of Public Order (PMOP) frisk a man in Tegucigalpa on December 6, 2022, after President Xiomara Castro decreed a state of exception in 162 of the most marginalized urban communities in Honduras. Photo: Johny Magallanes\/AFP<\/p>","capt":"\u003Cp\u003EMembers of the Military Police of Public Order (PMOP) frisk a man in Tegucigalpa on December 6, 2022, after President Xiomara Castro decreed a state of exception in 162 of the most marginalized urban communities in Honduras. Photo: Johny Magallanes\/AFP\u003C\/p\u003E"}},"pict_main__sort":38409,"date":{"live":"2022\/12\/09"},"data_post_dateLive_YY":"2022","data_post_dateLive_MM":"12","data_post_dateLive_DD":"09","text":"\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EAt 3 a.m. on Saturday, December 3, President Nayib Bukele \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/nayibbukele\/status\/1598964572492165120?s=20&t=0WuzXrdkvT-bGwKCeNX11A\"\u003Eannounced on Twitter\u003C\/a\u003E that he had deployed 10,000 soldiers and police officers to the city of Soyapango, a former epicenter of gang-related homicides, to \u201cremove every gang member there, one by one.\u201d When the first troops arrived mid-morning at the colonias \u003Ca href=\"\/es\/202204\/el_salvador\/26112\/Recorrido-por-una-capital-bajo-R%C3%A9gimen-de-Excepci%C3%B3n.htm\"\u003E22 de Abril\u003C\/a\u003E and \u003Ca href=\"\/es\/201006\/especiales\/1966\/Las-Margaritas-que-Jason-Ulises-y-Misael-sue%C3%B1an.htm\"\u003ELas Margaritas\u003C\/a\u003E, two historic bastions of the Mara Salvatrucha, the gang members had understandably fled.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EThree Soyapango neighbors, who spoke to El Faro English on condition of anonymity for fear of government retaliation, say most of the area\u2019s \u003Cstrong\u003Egang members saw Bukele\u2019s early-bird announcement and state media campaign and left the area\u003C\/strong\u003E. In the ensuing days, residents say authorities in Las Margaritas made just five arrests out of the 150 reported in all of Soyapango during the week-long operation.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EFootage of hundreds of soldiers piling into trucks \u2014and Bukele\u2019s claim that this is phase 5, \u201cextraction,\u201d of the state-secret Territorial Control Plan\u2014 snagged global headlines, and that appears to have been the point.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EEl Faro English was in Las Margaritas as the Army allowed in only state media before marching through the colonia with a row of tanks. They then moved on, leaving behind not a military lockdown, but rather the Army checkpoints and police presence that have typified the nine-month state of exception in the community.\u00a0\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EAs of Wednesday night, the same remained true throughout Soyapango: checkpoints in colonias, yes; a lockdown of the municipality, as the government claims, no.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E \u003Cfigure class=\"pict pict_land pict_move_posc 0 cs_img cs_img--curr rule--ss_c\" data-shot=\"pict\" data-hint=\"pict\"\u003E \u003Cdiv class=\"pict__pobj text-overflow\"\u003E\u003Cimg src=https:\/\/elfaro.net\/get_img?ImageWidth=3000&ImageHeight=2000&ImageId=38408 class=\"pobj\" style=\"max-width: 100%\" rel=\"resizable\" alt=\"Accompanied by a line of tanks, Salvadoran troops marched through Las Margaritas, a colonia of Soyapango, on Saturday, December 3, 2022 in an operation President Bukele claimed would \u201cremove every gang member there, one by one.\u201d Only state media outlets were permitted to enter with the Army, but this photo was taken at their exit point. Photo: Carlos Barrera\/El Faro\" \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E \u003Cfigcaption class=\"pict__text cs_img_caption folk_content typo_buttons line--ss_s0c line--ss_s0c--auto block full-width text-overflow rule--ss_l relative\"\u003E \u003Cdiv class=\"__content block-inline full-width align-top tint-text--idle relative\"\u003E Accompanied by a line of tanks, Salvadoran troops marched through Las Margaritas, a colonia of Soyapango, on Saturday, December 3, 2022 in an operation President Bukele claimed would \u201cremove every gang member there, one by one.\u201d Only state media outlets were permitted to enter with the Army, but this photo was taken at their exit point. Photo: Carlos Barrera\/El Faro \u003Cdiv class=\"photographer text_italic rule--ss_l tint-text--idle\"\u003E \u003C\/div\u003E \u003C\/div\u003E \u003C\/figcaption\u003E \u003C\/figure\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E \u003Cfigure class=\"pict pict_land pict_move_posc 0 cs_img cs_img--curr rule--ss_c\" data-shot=\"pict\" data-hint=\"pict\"\u003E \u003Cdiv class=\"pict__pobj text-overflow\"\u003E\u003Cimg src=https:\/\/elfaro.net\/get_img?ImageWidth=3000&ImageHeight=2000&ImageId=38407 class=\"pobj\" style=\"max-width: 100%\" rel=\"resizable\" alt=\"Soldiers interrogate a young man in the colonia Las Margaritas in Soyapango during what the Bukele government has billed to the public as a\u00a0\u201cmilitary lockdown\u201d of Soyapango.\u00a0Photo: Carlos Barrera\/El Faro\" \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E \u003Cfigcaption class=\"pict__text cs_img_caption folk_content typo_buttons line--ss_s0c line--ss_s0c--auto block full-width text-overflow rule--ss_l relative\"\u003E \u003Cdiv class=\"__content block-inline full-width align-top tint-text--idle relative\"\u003E Soldiers interrogate a young man in the colonia Las Margaritas in Soyapango during what the Bukele government has billed to the public as a\u00a0\u201cmilitary lockdown\u201d of Soyapango.\u00a0Photo: Carlos Barrera\/El Faro \u003Cdiv class=\"photographer text_italic rule--ss_l tint-text--idle\"\u003E \u003C\/div\u003E \u003C\/div\u003E \u003C\/figcaption\u003E \u003C\/figure\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EResidents of Las Margaritas said that MS-13 presence has significantly waned there this year, but that they remain in the communities despite the suspension of rights, mass arrests, and deployments to the area like the one on Saturday.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EThey also shared divided feelings about the state of exception. Some expressed thanks for the patrols of soldiers, who they say have protected them. Others fear that they could be wrongfully captured and held for months, citing the dozens of confirmed in-custody deaths and reports of torture and other abuse.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EIt is consistent with public polling: In late October, three-quarters of Salvadorans told the \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/uca.edu.sv\/iudop\/wp-content\/uploads\/Boletin-de-Regimen-de-Excepcion.pdf\"\u003ECentral American University\u003C\/a\u003E that they feel \u201csafe\u201d under the emergency measures, but at least two-thirds of the population also disagreed with the suspension of constitutional guarantees that have contributed to sweeping human rights violations.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EAccording to a report by Human Rights Watch and Cristosal released Wednesday \u2014titled, \u201c\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.hrw.org\/report\/2022\/12\/07\/we-can-arrest-anyone-we-want\/widespread-human-rights-violations-under-el\"\u003EWe can arrest anyone we want\u003C\/a\u003E\u201d\u2014 authorities have carried out \u201chundreds of indiscriminate raids, particularly in low-income neighborhoods,\u201d drawing reports of enforced disappearances, torture, and due process violations \u201crepeatedly and across the country.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EThe organizations called for foreign governments and international financial institutions to cut funding to Salvadoran government institutions directly involved in the abuses, like prison, prosecution, and police authorities. They \u003Cstrong\u003Esingled out the Central American Bank for Economic Integration\u003C\/strong\u003E (CABEI), which \u2014as we discussed in \u003Ca href=\"\/en\/202206\/centroamerica\/26247\/Ortega-Finds-Complicity-in-Central-American-Presidents.htm\"\u003Eour July 1 newsletter\u003C\/a\u003E\u2014 has continued to fund the Salvadoran and Nicaraguan governments while other institutions, like the IMF, are not bankrolling them.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EHonduran copycat?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003ETop officials under Honduran President Xiomara Castro have advocated for months in favor of implementing a spin-off of Bukele\u2019s so-called \u201cwar against gangs.\u201d It wasn\u2019t entirely surprising when Castro signed an executive decree on Saturday \u003Ca href=\"\/en\/202212\/centroamerica\/26579\/%E2%80%9CHonduras-can-learn-things-from-Bukele%E2%80%99s-state-of-exception%E2%80%9D.htm\"\u003Eordering a state of exception\u003C\/a\u003E in 89 marginalized colonias in the capital and 73 others in San Pedro Sula and announced a \u201cwar against extortion.\u201d\u00a0\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EPending ratification from a divided Congress within 30 days, these communities have lost the right to free transit, protection from forced displacement; freedom of association; \u201cpersonal freedom;\u201d the right to post bail; the prohibition of detentions without a warrant; and the \u003Cstrong\u003Eright to \u201cnot be arrested for obligations not stemming from a crime.\u201d\u00a0\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EBy Tuesday night, the Police, Army, and Military Police \u2014the latter a deeply controversial corps created by Juan Orlando Hern\u00e1ndez and placed under control of the Armed Forces\u2014 had deployed to the communities.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E \u003Cfigure class=\"pict pict_land pict_move_posc 0 cs_img cs_img--curr rule--ss_c\" data-shot=\"pict\" data-hint=\"pict\"\u003E \u003Cdiv class=\"pict__pobj text-overflow\"\u003E\u003Cimg src=https:\/\/elfaro.net\/get_img?ImageWidth=3000&ImageHeight=1978&ImageId=38409 class=\"pobj\" style=\"max-width: 100%\" rel=\"resizable\" alt=\"Members of the Military Police of Public Order (PMOP) frisk a man in Tegucigalpa on December 6, 2022, after President Xiomara Castro decreed a state of exception in 162 of the most marginalized urban communities in Honduras. Photo: Johny Magallanes\/AFP\" \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E \u003Cfigcaption class=\"pict__text cs_img_caption folk_content typo_buttons line--ss_s0c line--ss_s0c--auto block full-width text-overflow rule--ss_l relative\"\u003E \u003Cdiv class=\"__content block-inline full-width align-top tint-text--idle relative\"\u003E Members of the Military Police of Public Order (PMOP) frisk a man in Tegucigalpa on December 6, 2022, after President Xiomara Castro decreed a state of exception in 162 of the most marginalized urban communities in Honduras. Photo: Johny Magallanes\/AFP \u003Cdiv class=\"photographer text_italic rule--ss_l tint-text--idle\"\u003E \u003C\/div\u003E \u003C\/div\u003E \u003C\/figcaption\u003E \u003C\/figure\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EIt was lost on few that this contradicted Castro\u2019s campaign promise to disentangle the military from civil policing activities and place human rights at the front of her agenda. COPINH, the Indigenous Lenca organization co-founded by Berta C\u00e1ceres and a key base of campaign support, \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/COPINHHONDURAS\/status\/1600286734880673792?s=20&t=xGbmBTBTFIxHruP2mWGkvw\"\u003Econdemned the state of exception\u003C\/a\u003E the day it went into effect.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EIn an \u003Ca href=\"\/en\/202212\/centroamerica\/26579\/%E2%80%9CHonduras-can-learn-things-from-Bukele%E2%80%99s-state-of-exception%E2%80%9D.htm\"\u003Einterview with El Faro English\u003C\/a\u003E days before the measure, Honduran Security Secretary Ram\u00f3n Sabill\u00f3n tried to take distance from the Bukele model \u2014asserting that the \u201ccatracha [Honduran] formula\u201d would respect \u201cdignity and human rights\u201d\u2014 but affirms that \u201cthere are things to be learned\u201d from El Salvador.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003E\u201cA society must attack crime at the root, not only repress. What happens is that \u003Cstrong\u003Epeople don\u2019t like preventative measures. They want a hard fist\u003C\/strong\u003E,\u201d he asserted. \u201cTechnical analysis isn\u2019t the highest level [of decision-making], but rather politics,\u201d he claimed.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EDecreeing a state of exception \u201cis accepting that you\u2019re otherwise incapable of [addressing extortion], and there\u2019s a very thin line where you\u2019re creating space for abuse,\u201d top prosecutor Luis Santos, head of Honduras\u2019 Special Prosecutor\u2019s Unit against Corruption Networks (UFERCO), told El Faro English.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003E\u201cOne thing is your possible intention and another is those who will carry it out,\u201d he added, in reference to the military and police forces\u2019 well-documented brutality and due process violations in marginalized communities. Of their nexus with gangs and drug traffickers and the need for a purge, rejected by Secretary Sabill\u00f3n, Santos added: \u201cInside the Police there are still members with ties to these groups.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EAmid the criticism of human rights violations in El Salvador, Bukele \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/nayibbukele\/status\/1600916096990810150?s=20&t=duEO_g_g6vntbs2mQi6ucQ\"\u003Esaid on Thursday\u003C\/a\u003E, \u201cwhat they [the press and international NGOs] fear is that we\u2019ll be successful, because other governments will want to imitate us. They fear the power of example.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp\u003ENext week Castro will travel to New York, purportedly to sign the agreement to create the heavily anticipated U.N.-backed International Commission against Impunity in Honduras (CICIH), but there are still substantial doubts about the true reach of the new commission. Not to insist on the similarities with the Bukele administration, but if the CICIH is born toothless, a \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/elfaroenglish\/status\/1400861815890919430\"\u003Ed\u00e9j\u00e0 vu of his CICIES\u003C\/a\u003E will be inevitable.\u003C\/p\u003E"}