The troops deployed in Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula next to the national police have already been joined by members of the new military police force, drawn from the army, and will soon have at their disposal a new rapid-response unit. More than a year of military involvement in policing does not seem to have made much of a difference to the level of violence across the country, which has kept Honduras at the top of the region’s homicide table, way above all others. The first elements of the new, 5,000 strong Policía Militar de Orden Público (PMOP) began to…

The final poll for the 24 November general election was published this week; no further polls can be released in the 30 days prior to the vote. According to local pollsters Paradigma Encuestadora, as of 19 October almost a third (30.8%) of respondents did not know or would not say who they would vote for in the presidential race or were disinclined to vote altogether. The poll coincided with a new national electoral court campaign under the slogan ‘Te Toca’ (roughly, ‘It’s your turn’) to encourage Hondurans to turn out and vote on the day. Paradigma, the only firm to…

The Cuban government has announced plans to eliminate gradually its dual currency system, finally moving to address the most fundamental barrier to proper economic reform in the country. In the short-term, currency reform will create winners and losers. The official statement sought to reassure Cubans that their savings will be respected. However, over the medium-to-long term successful reform should generate benefits for all Cubans. If managed properly, it could also support the ongoing rule of the ruling Partido Comunista de Cuba (PCC) in a country that is far better off than it is today. As the Cuba specialist Dr. Emily…

The constitutional panel of El Salvador’s supreme court has been accused of acting as an instrument of the political right after having ruled that the president of the supreme court, Salomón Padilla, had breached the constitutional provision of independence of the judiciary from party politics. The latest in a string of decisions reversing appointments on constitutional grounds, this ruling is being described as having caused an ‘institutional crisis’, even though the other branches of government have announced that they will abide by it. Padilla had declared, after his appointment last August, that he was a member of the ruling Frente…