Periphery Podcast Episode 1: “Honduras, A Government Failing to Protect Its People” with Sarah Kinosian

In the first episode of Periphery Podcast, Angelika Albaladejo and Mike LaSusa interviewed their former colleague Sarah Kinosian, an expert on Latin America security issues who recently published a seven-part series about violence, militarization and migration in Honduras.

Last December, Sarah Kinosian, lead researcher on Latin America for the Center for International Policy’s Security Assistance Monitor program, went to Honduras with Lisa Haugaard of the Latin America Working Group to conduct on-the-ground research for the report, which was published last month.

Sarah Kinosian and Lisa Haugaard’s seven-part report, “Honduras: A Government Failing to Protect Its People,” is available for download from the Center for International Policy, or in installments on the Security Assistance Monitor and Latin American Working Group blogs. Sarah Kinosian, William D. Hartung and Lisa Haugaard also wrote a follow-up report for Foreign Policy in Focus (FPIF): “Can the Violence in Honduras Be Stopped?”

Last December, Security Assistance Monitor released a Country Profile on U.S. Security Assistance to Honduras. We contributed research, drafting, editing and graphic design work to this Honduras Country Profile. (Una versión en Español también está disponible aquí: Perfil de País: Asistencia en Temas de Seguridad de los EE.UU. hacia Honduras)

Security Assistance Monitor has also created an Advocacy Guide: Applying the Leahy Law to U.S. Military and Police Aid to guide “human rights promoters and journalists [who] may be unaware of a powerful tool to curb impunity among military and police that receive U.S. assistance: the ‘Leahy Law.’” The guide is useful for learning what the Leahy Law says, how the United States applies it and what organizations can do to encourage U.S. action against security forces accused of violations, such as the Military Police (PMOP) in Honduras. (Una versión en Español también está disponible aquí: Aplicando la Ley Leahy a la Asistencia Militar y Policial de los EE.UU.)

Security Assistance Monitor is compiling a running list of human rights abuses allegedly committed by military police in Honduras. Security Assistance Monitor documents all publicly accessible information on U.S. security and defense assistance programs throughout the world, including arms sales, military and police aid, training programs, exercises, exchanges, bases and deployments.

Mike wrote an article for Alternet earlier this year about militarization and the plans for Zonas de Empleo y Desarrollo Económico (ZEDEs) charter cities: The Nightmare Libertarian Project to Turn This Central American Country Into Ayn Rand’s Paradise.

Angelika is currently completing an Infographic Series on Violence Against Women in the Northern Triangle States of Central America. Part 1: Honduras Violence Against Women and Increased Migration. Part 2: Violence Against Women in Guatemala. Part 3 on El Salvador will be released soon. (Versiónes en Español también están disponibles aquí:  Infografíco: La Violencia Contra Mujeres en Honduras y la Migración a los EE.UU. y Infografíco: La Violencia Contra Mujeres en Guatemala)

This episode is available on Youtube (no longer available on Libsyn or iTunes).