Latin America News August 2017

10 LATIN AMERICA NEWS / Issue 2 2017 , Honduran President Hernández Lauds Progress on Criminal Justice In a recent speech to the incoming class of agents for the country’s Office of the General Prosecutor, Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández applauded the Office for its efforts fighting corruption. “In the last few years, the Office of the General Prosecutor has achieved what was previously thought impossible,” Hernández said. “It has brought peace and security to Honduras.” In the 2017 Gallup, Global Law and Order Index, Honduras’s score surged eight points; the country tied with Chile as the highest-ranking in Latin America. The annual index examines public perceptions of safety and police integrity. Additionally, Honduras rose five places in this year’s edition of the Institute for Economics and Peace’s Global Peace Index. The Index analyses 163 countries on their “level of societal safety and security; the extent of ongoing domestic and international conflict; and the degree of militarisation.” The president also highlighted the Office of the General Prosecutor’s contributions to Honduras’s 30 percent reduction in the homicide rate. The new class of agents is backed by the International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs Section of the U.S. Embassy in Honduras, or INL. INL was created in 2001 as a partnership between the U.S. Department of State and the Honduran government to fight drug trafficking and enforce the law in Honduras. President Hernández thanked the aspiring agents for their service and commitment to Honduras. “We will always support you,” he said.