FILE PHOTO: In this photo provided by El Salvador鈥檚 presidential press office, inmates identified by authorities as gang members are seated on the prison floor of the Terrorism Confinement Center in Tecoluca, El Salvador, Wednesday, March 15, 2023. Honduras will build a maximum security prison on a tiny island off its Caribbean coast to contain the leaders of the country鈥檚 most fearsome gangs, in a move that mirrors neighboring El Salvador, which has launched a controversial war on the gangs and has built a 鈥渕ega-prison,鈥� at the foot of a volcano. (El Salvador presidential press office via AP, File)
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras 鈥� Honduras plans to build the only island prison colony in the Western Hemisphere and send its most-feared gangsters there, tearing a page from neighboring El Salvador鈥檚 unforgiving approach to murder, robbery, rape, and extortion.
Honduras鈥檚 progressive president once promised to address gang violence through systemic reforms to governance and the criminal justice system. Now, President Xiomara Castro plans to build an isolated prison for 2,000 gang leaders on the Islas del Cisne archipelago 155 miles off the coast, part of a larger crackdown following the gang-related massacre of 46 women in one prison.
Island prisons once were common across Latin America, with facilities in Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Mexico, Panama, and Peru. Deadly riots, brutal conditions and bold prison escapes captured filmmakers鈥� and authors鈥� imaginations before the last island prison closed in Mexico in 2019.
In Honduras, authorities are betting that a return to the past will help stem the wave of violence, but skeptics say such moves are little more than optics, and fail to address the root causes of endemic violence.
鈥淎 new prison is quite useless if you don鈥檛 first regain control of the others you already have,鈥� said Tiziano Breda, a Latin America expert at Italy鈥檚 Instituto Affari Internazionali. 鈥淐riminal gangs have shown throughout their history that they can adapt.鈥�
Last month, 46 women were killed in a fight between gang members in one prison. Many of those killed were sprayed with gunfire and hacked to death with machetes. Some inmates were locked in cells, where they were doused with flammable liquid and burned in the worst atrocity in a women鈥檚 prison in recent memory.
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Castro said she would 鈥渢ake drastic measures鈥� in response and crack down on the Barrio 18 and Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13, gangs that have terrorized the nation for years.
The only way to communicate to the Islas del Cisne is by satellite, Jos茅 Jorge Fort铆n, the head the Honduras鈥� armed forces, said in an interview with The Associated Press. Officials hope that will prevent gang leaders from running their operations from inside the prisons. Escape would be difficult as the island takes about a day to reach by boat from the mainland.
鈥淚t鈥檚 the farthest away they can possibly be, so these gang leaders feel the pressure once they鈥檙e on the island,鈥� Fort铆n said. 鈥淭he idea is that they lose contact with everything, contact with all of society 鈥� and they can really pay for their crimes.鈥�
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Fort铆n would not specify the cost of the project or when officials expect it to be done, but said Castro ordered the facility built as quickly as possible.
Since the bloodshed, Castro鈥檚 social media has been speckled with images of weapons seizures and men with gang tattoos sitting spread-legged, half-naked and hunched together on the ground surrounded by heavily armed police.
The images mirror those from neighboring El Salvador, where President Nayib Bukele has imprisoned one in every 100 people in the country, throwing thousands into a 鈥渕ega-prison鈥�. Bukele has said inmates will never again see the light of day even as human rights group Cristosal estimates that only 30% of prisoners have clear ties with gangs, fueling allegations of human rights abuses and democratic decay.
This image provided by Planet Labs PBC shows Great Swan Island or the Islas del Cisne in Honduras, on July 13, 2023. Honduras says it will build a maximum security prison on this tiny island off its Caribbean coast to contain the leaders of the country鈥檚 most fearsome gangs. (Planet Labs PBC via AP)
Sharp dips in violence in El Salvador have spurred on a sort of populist pro-Bukele fervor across Latin America.
鈥淚f another country has done something well, why not copy it?鈥� Fort铆n said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e not going to let this 鈥� atmosphere of terror go on.鈥�
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But Breda, the expert, said the move is inching the country away from policies such as stamping out corruption, demilitarizing and community policing that could make a longterm difference in addressing the roots causes of gang violence.
Honduras鈥檚 security policy 鈥渉as become even more reactive and short-sighted, mimicking what鈥檚 going on in El Salvador to contain damage to their public image,鈥� Breda said.
The proposed measures are being well-received by many Hondurans, like 30-year-old biologist Said Santos, who said 鈥渆nding the crime problem once and for all here in Honduras would be ideal for this country.鈥� But, he added, the government should proceed with caution.
Meanwhile, regional biologists worry the project will come at the expense of the island鈥檚 highly biodiverse ecosystems at a time when the Caribbean is already being ravaged by the effects of climate change.
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Largely uninhabited, the prison site has been designated as an environmentally protected territory for more than three decades. Last week, the Honduran Biologists Association released a statement calling the facility a 鈥渢hreat鈥� to nature on the island, thats lush landscapes and glowing blue waters teem with life.
鈥淎 prison is incompatible with the ecosystems, species, scenic beauty and climate conditions of the archipelago,鈥� the organization wrote.
Lucky Medina, Honduras鈥� secretary of natural resources and the environment, told the AP that the maximum security penitentiary will be built 鈥渋n harmony with nature.鈥� He added that officials will follow environmental protections but the facility will definitely be built.
鈥淚t is totally viable,鈥� he said.
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