~ Front Desk ~ Profile on Honduras

What to expect when you arrive in Tegucigalpa.

SOURCE: BBC NEWS
Military rule, corruption, a huge wealth gap, crime and natural disasters have rendered Honduras one of the least developed and least secure countries in Central America.

Although Honduras has been under civilian rule since the mid-1980s, the military continues to hover in the background. Reports of attempted coups designed to abort policies deemed not in the interests of senior officers are not infrequent.

The military also exercises considerable economic influence, with military-owned businesses making the armed forces one of the 10 largest profit-making enterprises in the country.

OVERVIEW
Honduran society is rife with economic inequality, and it is estimated that 85% of people live below the poverty line. Malnutrition, poor housing and infant diseases are rampant. Impoverishment, and the prospects offered by drug trafficking, have contributed to a virulent crime wave, conducted mainly by scores of youth gangs.

Meanwhile, police officers have been implicated in high-profile crimes, and the police are thought to have been involved in the murder by death squads of street children. In addition, former military and security personnel, along with right-wing paramilitary groups, are said to have been behind the murder of members of indigenous minority rights groups.

Honduras was devastated by Hurricane Mitch in 1998. At least 5,000 people were killed and 70% of the country's crops were destroyed. The damage was estimated at three billion dollars, setting development back by decades.