Kota Paling Berbahaya di Dunia? San Pedro Sula di Honduras
The Most Dangerous Place on Earth? San Pedro Sula in Honduras
Editor : Taswin Bahar
Translator : Dhelia Gani
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KOTA San Pedro Sula di Honduras dinyatakan sebagai kota 'paling berbahaya' di dunia karena maraknya kekerasan dan pembunuhan.
Paling sedikit tiga pembunuhan terjadi setiap hari di kota dari negara pengekspor kopi, sebagian besar dilakukan kelompok kriminal dan kartel narkoba, yang bergerak bebas tanpa takut pada sanksi hukum lantarnya lumpuhnya sistem keadilan.
Daftar kota-kota paling berbahaya di dunia disusun oleh lembaga Citizen Council for Public Security Justice and Peace yang bermarkas di Meksiko, seperti dilansir Mail Online.
Pada 2012 di San Pedro terjadi 1.218 pembunuhan (rata-rata 3,3 pembunuhan per hari). Di urutan dua kota paling berbahaya adalah Acapulco di Meksiko, selanjutnya Caracas di Venezuela dan Distrito Central di Honduras.
Kantor berita Reuters melaporkan tahun lalu San Pedro Sula berada di urutan paling bawah secara ekonomi se-Amerika Selatan. 70 persen penduduknya masuk kategori miskin.
Daily Mail melaporkan bahwa gang bersenjata sudah "menguasai" kota tersebut sedangkan polisi tidak efektif dan korup.
Berandalan jalanan yang biasa disebut "Maras" kini telah menjadi sindikat kejahatan yang penuh kekerasan.
Mafia Narkoba Meksiko membeli tanah-tanah di kota itu dan merekrut anggota pasukan eksekutor.
Hampir setengah penghuni penjara belum divonis dan menunggu sidang bisa hingga bertahun-tahun.
THE Honduran city of San Pedro Sula has topped a new list of the world's most violent places on earth, where tragedy, brutality and death squad killings run rampant.
At least three murders are reported each day in the coffee-exporting nation, mostly at the hands of vicious gangs and drug cartels who operate freely in an area of lawlessness, poverty and a decaying justice system.
The list of the most violent cities was put together by the Citizen Council for Public Security, Justice and Peace, a Mexico-based think tank, using 2012 crime statistics from the western hemisphere.
San Pedro Sula recorded 1,218 homicides in 2012 (a rate of 3.3 murders a day). It was followed by Acapulco, Mexico; Caracas, Venezuela and Distrito Central, Honduras.
Reuters reported last year that San Pedro Sula is saddled with one of South America's weakest economies - and nearly 70 per cent of the population live in poverty.
Gunmen have taken control of slums and villages, well aware that the police are ineffective and corrupt.
Many see crime as their only option. Or they leave, making the long trek to the United States.
Street gangs known as Maras have morphed into deadly organized crime syndicates, while Mexican drug traffickers buy up land and recruit their own squads of killers.
For those who run afoul of the law, justice can be a far horizon.
