Gang violence kills at least 25 in Honduras

Gunmen have killed at least 25 people, including six police officers, in attacks across Honduras.

The attacks marked Thursday as one of the most violent days the country has seen in recent years. They came despite ongoing efforts by the government to rein in organised crime and violence.

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Nineteen people were killed as gunmen raided a palm plantation in the municipality of Trujillo in the north of the country.

A leader of one rural group told the AFP news agency that those killed were employees of an armed group controlling a plantation.

However, local media indicated that armed suspects had fired indiscriminately on labourers. They reported that the oldest victim was 61.

Photos showed bodies, some wearing thick rubber boots for work, strewn on the ground outside.

Meanwhile, in the west near the Guatemalan border, six police officers were killed in another shooting in the municipality of Omoa.

Police report that the officers had travelled to the area as part of an operation to quash gang activity. However, they were ambushed.

After the two attacks, the National Police issued a statement, saying it “will proceed immediately with a direct intervention in the affected areas”.

“The state will act firmly to capture those responsible, protect vulnerable communities and guarantee comprehensive justice for all affected victims,” it added.

Gang violence

Honduras is struggling to crack down on gang violence. Until January, many parts of the country were under a state of emergency launched in 2022.

That emergency decree ended, however, with the inauguration of right-wing President Nasry “Tito” Asfura, a close ally of United States President Donald Trump, who has prioritised a hardline approach to security in Latin America.

The attacks will, therefore, raise concerns over security, but also civil liberties.

Nasry Asfura raises a fist at his inauguration ceremony — President Nasry Asfura gestures as he delivers a speech during his swearing-in ceremony at the Congress building in Tegucigalpa [File: Reuters]

Laws passed earlier this week will allow authorities to designate gangs and drug cartels as terrorist groups. A new anti-organised crime unit has also been created.

Land grab

The Trujillo shooting occurred near the Aguan River Valley, where armed groups, involved in narcotrafficking and palm oil extraction, have been fighting over land for decades.

Trujillo police chief Carlos Rojas told local media that the groups occupy and illegally exploit several large African palm plantations, using money from the crops to obtain weapons.

Local farmer groups, however, accuse transnational agribusiness corporations of sponsoring the criminal groups to carry out land occupations and prevent residents from reclaiming disputed lands.

According to Reuters, more than 150 people in the area have been killed or disappeared, with environmental and land rights activists a particular target.

Honduras is one of the most dangerous countries in the world for such activists. Earlier this month, police arrested several individuals, including a mayor, for plotting the assassination of a prominent environmental campaigner in 2024.

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