Honduras plans to build the only island prison colony in the Western Hemisphere and send its most-feared criminals there.
President Xiomara Castro plans to build an isolated prison for 2,000 gang leaders on the Islas del Cisne archipelago 155 miles off the coast in a larger crackdown after the gang-related massacre of 46 women in one prison.
Once common across Latin America, island prisons were located in Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Mexico, Panama and Peru. The last island prison closed in Mexico in 2019. On June 20, 46 women were killed in a fight between gang members in one prison in Tegucigalpa. Honduras officials hope that the planned island prison will prevent gang leaders from running their operations from inside the prisons. Escape would be difficult as the island takes about a day to reach by boat from the mainland.
Escape from the prison on Islas del Cisne would be difficult as the island takes about a day to reach by boat from the mainland. The only way to communicate is by satellite, the head of Honduras’ armed forces said in an interview. Honduras’ secretary of natural resources and the environment Lucky Medina said in an interview that the maximum security penitentiary will be built in harmony with nature.
