Development: On 8 October President Porfirio Lobo of Honduras was forced to call a press conference to deny that proposed security forms would include the fusion of the national police and the armed forces.
Significance: Lobo confirmed, however, that he does intend to abolish the ministry of security, which oversees the civilian police, and the defence ministry, which oversees the military. The idea is to establish a single civilian ministry to coordinate both, with three vice ministries to separately oversee the police, the military, and a proposed new investigative police. Lobo defended his plan, citing the need to boost coordination and efficiency in the security forces. According to the National Commission for Human Rights (CONADEH), the national homicide rate may reach a new record of 86 per 100,000 in 2011. The murder rate is running at 20 a day.
Key points:
• The Honduran military is already on the streets, providing support to the police. Lobo, who met President Barack Obama at the White House last week, said that the US was committed to supporting Honduran peace and security efforts.
• Lobo yesterday said he was “deceived” by the controversial new security tax, the revenues from which are meant to go towards security efforts. Lobo said he hadn’t known that the funds would be directly managed by the treasury, rather than being placed into a special account. He expressed concern that the money could go on other things, including current expenditure. The security tax is expected to generate about HNL2.2bn, with HNL1.5bn for security and HNL700m for social development.
• In tandem with the security reform, the national congress this week begins to discuss a new constitutional court. The court would take over from the supreme court constitutional matters. Lobo has had several run-ins with the hardline supreme court (which sanctioned the 2009 coup d’état). The government argues that a separate constitutional court would help strengthen Honduran institutions.
