The death toll in a riot Sunday at the maximum security prison in the municipality of El Porvenir, about 115 kilometres (70 miles) from the Honduran capital of Tegucigalpa, rose to 18. On Friday, prisoners battled each other at a prison in the city of Tela, leaving a total of 19 dead. Just days before the riots, the federal government declared a state of emergency throughout the National Prison System, seeking to cut down on weapons in prisons and reducing visiting hours. Corruption has allowed inmates to basically run some areas of the prisons, smuggling guns and knives and operating their own businesses. “The inmates run businesses inside prisons in conjunction with prison authorities, and they have enough money to basically act like banks,” said security analyst Raúl Pineda Alvarado.

Source: thestar December 23, 2019 19:41 UTC