Honduras Announces Homicide Rate Dipped 25 Percent, Pledges to Keep Fighting Crime

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras, Jan. 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- This week, Honduran law enforcement officials announced that that Honduras's homicide rate dipped by more than 25 percent in 2017.

"We are winning the fight against transnational organized crime, but our work is not finished," President Juan Orlando Hernández said. "Over the course of my second term, we'll continue to make Honduras a safer place for every Honduran."

According to the latest figures, Honduras had 3,761 homicides in 2017, 1,359 fewer than in 2016. That represents a rate of 42.8 homicides per 100,000 residents, compared to 86.5 per 100,000 residents in 2011.

"Opportunities for economic growth, which translate into jobs, which translate into more income opportunities, are vital to stemming violence," President Hernández said. "What will give us a safer country in the long term is to work with children, with the family, and with the churches to generate more and better economic opportunities."

To that end, President Hernández emphasized Honduras's new national education model, designed in coordination with the Global Partnership for Education. Unveiled before the World Bank last September, the model strives to prevent gang activity by providing children with quality education.

"Well-educated children who lead healthy lifestyles become productive citizens," President Hernández said.

The president also said that he is working with leaders from the United States and Colombia to curb transnational drug trafficking, which accounts for 80 percent of all criminal activity in Honduras.

"There is no place for drug lords or organized crime in Honduras," he said. "I will do everything in my power to keep Honduras peaceful and secure."

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SOURCE Republic of Honduras