The director of the Honduran National Police, Gustavo Sanchez, has requested an extension of the state of emergency in the country until January 6, in order to guarantee the fight against crime and extortion by gangs.
The measure, in effect since last week, covers some of the neighborhoods in the cities of Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula where gangs have been intensifying their criminal activities, such as robberies and extortion.
«According to our planning and analysis, we already have it contemplated and we will possibly ask the executive branch to extend the time and the cities,» said Sanchez, according to the Honduran newspaper ‘La Tribuna’.
The head of the National Police considers that the measure should include those cities with the highest rates of violence and crime, and not just some of the neighborhoods. Since its implementation, the authorities have arrested more than a hundred people and dismantled at least twenty criminal groups.
Finally, Sanchez stressed that, although at first the measure was viewed «with much fear», the reality is that today there is «much hope and satisfaction» because ordinary citizens «are not being affected at all» by the state of emergency.
Of the almost 300 municipalities that make up the country, only two — those of Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula — are under this measure. In the capital, 89 neighborhoods are being intervened, while in the second city there are 73.
The regulation is reminiscent of a similar one announced by one of its also troubled neighbors, El Salvador, where its president, Nayib Bukele, decreed a state of emergency which has been in effect for more than seven months, amidst criticism and denunciations by international organizations for alleged human rights violations.
