Democracy Now!
As Honduran Gangs Terrorize the Streets, Many Flee North
“Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Sonia Nazario gives a harrowing account of a bus driver’s cash drop she witnessed during a ride-along while reporting for her recent New York Times cover story, “Pay or Die: MS-13 and 18th street gangsters want to run Honduras.” For nearly a decade, gangs have been extorting cash from transportation workers in Honduras on the threat of death. According to Nazario, the Honduran transportation industry pays an estimated $23 million to the gangs every year. This unofficial “tax” system is part of a larger culture of corruption in Honduras that reaches the highest echelons of the government. “This is what is driving a lot of the despair in a place like Honduras,” says Nazario. “Because the police are paid off by the gangs because the politicians are paid off by the gangs because 30 to 40% of all the revenues of the government are estimated to be siphoned off in corruption by all of these players. The whole system is rotten.” “
Democracy Now! is an independent global news hour that airs on nearly 1,400 TV and radio stations Monday through Friday. Watch their livestream 8-9AM ET: https://democracynow.org
