Mexican cartels vying for control over new drug routes in Central America have transformed Belize, Honduras and Costa Rica into their new frontiers, escalating violence and addiction in the region.
A new UN report shows Honduras to have the highest murder rate in the world. With Mexico's drug cartels looking for new routes to the U.S. market, the grim toll in Honduras is likely to get worse.
Honduras recorded 82.1 killings per 100,000 residents in 2010, making it the most violent country in the world. The violent surge is attributed to increasing transnational drug trade in the region and police corruption.
Mexico's drug war is seeping across borders into Central America, bringing an escalation of violence and drug use in the region.
A surge in cocaine trafficking has brought Honduras the world's highest per capita homicide rate. Nick Miroff tells the story of one violent incident that claimed two lives.
Students at the Pulitzer Center's Campus Consortium member schools were eligible to apply for reporting fellowships of up to $2,000 each and the opportunity to work with the Pulitzer Center staff on an international reporting project. The first three 2009 student fellows have completed their reporting:
Featured article in the Daily Tar Heel
SANTA LUCIA, HONDURAS — Deep in the mountains of southwestern Honduras, Maria Digna Ramos Mendoza spoon-feeds Plumpy'Doz, a peanut-based supplement, to her infant daughter.
Four other hungry children watch while either sitting on the dirt floor of their one-room hut or swinging from a hammock. Chickens, dogs and rats roam around the cluttered room, scavenging for their next meal.
Deep in the mountains of southwestern Honduras, Maria Digna Ramos Mendoza spoon-feeds Plumpy’Doz, a peanut-based supplement, to her infant daughter.
Four other hungry children watch while either sitting on the dirt floor of their one-room hut or swinging from a hammock. Chickens, dogs and rats roam around the cluttered room, scavenging for their next meal.
Mendoza is part of a research study being conducted by professors and students at UNC, part of the University’s larger focus on international health.
Nestled in a remote northern Honduras valley, Santa Lucia and the surrounding area are home to 20,000 rural inhabitants. These families rely solely on their agrarian skills for a subsistent living. But according to UNICEF, over one-third of Honduran infants are malnourished due to their indigenous lifestyle.
Maria Digna Ramos Mendoza wishes for a pretty house and a large basin to store fresh water for her five children. But, when she wakes up, "there is nothing."
Mendoza lives in a one-room, mud hut with her children. Her husband left four years ago to work in the United States, where he met another woman. She said whenever they call him asking for money, he says that he is more sick and needs money sent to him instead of to them.
After speaking with the mayor of Santa Lucia and several locals about Shoulder to Shoulder, it is evident that mis-communication between the locals and the non-profit has caused recent strife in the community.
Shoulder to Shoulder currently operates seven clinics throughout the southern region of Intibuca, six of which are primary health centers owned by the Honduran government. These centers run under the government's standardized healthcare system and charge five lempira per visit, the equivalent of 25 cents.
Working in the midst of a military coup brings unexpected hardships. The Honduran government has shut off power across the entire country on numerous occasions, trying to squelch any outgoing or incoming information on Manuel Zelaya, the ousted president. One power outage lasted nearly 24 hours, preceded by a series of five brief outages. Interestingly enough, as I sit here and write this, the power has once again been shut off.
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