The Facts
In an interview with the Associated Press published on Wednesday, Honduran Armed Forces Chief José Jorge Fortín revealed that the country’s government is planning to build the only island penal colony in the Western Hemisphere so as to isolate gang leaders.
The maximum security penitentiary — with an expected capacity of around 2,000 people — will be located on the Swan Islands, an archipelago in the northwestern Honduran Caribbean.
The Spin
Narrative A
The building of a maximum security prison in the Caribbean Sea is needed to isolate dangerous and wealthy inmates, including corrupt people, drug traffickers, and gang leaders who have dominated Honduran prisons for too long. Finally, Honduras is taking steps to regain control of and restore security in the penitentiaries across the country.
Narrative B
The Honduran government has clearly made a U-turn on its promises to address gang violence through systemic reforms, instead adopting a populist, reactive, and short-sighted security policy that replicates neighboring El Salvador. Not only is it unlikely the project will solve the crime problem in the country, it will threaten the natural environment of the island.
