US suspends aid to Honduras police cleanup
The police reform process has been moving slowly to the frustration of both Hondurans and US officials, a guest blogger writes.
鈥� A version of this post ran on the author's听. The views expressed are the author's own.
Monday, the United States听听all aid it was giving the Honduran Direcci贸n de Investigaci贸n y Evaluaci贸n de la Carrera Policial (DIECP).听
The DIECP is responsible for carrying out the confidence testing of Honduran police, part of a process to weed out those who should not be police.听听听
A US embassy employee who did not want to be named told听El Tiempo:
Hondurans have expressed their frustration with the slow progress of the confidence testing of the police....it's a frustration that we share and as a result, we have suspended the aid from the United States to the DIECP.
The funds, among other things used to pay for foreign lie detector contractors to assist the DIECP, come from the Central American Regional Security Initiative (CARSI).
It's been apparent for a while that the DIECP wasn't working well.听
Earlier this year Porfirio Lobo Sosa "accepted" (after requesting) the resignations of Eduardo Villanueva, the DIECP director, and his deputy.听 However, both continue to serve because Porfirio Lobo Sosa has made no effort to appoint replacements.
As of Tuesday, Villanueva听听El Tiempo听that he had received no notice from the US Embassy of the funding cuts.
鈥� Russell Sheptak, the co-author of the blog听, specializes in the study of colonial history and economic anthropology in this little-reported corner of听Central America.