Honduras will build a high
security prison on an unpopulated island in the Caribbean Sea off the country’s
eastern coast. The Swan Island project will become the Western Hemisphere’s
only island prison. Honduras will use the prison to house the country’s most
violent criminals.
In the past, Honduran
President Xiomara Castro promised to solve violence through reforms to the government and
criminal justice systems. Now, she will create an island prison capable of
holding 2,000 people. The island is over 240 kilometers off the coast.
Island prisons were common
in some Latin America countries including Brazil, Chile and Colombia. However,
riots, poor conditions and prison escapes led to their closing. The final
island prison, which belonged to Mexico, closed in 2019.
Officials in Honduras say
the new prison will help stop violence. But, critics say island prisons will
not deal with the root of the problem.
Tiziano Breda is a Latin America
expert at Italy’s Instituto Affari Internazionali. He said that new prisons are
“…useless if you don’t have control of the other prisons you have.”
Last month in Honduras, 46
women died in a prison fight that involved guns, knives and fire. It was one of
the worst incidents in the history of women’s prisons.
In answer, President Castro
said she will “take drastic measures” and put an end to the criminal
gangs that have terrorized Honduras for years.
José Jorge Fortín, the head of
Honduras’ armed forces, said that the only way to communicate with the island
prison is by satellite. This will make it difficult for gangs inside the prison
to organize crime and violence.
Fortín did not say how much it
will cost or how long it will take to build the prison.
The neighboring country of El
Salvador has a strong position against gangs. One in every 100 people there is
a prisoner. Gang members are 30 percent
of the prison population in El Salvador. Violence there is lower and citizens are increasingly in favor of the system.
“If El Salvador system is
effective, why not copy it?” Honduras’ Fortín said.
His idea
is supported by many Hondurans, including scientist Bill Santos who said, “Ending
the crime problem for ever in Honduras will be ideal for this country.”
Others
are expressing environmental concerns about the new prison plan. Scientists
worry the project will damage the island’s ecosystem. Last week, the Honduran
Biologists Association called the prison a “threat” to nature.
Lucky
Medina, Honduras’ secretary of natural resources and the environment said “We
will build the prison in unity with nature. Officials will follow environmental
protection measures”.
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