ConflictBarometer_2015
ConflictBarometer_2015
ConflictBarometer_2015
You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
THE AMERICAS<br />
later, about 8,000 protesters demanded the resignation of<br />
President Hernández as well as the installment of an international<br />
commission to fight impunity and corruption (CICIH),<br />
similar to the UN-led CICIG in Guatemala. The main supporter<br />
of the establishment of the CICIH was the newly-formed civil<br />
''Los Indignados'' movement which started a hunger strike<br />
on June 22 and set up tents near the presidential palace in<br />
the capital Tegucigalpa. By the end of June, the strikers had<br />
clashed with riot police on several occasions. On June 23,<br />
Hernández proposed a national dialogue to stop protests and<br />
to promote the creation of an anti-corruption system other<br />
than the CICIH.<br />
Throughout the second half of the year, protests continued.<br />
For instance, on June 29, members of several civil society<br />
organizations blocked the street to Guatemala for several<br />
hours near Copán, Copán department. On July 3, members of<br />
''Los Indignados'' filed lawsuits against the police due to previous<br />
violent acts against the protesters' camp. One month<br />
later, Congress rejected an initiative to hold a plebiscite on<br />
the creation of the CICIH by 66 votes for and 56 against. On<br />
September 29, the OAS announced the Mission to Support the<br />
Fight Against Corruption and Impunity in Honduras (MACCIH).<br />
Despite previous talks with the OAS, the ''Los Indignados'' rejected<br />
the MACCIH by declaring it to be biased in favor of the<br />
government. FRNP also opposed the installation of MACCIH<br />
and organized a nationwide strike on October 1. Hundreds of<br />
people participated and blocked streets and bridges in major<br />
cities including Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula, Cortés department.<br />
The protests intensified following the September<br />
resignation of Guatemala's president Otto Pérez after a UNbacked<br />
institution had uncovered a corruption network [→<br />
Guatemala (opposition)]. On November 4, protesters clashed<br />
with riot police at an anti-corruption demonstration in Tegucigalpa<br />
and other cities. The police fired tear gas and water<br />
cannons to stop the approx. 500 protesters from blocking<br />
the main road between the capital and San Pedro Sula. rma<br />
HONDURAS EL SALVADOR (ISLA CONEJO)<br />
Intensity: 2 | Change: | Start: 2013<br />
Conflict parties:<br />
Conflict items:<br />
Honduras vs. El Salvador<br />
territory<br />
The territorial conflict between Honduras and El Salvador<br />
over the island Isla Conejo and adjacent waters in the Gulf of<br />
Fonseca de-escalated. Both countries upheld their claims<br />
to the disputed area. For instance, in early February, former<br />
Ambassador to Honduras and member of the Salvadoran<br />
Parliament Sigifredo Ochoa Pérez urged Honduran President<br />
Orlando Hernández to vacate the island from Honduran military<br />
personnel and accused Honduras of a policy of ''territorial<br />
expansionism.'' In a subsequent meeting with his Salvadoran<br />
counterpart Sanchez Ceren on February 15, the issue was not<br />
part of the agenda. The SICA meeting in December, in which<br />
El Salvador received the presidency from Honduras, also did<br />
not mention the dispute. peh<br />
JAMAICA (DRUG GANGS)<br />
Intensity: 3 | Change: | Start: 2010<br />
Conflict parties:<br />
Conflict items:<br />
The conflict over subnational predominance between various<br />
drug gangs and the government remained violent. According<br />
to the US Overseas Security Advisory Council, most crime<br />
and violence in the country was gang-related. The country<br />
remained the largest Caribbean supplier of marijuana to the<br />
US and local Caribbean islands and an important transit hub<br />
for cocaine and synthetic drugs trafficked from South America<br />
to international markets.<br />
At a press conference of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF)<br />
on January 7 in the capital Kingston, police officials voiced<br />
their intentions to further curb gang violence and to decrease<br />
homicide rates. Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of<br />
crime Glenmore Hinds stated that the police would employ<br />
a number of anti-crime strategies such as the formation of a<br />
Guns-For-Drugs-Trade task force to disarm the gangs.<br />
Various arrests took place in the areas most affected by violence,<br />
such as Spanish Town, Tivoli Gardens, and St. James, all<br />
part of the capital Kingston. On March 14, the police arrested<br />
a leading member of the One Order gang in St. Catherine,<br />
reportedly a major contributor to the ongoing violence in the<br />
capital. On May 27, several members of One Order were<br />
charged under the Criminal Justice (Suppression of Criminal<br />
Organizations) Act, the so-called ''anti-gang law'', in St.<br />
Catherine, among them a police constable.<br />
In mid-July, three police officers were killed in seemingly systematic<br />
and coordinated attacks against the JCF in Kingston.<br />
On July 28, the JCF launched a joint military operation against<br />
the Sparta Gang and Rebel Gang in St. James with more than<br />
100 policemen and 55 soldiers. According to Superintendent<br />
Steve McGregor, two gunmen were shot dead. In addition, the<br />
JCF stated that inter-gang violence caused by power struggles<br />
among the gangs themselves remained rampant. On July<br />
14, three civilians were shot dead and one was injured in an<br />
inter-gang shootout in St. James. Six days later, police intervened<br />
in a gunfight between two rivaling and heavily armed<br />
gangs in Kingston, leaving one policeman injured. The overall<br />
number of homicides increased by about 20 percent compared<br />
to 2014, marking a five-year high of about 45 killings<br />
per 100,000 inhabitants in comparison to 36 per 100,000 in<br />
the previous year, 44 in 2013, and 62 in 2009. jf<br />
MEXICO (CNTE ET AL.)<br />
Intensity: 3 | Change: | Start: 2006<br />
Conflict parties:<br />
Conflict items:<br />
drug gangs vs. government<br />
subnational predominance<br />
CNTE et al. vs. government<br />
system/ideology<br />
The violent crisis over the orientation of the political system<br />
between the National Coordination of Education Workers<br />
(CNTE) and the government led by President Enrique Peña Nieto<br />
continued. CNTE mobilization predominantly took place<br />
in the states of Chiapas, Oaxaca, and Michoacán, sporadically<br />
joined by smaller unions and teacher trainees, the so-called<br />
normalistas [→ Mexico (public security)].<br />
Protest marches, blockades, and attacks on government of-<br />
112