As Lockdown is Extended Roatanians Witness National Police Abuses

While police punished individuals violating the unconstitutional lockdown laws with arrests, vehicle confiscation and fines, they decided that the law doesn’t apply to themselves or their families. This comes on the tail on an incident where Jaime Barahona, Bay Islands police chief, and 11 other police, came unannounced to Roatan from COVID-19 area and didn’t announce their arrival, or tested for the virus.

That type of behavior is more typical than most people like to believe and the Roatan police, now under leadership of Sub Commissioner Serrano Nieto are following the footsteps of their ex-national chief Juan Carlos Bonilla Valladares, 60, known as “El Tigre.” Last week US prosecutors accused Bonilla Valladares of overseeing cocaine trafficking on behalf of Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández and his brother, a former congressman. “El Tigre” has a rank of a General in National Police and is also implicated in being part of death squads responsible for executing criminals and political opponents.

On Monday May 4, back at work, National Police fired tear gas at Rotanians protesting the inability of the national government to allow their loved ones to come back to the island from the mainland. “There are around 300 people stuck in La Ceiba waiting to get back to the island,” says Julio Galindo, Roatan’s ex-Mayor and owner of Anthony’s Key Resort. “Utila managed to bring 19 people back.” The Coxen Hole protests came as central government extended the lockdown until May 16 and tightened stay-at-home laws limiting food trips from once-per-week to once-every-two-weeks.

After staying isolated for 14 days and proving that there is no COVID-19 infections on the islands Roatanians were made to participate in a cruel spectacle of wearing masks, gloves, self-imprisonment in their homes while growing paranoid in wait for the arrival of invisible enemy. This was 40 days ago.

While time-and-time again Honduran government has proven itself unable to run the country’s power generation system and its land telephone system, much of the public is somehow convinced that the Honduran government is competent to make life or death decisions about COVID-19 or economic impact of the shutdown. That could be only described as a mass case of a Stockholm syndrome where a hostage begins to associate with the interest of his kidnapper.

Roatanians remain confused or in denial about who is actually running their lives.

            Honduras, with a population of 9 million, has an average daily death toll of 400 people, including around 10 murders. The media has been ignoring this reality; it has been broadcasting death-porn of 93 COVID-19 drama of the country wide lockdown.

While Roatanians remain confused or in denial about who is actually running their lives. With courts closed, and constitution suspended, it is the Central Government and their National Police decides what goes and what doesn’t. Local government can just ask, and plead, but has no power. “The government is now allowed to issue orders in direct violation of the constitution. Such as restrict your freedom to circulate and your freedom to congregate,” said Keena Haylock, Roatan based attorney.

The National Police are complicit in enforcing and overreaching a national law that has no legal standing in forbidding church service, imposing house arrest of millions of healthy and closing down most business.

After Thirty Eight Days of Isolation, Island Officials Plead with Central Government to Reopen their Economy

Numerous pleas for Roatan and Bay Islands internal economy to be opened came from Mayors and other island officials, but have fallen on death ears. “We are asking to normalize internal movement in the Bay Islands because we have zero cases of Covid19. Here we have permanent monitoring so no one enters the island. Here we have people who are very hungry Sir”, wrote Steven Garcia Arch, Bay Islands COPECO chief on April 26 to Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernández . The president read the message, but has not responded.

This latest plea for threatening Bay Islands on merits of its geographical uniqueness and stringent isolation comes after the escalation of restrictions by National Police arresting people attempting to travel between Santos Guardiola and Roatan and confiscating their vehicles. The de facto martial law has made it illegal to move about between 6pm and 6am and during entire weekends.

“We put the reward to keep the wolf outside the chicken pen. Now we have a wolf inside the chicken pen.”

Ironically it was the National Police itself has caused the biggest security medical threat to the island when on April 10 Jaime Barahona, Bay Islands police chief, with 11 other National Police and three Navy personnel came on a boat from highly populated and covid-19 reporting areas of the country. The officials spend the night at the Los Fuertes police headquarters. “We put the reward to keep the wolf outside the chicken pen. Now we have a wolf inside the chicken pen” said Jerry Hynds, Roatan’s Mayor at a security meeting about the quarantine violation and possible infection by the National Police. Due to the pressure of local authorities and public the 15 officials were forced to leave the island the next day.

While there are usually 230 National police officers stationed on the Roatan the security on the island rests mostly in the hands of private security companies at residences, banks and businesses.

With the economy on a shut down the security situation on Roatan has steadily deteriorated. There were several home invasions and robberies of basic materials such as fuel and food have been increasing. On March 29, Ron Kellerman, a retired special Ops Vietnam veteran was killed at his home in First Bight. Another murder occurred in Oak Ridge. The drug smuggling has continued and Honduran Navy has fired at a boat presumed to be bringing cocaine from the coast to Oak Ridge area.

While a majority of Bay Islanders would like to have their economy be open like Sweden, Holland did, and the Honduran Central Government is determined to confine healthy islanders to their homes. That is unlikely to happen as Bay Islands are just a speckle of little importance on a map of countries that fell to the global agenda of eliminating individual freedoms, total surveillance and economic looting.

The “Red Alert” laws have quarantined healthy islanders and convinced them to give up their rights to worship, right to travel, and rights to assemble “for their own safety.” While fearful and confused the islanders submitted to the draconian measures, but when the dust settles they are likely to be left with less security and less freedoms.