I had dinner last night with a Peace Corps volunteer who spent over three years living in Honduras. What they described was a living hell. They saw multiple people, including kids, get murdered. They saw violence escalate because of territory disputes by cartels....
They saw families living in fear for their safety because of these wars and because of gang violence run amok. Even if you’re on the fringe of these associations, you’re a target. You can’t escape the violence unless you get out....
As of 2012, Peace Corps volunteers are no longer placed in that region. As for locals, something I hadn’t realized is that only the relatively wealthy can attempt to get out using coyotes. They pay up to an entire year of wages to do so....
I also heard horrifying stories of some coyotes who turn on those they are supposedly helping by orchestrating their kidnapping for ransom....
I saw ‘Sin Nombre’ a decade ago but hadn’t realized how accurate a depiction it was. It’s a cruel cruel world, and any rational person would try to escape a violent situation like this by fleeing it. We as Americans should be welcoming these refugees with open arms.
