The Honduras government announced on Friday night (14) the construction of a mega-prison that will hold 20,000 inmates. The measure must be accompanied, according to President Xiomara Castro’s government, by a reform of the Penal Code that will be approved by Congress, he guaranteed.
The action is part of a package of initiatives inspired by what happened in EL Salvador, to curb violence in the country. Honduras declared a security emergency in 2022.
Members of gangs and criminal organizations will be treated as terrorists after the reform expected in Congress, the president announced, which intends to double prison capacity.
Currently, the country has around 25 overcrowded prison units that hold approximately 20,000 prisoners. The new prison must be built in a sparsely populated region of the country.
The president stated that the procedures are part of a series of actions to combat criminals. In addition to this, the armed forces must be called upon to operate in regions considered more violent.
In reforming the Penal Code, the government also hopes for the possibility of collective trials of those who will be classified as terrorists. Honduras faces a growing wave of violent actions and, in order to confront it, the government is betting on intensifying the siege against gangs and factions ranging from the identification and arrest of those involved, to the destruction of drug crops.
Xiomara Castro’s proposal is similar to the measures adopted by El Salvador that built a mega-prison for 40,000 inmates and saw crime rates reduce in recent years with a kind of zero tolerance for criminal acts.
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