Causes for the rise in urbanization rate in the Honduras

When learning about the country of Honduras one cannot help but notice the rise in urbanization rate in the country in recent years. Throughout the blog post it is with great hope to answer questions that have been asked by many relating to the rise in urbanization rate in Honduras. The first question is, what is the reason for a rise in urbanization rate in the Honduras? Secondly, why is the crime rate, specifically, murder rate high in Honduras? Finally, what are solutions and what steps has the country taken to combat these problems?

            Located in Central America, Honduras, is considered both a Latin American and Caribbean country. The country is considered Latin American because Spanish is the primary language spoken. In addition, the country is also considered Caribbean because a coast of the country is washed by the Caribbean Sea. The country became independent from Spain in 1821 and has been considered a republic since its commencement. 90% of the people in the country are considered Mestizo (Visual Geography, 2016) and the country’s gross domestic product is considered to be 19.5 billion one of the lowest in the world (World Bank, 2016). However, the GDP is not the most staggering statistic it is the murder rate. According to the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime there are 90.4 murders per 100,000 in the country making it the world’s murder capitol (CNN, 2014). While numbers do very somewhat it can be concluded the country has held this title since early 2011.

            According to the Central Intelligence Agency World Fact Book the urbanization rate in Honduras is 3.1%. In addition 54.7% of Honduras population is considered to live in an urban setting. Essentially about half of the population lives in an urban setting, however, according to recently collected data it is predicted that the population will increase from 4.6 million to 6.1 million by 2025. One of the primary reasons for a rise in urbanization rate is due to the country’s unsuccessful attempts in farming. Farming in Honduras mainly consists of very low value crops such as rice, plantains and bananas (New Agriculturist, 2009). In addition to very low value crops, crop failure is extremely high in the country due to hurricanes and flooding which is especially likely on the country’s Caribbean coast.

 In addition to the crop failures already given, drought has swept through the countryside on a 
number of occasions. Back in 2001 nearly 1.4 million people throughout El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua were affected by food shortages (Save the Children, 2001). According to a 2001 report from Save the Children “an international non-governmental organization that promotes children’s rights, provides relief and helps support children in developing countries” crop damage ranged “from 50% to total failure, people were in immediate need of food and water, plus seed and other agricultural supplies necessary to restart cultivation. Many of those affected were women and children”. Essentially crop failure and poor conditions for farming are pushing people toward urban areas and away from rural areas. 

            Since farming is primarily the only source of income in the rural areas of Honduras the lack of jobs for people in rural areas is staggering. Essentially, if you are not farming in a rural area there is no immediate source of income for you and your family. This is due to 28% of the land in Honduras being denoted as agricultural which makes up the rural land/area (New Agriculturist, 2009).

            To give a glimpse into what the urban setting is like in the country, about 50% of urban areas in Honduras are considered to be under Narco control (Vice News, 2014). A Narco controlled area is considered to be an area controlled by a drug cartel that is unsafe for inhabitation, and that the government has no control over whatsoever.  This lack of control is usually due to corruption or lack of government military power to overthrow the cartel in the area. 54% of police in the country are considered to be corrupted by drug gangs which greatly aides in the drug gangs controlling areas of the nation. Crimes are rarely investigated in the country because the corruption which assists in making it the murder capitol of the world. Essentially, people are able to “get away with murder” without having fear of consequence because police are extremely easy to pay off. YouTube Link: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vINx0ajcVw (would not let me post video in blog). 

            People are essentially being given an ultimatum for determining where they would like to live, that ultimatum being, do you allow crime to push you toward living in a rural area and give farming a try or allow the chance of financial prosperity pull you toward living in a urban area even though crime has been on the rise for years in the country. The government has stepped up in recent years to attempt to remove the ultimatum from people’s lives and allow them to freely choose where they would like to live based off the type of life they want to live not because of fear of crime or farming failure. While many solutions have been proposed to fix Honduras numerous problems there are three solutions that must be introduced in order to bring a positive change to the country.

            The first solution is that a witness protection program must be introduced in the country. Murder is a regular occurrence in the country as discussed earlier with there being 90.4 murders per 100,000. When the majority of these murders take place there is almost always a witness to the murder who can either testify against the murder and fear backlash or keep quiet and still have some fear but not as much. Crime will not be combatted if people are unwilling or simply unable to testify due to fear. Just this past March the British Broadcasting Company (BBC) wrote an article highlighting how United Nations activist groups called on the Honduran government to protect the only individual who witnessed the murder of indigenous rights campaigner Berta Caceres.

According to the article “Gustavo Castro Soto, a Mexican national, survived the attack by

gunmen in the Honduran town of La Esperanza. He was ordered to stay in Honduras, although

Mexico and the UN said it was too dangerous for him”. The Honduran government directly

opposed the views of the rest of the world that believed "Gustavo should immediately be provided

with effective protection and permitted to return to his country," said Michel Frost, UN special

rapporteur on human rights campaigners (BBC, 2016). In addition to Frost’s comments he added "It

is high time that the government of Honduras addressed the flagrant impunity of the increased

number of executions of human rights defenders in the country, especially targeting those who

defend environmental and land rights”.

            
An additional solution that must be carried out is the removal of corrupt police. The government has not made a holistic attempt in stopping corruption, rather, individuals have. According to a 2012 NPR article wrote by Annie Murphy, the article states that “For 25 years, Maria Luisa Borjas was a high-ranking police official and was eventually put in charge of investigations within the force. She says she was pushed out of her job, her sons thrown in jail and an attempt made on her husband's life when she began to uncover just how serious police corruption had become” (NPR, 2012).

It is a common belief that while there are some good hearted people in the country who are trying to promote the country as a whole the crime and love for money simply outweigh the good. The government did make a small attempt at one time to overhaul the police force back in 2011 however, it was met with great resistance like everything else the government tries to enforce, so eventually the government just gives up.

            The final solution that must be explored and eventually enforced is the reduction of the drastic wealth gap in the country. According to numerous sources the top fifth of the wealth class in Honduras earn a staggering 30 times more than the bottom fifth of the wealth class (Honduras Weekly, 2013). People will always turn to crime when being forced to live in extremely impoverished conditions, especially when extremely wealthy people are living directly next to them. It is unfair to those who are barely surviving to receive no assistance from the government especially when there is a lack of jobs and farming is extremely unsuccessful. It is not a desire but necessity for people to turn to crime in order for them to feed themselves and their families. Drug gangs are extremely successful and make up a staggering amount of the country’s economic flow. Essentially how are people supposed to turn down an opportunity to live reasonably well when they have no other opportunities except to live in poverty? This opportunity becomes even more enticing given that once again, police are corrupt so fear of consequence is quickly ruled out of the argument.

            In conclusion, the Honduran government must make a plan to lower crime and reduce the ridiculously disproportionate wealth gap throughout the country.

Wealth distribution must be reconsidered in addition to overhauling the police force. In addition

farmers must be compensated for their lost crops. If the government were to attempt to bring about

these solutions (which they haven’t for the most part) at whatever pace, gang violence would be

reduced as people would not be forced to join gangs to survive. 

Bibliography 

CIA. "The World Factbook: Honduras." Central Intelligence Agency. Central Intelligence Agency, 01 Mar. 2016. Web. 24 Apr. 2016. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ho.html

"Honduras - People." People in Honduras. Visual Geography, n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2016.http://www.visualgeography.com/categories/honduras/people.html

"Honduras." Data. World Bank, 2016. Web. 24 Apr. 2016.http://data.worldbank.org/country/honduras

Staff, CNN. "Which Countries Have the World's Highest Murder Rates? Honduras Tops the List." Cnn.com. CNN, 11 Apr. 2014. Web. http://www.cnn.com/2014/04/10/world/un-world-murder-rates/

"Drought in Central America." ReliefWeb. Save the Children, 2001. Web. 24 Apr. 2016. http://reliefweb.int/report/el-salvador/drought-central-america-0

"Honduras Urged to Protect Witness in Activist Murder." BBC News. Latin American and Caribbean, 11 Mar. 2016. Web. 24 Apr. 2016. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-35781338

"In Honduras, Police Accused Of Corruption, Killings." NPR. NPR, 11 Feb. 2012. Web. 24 Apr. 2016. http://www.npr.org/2012/02/11/146668852/in-honduras-police-accused-of-corruption-killings

"New Agriculturist." Country Profile. New Agriculturist, Mar. 2009. Web. 24 Apr. 2016. http://www.new-ag.info/en/country/profile.php?a=691

Paterson, Jody. "The Gap Between Rich and Poor Hondurans." The Gap Between Rich and Poor Hondurans. Honduras Weekly, Oct. 2010. Web. 24 Apr. 2016. http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http://www.hondurasweekly.com/editorial/item/20521-the-gap-between-rich-and-poor-hondurans

Vice Video (Crime and Gangs in Honduras) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vINx0ajcVw