“The war on drugs is not our war”
“The war on drugs is not our war”
The US is partly to blame for the country’s immigration problems, argues leader
“La guerra al narco es una guerra que no es nuestra”
Silvia Blanco Madrid 2 OCT 2014 - 19:31 CEST
Honduran President Juan Orlando Hérnández wants to present his country as a hub of opportunities for investors. While visiting Spain on an official visit, the president is making an effort to paint a hopeful future for one of the most violent and poorest countries in the world, a country located on one of the principal routes for drugs entering the United States and a country often considered a failed state.
The wave of migrant minors that put Washington in a bind this summer came mostly from Honduras. Thousands of youths in search of something better than poverty, the Maras, extortion and murders... Hernández admits that these are the roots of the problem but he says Washington bears part of the responsibility: “What causes most of the violence in Honduras has to do with drug production in South America and massive consumption in the United States. Unfortunately, we are in the middle.”
He is sitting for this interview in Madrid’s baroque Casa América, which is filled with diplomatic and security personnel and members of the press. Hernández has just signed a four-year aid package worth €150 million with Spain. “The drug cartels and organized crime gangs are so aggressive in their illegal activities that they almost match acts committed by fundamentalist groups such as ISIS [Islamic State in Iraq and Syria]. That war is not ours. We have the ‘Alliance for Prosperity’ plan, which we signed with Guatemala and El Salvador to strengthen governance, work on inclusion, boost economic growth, and become effective in our efforts to punish crime. We need the participation of the United States. As I told Washington leaders, ‘If Central America remains tumultuous, violent and without opportunities, without economic growth, it will be a huge risk for the United States. On the other hand, if Central America is prosperous, in peace, and has opportunities, it will be a great investment’,” he explains.
Hernández is a trained jurist and a member of the right-wing National Party. He took office in January, proposed a tough plan against drug trafficking, and promised to improve security. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Honduras had the highest homicide rate in the world in 2012. The organization recorded 90 murders for every 100,000 residents. In 2013, the Honduran Observatory on Violence registered 79 homicides for every 100,0000 residents.
More:
http://elpais.com/elpais/2014/10/02/inenglish/1412260976_651869.html
