Latino USA: Gangs, Murder, and Migration in Honduras

This extensive report takes us to the streets of Honduras where working-class life as a bus or taxi driver includes daily extortion, threats to join gangs are part of the adolescent male experience, and virtually every citizen knows somebody who has been murdered. Honduras has the highest homicide rate in the world. Latino USA shows that the economic disparity at the root of this violence is deeply entrenched, dating back to the fruit companies carving out the future of the country and the U.S. government backing a ruling class to prevent the spread of communism. The listener follows reporter/producer Marlon Bishop through a country with a powerless police force, likely joining him in the conclusion “the decision to leave is really the most natural thing in the world.” But this program also illustrates just how difficult leaving can be. Hopping on top of trains, navigating life in shelters, and avoiding violence, including sexual assault, are all challenges that refugees face as previously well-trodden migrant routes are shut down and national borders are tightened. For giving us the economic context and the personal stories behind an international human rights crisis, Latino USA: Gangs, Murder, and Migration in Honduras receives a Peabody Award.