Honduras
Honduras performs in the mid-range across all categories of the Global State of Democracy framework, falling within the top 25 per cent of the world on Freedom of Religion and Freedom of the Press but in the bottom 25 per cent on Access to Justice and Absence of Corruption. Over the last five years, Honduras has experienced notable advances in Credible Elections, Civil Liberties, Freedom of the Press, Rule of Law and Predictable Enforcement. During this period, it has not suffered from any significant declines. Honduras is a lower middle-income country with an economy centered around agriculture.
Politics in Honduras are driven by poor socio-economic conditions and interrelated problems of gang violence, gender and ethnic inequality, and corruption. Honduras is one of the poorest and most unequal countries in the region: the poverty rate in Honduras has recently surpassed 70 per cent, with over half of households in extreme poverty. With limited opportunity for upward mobility, many Hondurans turn to gang-related activity and many flee the country. Life in Honduras, especially in its urban centers, is enmeshed with gang activity, and Hondurans often face petty theft, extortion, and generalized violence. Violence disproportionately affects Honduran women and children, and Honduras has the highest femicide rate and the second-highest adolescent pregnancy rate in the region. Women’s rights in Honduras have also been severely restricted in recent years with an absolute ban on abortion. The new government (since 2022), headed by the country’s first female president, has pledged a feminist program, focused on advancing women’s rights. Notably, a ban on emergency contraception was lifted in March 2023.
The majority of Hondurans are mestizo, of mixed European and Indigenous descent, and roughly nine per cent of the total population identifies either as Indigenous or as of African descent. Non-mestizos in Honduras suffer disproportionately from social exclusion, poverty, and political disempowerment. Land encroachment is an ongoing problem in the country, especially for rural, indigenous communities, and discrimination in urban centers leave minorities with limited access to the labor market. The problem of poverty in Honduras is also exacerbated by rampant corruption, and anti-corruption protests frequently punctuate the Honduran political landscape.
A critical juncture in Honduran politics took place in 2009, when former President Manuel Zelaya was ousted in a military-led coup. It was followed by a weakening of checks and balances and a lack of political alternation (the National Party established a hegemony for 12 years). However, other political parties started gaining strength, ending the two-party system that had previously prevailed in Honduras. Serious allegations of irregularities in the 2017 elections led to massive opposition-led protests which were met with violence by security forces. These events prompted increased human rights and anti-corruption advocacy, as accusations against high-level officials of previous administrations for money laundering and drug trafficking grew, including against former President Juan Orlando Hernandez, who faces criminal charges in the United States.
Looking ahead, it will be important to watch how effectively the government implements its platform on pandemic recovery, poverty alleviation, restructuring the national debt, bolstering women’s and LGBTQIA+ rights, and combatting corruption. Given the context, it will also be important to watch the government’s commitment to launch a UN-backed anti-corruption mechanism, which has been slowed by unresolved structural problems. Finally, the government’s use of a “state of exception” to mobilize military police officers to crack down on gang-related crime and violence could impact Civil Liberties.
Monthly Event Reports
March 2024 | Former president convicted for drug trafficking
Former President Juan Orlando Hernández was convicted in a New York court for trafficking cocaine. Hernández was extradited to the US by Honduran authorities in April 2022 after the country's Supreme Court rejected the former president's appeals. Witnesses revealed Hernández, who served from 2014 to 2022, accepted bribes, including $1m from infamous drug dealer El Chapo, to fund his political campaigns. The prosecution described his actions as creating a “cocaine superhighway” to the US. While the conviction is a victory for the US’s Drug Enforcement Agency, it calls into question past US support for Hernández, who was once seen as an ally in anti-drug efforts. Hernández, who campaigned for his presidency as an anti-crime leader, is accused of leveraging state power to protect drug traffickers, including the military and police, and turning Honduras into a "narco-state". His arrest and trial have been closely watched in Honduras, reflecting a broader desire for accountability.
June 2023 | Increasing gang violence results in deadly prison riot and local curfew
A riot and fire started after clashes between rival gangs in a women’s prison resulted in at least 46 deaths. Less than a week later, 13 people were killed in a deadly shooting in the city of Choloma, believed to be linked to gang violence as well. According to a police commissioner, the killings in Choloma could be reprisals related to the prison deaths. President Xiomara Castro has ordered an inquiry into the circumstances of the prison riot, as women deprived of their liberty allegedly had access to weapons, as well as an investigation into the shooting in the city of Choloma. According to police, there are allegations that these two events are possibility connected. A local curfew in Choloma and San Pedro Sula was implemented during two weeks in response to the shooting, which President Castro characterised as a “terrorist attack” ordered by drug gangs.
April 2023 | International experts raise alerts regarding levels of violence and risks for human rights defenders
International experts have raised alerts about the concerning levels of violence in Honduras. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights carried out a visit to the country in April, during which it highlighted that the murder of human rights and environmental activists position the country as one of the most violent in the region. Social leaders and activists have stressed that the implementation of a state of emergency to counter organized crime in the past months has negatively impacted their activities. Further, the Norwegian Refugee Council carried out a visit to Honduras, during which it expressed concern for the levels of violence similar to those of an armed conflict, with many displaced and a disproportionate impact on women, who are subjected to sexual and other forms of gender-based violence
March 2023 | Ban on emergency contraception is lifted
President Xiomara Castro signed an executive decree to lift a ban on emergency contraception that had been in place since 2009. The decree was signed on International Women’s Day. Women’s rights activists and organizations celebrated the reversal of this ban, which had been one of Castro’s campaign promises before her 2021 election, particularly given the fact that abortion in Honduras remains prohibited under all circumstances. The emergency contraception pill will be sold over the counter at pharmacies and be free at health centres (last December its use had exceptionally been approved in cases of rape).
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