Honduras: Hundreds Die in Prison Blaze

2012-02-15T17:55:00.000-08:00

In Honduras yesterday, a prison fire killed hundreds in anevent described as being “mourned throughout Latin America.”

356 prisoners have been reported as missing from the facility in Comayagua, most of whomare thought to have died in the blaze, leaving only a few thought to haveescaped. Around 475 prisoners escaped from the burning building by climbing outof the roof, and hundreds more were burned alive in their cells when the keysto them could not be located.

Conflicting stories from prisoners and officials suggestthat the fire started from either an electrical fault, or as a result from gangwarfare inside the prison gates.

The difficult task ofidentifying the dead has been helped in part by support from the Chilean government,who are readying to send 14 forensic specialists to help a task that could takemonths.

President Porfirio Lobo Sosa as promised a full inquiry into how the event happened. In reality, with Honduras's less than exemplary record of Human Rights hanging over its penal system, it is astonishingthat a tragedy of this magnitude had not happened sooner.

In 2004, hundreds of detainees at San Pedro Sula prison, inthe north west of the country, suffered a startlingly similar fate. The prison,built to detain 800 inmates, but actually containing 2,200, entombed a hundredprisoners when an electrical short-circuit caused fires to rage throughout theinstallation.

The cause is always the same: overcrowding and a populationof rival gangs. The effect is always horribly bleak.

In 2008, 21 prison officials at El Porvenir prison werefound guilty of causing the deaths of 68 inmates who burned to death in theircells; and in 1994, an overheated refrigerator motor caused a fire which killed103 prisoners in another Honduras facility. Overcrowding in these prisons meantevacuation became impossible for many. After the killings in El Porvenir, then PresidentRicardo Maduro defended the problem of overcrowding by saying that hisgovernment had to stick by their decision: “Do we capture more criminals or dowe let them free in the streets?” Little did he entertain reform.

Current President Lobo Sosa will be pushed by hisvoters to learn from the mistakes of his predecessors, and to finally invest intothe creation of new prison facilities that will ease such cripplingovercrowding. It would also be wise if a renovation project were to invest in theexisting infrastructure as well, making potential electrical faults less likelyto mean death to hundreds.

Even before the problems of space are met, the country couldbegin to consider the way it allocates an estimated 12,000 prisoners.

The current system of populating prisons involves groupingprisoners into three groups: active gang members, called Maras; former gangmembers, Pesetas; and those not affiliated with gangs, Paisas. The frequent situationof rival gangs occupying the same space has been the cause of most of theviolence seen in Honduran prisons; a penal reform would have to reshuffle thispack, redistributing certain gangs to certain prisons and allowing non-gangmembers to accompany them. Time has sufficiently shown how incendiary and ineffectivethe current method is.

Honduras is by no means a rich country, withthe Lempiras available to spend on a drastic infrastructure program necessary to stopAmnesty International from hounding them over Human Rights concerns; but thetragic events of February 15 show, and may instil, in the consciousness of theelectorate the importance of making steps towards improving an archaic system ofmismanagement and crucial underinvestment that has gone unchecked for so long- especially as that system, createdin its essence to benefit society, has already killed so many.

Britain's Dangerous Displays to Argentina Opens Old Wounds

2012-02-08T17:04:00.000-08:00

TENSIONS CONTINUED to rise between Argentina and the UK thisweek as debate regarding the rightful ownership of the Falkland Islands heatedup. Diplomats in Buenos Aires showed concern over decisions in Britain todeploy HMS Dauntless to the Islands in what Downing Street called a “routine” exercise.Argentine President Cristina Fernández described the display as a move to “militarisethe Falklands”.

This is over-reaction by Ms Fernández- the deployment ofDauntless is likely to be nothing more than a mere flexing of military muscle-but it is a worryingly callous, perhaps a worryingly reckless, decision byDowning Street, particularly as the 30^th anniversary of theFalklands War looms only a couple of months away. The reason for such insensitivity, undoubtedly, is the recentdiscovery of oil in the area, and the decision over who gets what slice of thecrude treasure when drilling begins in 2016.

Would it be out of order to wonder whether David Cameronwould be flattered by any comparisons to Margaret Thatcher? It surely wouldhave crossed his mind when deploying the Destroyer. But the Prime Ministershould remember that the War that won Thatcher a second election victory was considerablydifferent. Crucially, Argentina would not be alone in defending what they callLas Malvinas: Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez has vehemently promised hiscountry’s military support if the bloody conflict resurfaced- and where Mr Chávez goes,you can be sure others will follow. Secondly, public opinion has changed sincethe 80s, and with oil involved Mr Cameron is unlikely to get the support heneeds outside of his own far-right backbenchers.

The Falklands are a relic to Britain’s seedy past, and BritishOverseas Territories should be put into context to really understand why the Argentinepeople feel so passionately about their ownership of the land. If Argentina hadcolonised the Isle of Wight 200 years ago, you would expect that it would have beenrelinquished back to its obvious owners in modern times- more than that, thesame Britons now calling for the UK to hold on to the Falkland Islands would surely be foaming atthe mouth to retain the Channel Island if the colonial shoe was on the other foot.

Nevertheless, we care less for the Falklands (precious oil notwithstanding)than the Argentine people do- the top flight football league in Argentina is purposefullynamed after the islands, whereas in England that privilege is reserved formajor International banking firms. On the islands themselves, there are twice as many Englishspeaking people willing to call themselves Falkland Islanders than British.

A successful compromise would have to divide the profits fromfuture oil production, as well as conceding ownership of the Falkland Islandsto Argentina, under a constitutional reform that both supports inhabitants preferred nationality and respectsthe rights of all of the island’s occupants, regardless of any previous links toimperialism.

If David Cameron desires peaceful reconciliation, this would befair to both parties. If Mr Cameron is looking for his own personal “Falklandsfactor” in time for the next general election, he would be advised to look elsewhere.

International Notes

Honduras: Hundreds Die in Prison Blaze

Britain's Dangerous Displays to Argentina Opens Old Wounds