FOIA Report From: State Department August 2004
A Permanent Tattoo: The Systemic Failure to Squelch the Proliferation of Gangs in Honduras

This report, from the US Embassy in Tegucigalpa, Honduras reports on the origins and possible future of gangs in Honduras.  Some of the key points are:

- Hispanic gangs go back to the Mexican-American War, when former Mexican citizens failed to integrate, and thus formed gangs.
- Interestingly, the report attributes the growth of gangs throughout the 90’s to the decline of the military, and the separation of policing and national defense.  When the fear and intimidation that the military used to maintain control was lost, so was a degree of law and order.  The report states, “That fear as problematic as it was for human rights and democracy, was undeniably an effective crime deterrent”.
- As part of this, the report also mentions, “the disbanding of the feared military intelligence organization (DIN), circa 1994, which lessened the capability of the Government of Honduras to track criminal organizations and individuals”.
- The report also cites the ending of the draft in Honduras in 1994.  Previously, delinquent youth who were causing problems were automatically conscripted into service, which took many potential gang members out of circulation.
- Of course, the report also cites massive social problems, and weak government as causes for gang growth.

The US Embassy also estimates the number of gang members in Honduras in 2004 to be around 40,000, with 12-18,000 in Tegucigalpa, and 18-25,000 in San Pedro Sula.  The embassy estimates that there are around 500 different gangs in Honduras, and that MS-13 is the most notorious.  The reports also comments on the loose structure of the gang, but notes that cliques in Central America will, “emulate/follow the lead of the prominent Los Angeles-based cliques in forging alliances”.

The report then comments on the failure of a toughened article 332 of the Honduran penal code to curb the problem, and cites some key ways the gangs have evolved including:

- Eliminating their tattoos, this has been an easy gang membership indicator for police to identify.
- Pursuing other clandestine activities such as attempting to infiltrate police and army units.
- Moving into smaller urban areas such as Comayagua, Choluteca, La Paz, La Ceiba, and Puerto Cortes.
- Hiring themselves out as killers to drug cartels.

The report also cites prison fires, which could potentially be extra judicial killings of gang members.  Incidents include:

- On May 14, 2004, a prison in San Pedro Sula designed for 800 prisoners, but crammed with nearly 2000, caught fire killing 106 MS gang members.  There are accusations that guards did not respond to the fire for as much as 60-90 minutes.
- A year earlier, at El Porvenir prison in La Ceiba, 68 gang members were killed in a fire that was later determined to have been set by police and “trustees”.  The convicted were given a mild sentence akin to house arrest.

Key conclusions of this report are that MS will remain one of the most threatening gangs in the region, and there are indicators that,” independent cliques are forming alliances to facilitate criminal activity”.  Additionally, the report concludes that the Government of Honduras, while stiffening the penal code, has no long term strategy that includes rehabilitation, education, and economic incentives, which would likely solve the problem in the long term.