WAR ON DRUGS: ONLINE JOURNAL

This is where I'm going to organize my research, goals, and resources. I'm currently in the process of transferring my physical notes and documents online, so here's the link to the google doc for now:

Link to my notebook page (under construction):

WORKING TITLE: State of Emergency in Honduras: Addressing Immediate and Long-Term Solutions

Since December 2022, a state of emergency has been declared in Honduras, following hundreds of complaints being filed against the Honduras Police Directorate against Gangs and Organized Crime (DIPAMPCO) for abuse, robbery, kidnapping, torture, and disappearances. Under the unlimited jurisdiction afforded to the state in regulating drug crime, police officers terrorize entire communities under the pretext of “weakening criminal groups” without any level of due process. DIMPAMPCO illustrates how discretionary policing leads to the devolution of society into violence and chaos. Giving one entity the power to affirm or deny the human rights of any portion of the population, whether or not there is evidence for them to be considered criminal, leaves the possibility for total annihilation of personal freedoms for any given member of society.

Actions are only deemed “criminal” by law relative to the interests of those who have the powerto enforce authority with the threat of physical violence. The central authority in Honduras is motivated not by the protection of its citizens, but by the number of arrests made to supposedly combat organized crime. Therefore, law is suited to protect actors that increase these numbers, rather than those who are directly impacted by crime. How can arrests be bolstered in the face of reluctance from authority to give up the lucrative market of drug trafficking that has been supporting landowning politicians for decades?

Abducting those allegedly connected to gang activity is only one way DIPAMPCO has been attempting to increase the number of arrests; they have found that it is even more effective to use methods of physical and psychological torture to force families into poverty, then coerce younger members to join gangs and sell drugs. This yields a self-sustaining cycle of crime and arrests, funded by the Honduran Police Directorate.

This manipulation of the definition of “criminal” by the state can be seen in the case of Guapinol defender and Tocoa councilman Juan López. After being targeted for decades by wrongful charges, smear campaigns, and threats against his life for being an active community leader, López was murdered. He was the political rival of Adan Fúnez, the ex-mayor of Tocoa who is known for having accepted bribes from Los Cachiros and granting permits for illegal mining megaprojects on protected land. López was one of the 18 environmental activists killed in 2023, making Honduras the most dangerous country in Central America for activists. While the state provides no protection for those advocating for direct changes in authority, it makes sure that office holders who represent landowning incumbents like Adan Funez are not punished or deterred in any way from continuing the accumulation of their wealth. Essentially the state has forged a new definition of “criminal” that penalizes anyone who stands in the way of their material interests and protects those who further them, even if the latter fit the traditional definition of “criminal” by virtue of association with drug trafficking or illegal development projects.

In order to address the immediate, violent impacts of the deeply embedded corruption in a state’s authority, it is important to consider those who benefit from the neutralization of community leaders like Juan López and craft policies that protect those who challenge the existing structures of power from those who benefit from them. Breaking the cycle of violence that enables the people at the top of unethical operations to keep profiting involves reconfiguring the interests of the state to align with communities rather than those of corporations and cartels. This can be done by protecting community activists and councilmen who act in the interests of the community and represent checks to the legitimacy of a state's authority, from unfounded criminal charges, slander, and physical violence. By protecting checks to the state’s power as provided by individuals not driven by profit, the Honduran government will be able to begin the process of extricating the deep loyalty that currently lies between state authority and criminal organizations.

The purpose of this paper is to augment existing research done by Colonel, Carbonell Doctor of Strategic Leadership at United States Airforce and suggest revisions to his "Strategy for Defeating the Criminal Insurgency om Central America's Northern Triangle" (2021) that would implement aid in a way that does not reply on targeting and prosecuting corrupt officials, which would be counterproductive due to the endless number within a fundamentally corrupt state authority. A more effective strategy (albeit less lucrative than implementing yet another US-interest based "free trade" policy, that one might even suggest may be cut from the same cloth as the kind responsible for the state of the Northern Triangle itself) would combat the impacts of the Transnational Cartel Organizations as they are directly impacting the citizens of Honduras whose rights have been suspended by the state.

BREAKDOWN OF UNITED STATES AIRFORCE STRATEGY TO ADDRESS SECURITY CRISIS IN NORTHERN TRIANGLE