There are a lot of tourist destinations that numerous people are wanting to visit every year. They usually spend their vacations in places where they can relax. Aside from that, people choose their destinations depending on the seasons. Typically, tourists would prefer sunny beaches in tropical countries during the summer time. Most tourists from tropical countries, on the other hand, want to visit snowy places during winter season.
One of the most important factor that a tourist typically considers when choosing a destination is the safety of the place. A visitor wants to feel and assure himself that he can safely roam around the place, do certain activities, and stay there. For this matter, an individual looking for a destination for his next vacation may have to steer clear of the city of San Pedro Sula.
San Pedro Sula is a city located in Honduras. Due to the strong hurricane that savage the region, this country is among the poorest ones. Before such hurricane, the city's economy is fueled by the production and export of banana. However, when the hurricane hit, the banana plantations have been ravaged and slow to no recovery of such industry has taken place.
This city is known to be the murder capital of the world. This is the reason why a person should always think twice about visiting this place. A lot of gangs are fighting for control and power over several businesses that may flourish in the area. Gang wars happen oftentimes which caused a lot of killings and raised the number of homicides for two consecutive years. The gangs were previously formed in Los Angeles but moved to the region to escape the authorities. On average, three homicides are reported every day.
Some gangs also formed alliances with Mexican drug syndicates. For this matter, the city has been one of the main distribution points for cocaine and other illegal drugs that are distributed mostly in the United States and other countries. Aside from that, firearms trafficking is also rampant. Most of the homicide cases reported in this city is linked to firearms. The victims could be anyone, a student, a farmer, even a prosecutor.
Corruption in the government is also rampant. Due to the corruption by most government officials, poverty is apparent in a large percentage of the city's population. Because of this, most residents also settle their differences through guns. The residents think that if they own larger guns, they will have the justice they think they deserve. They also do not trust the police as extortion is widely practiced among them. Because of the hassles and stresses brought by this situation, a lot of unaccompanied minors who are fleeing from this area usually find their way to the United States, to Mexico, and other countries bordering Honduras.
Most of the cars passing by have tinted black windows and a few of them only have number plates. Residents have attested to the tensions they are feeling whenever they are walking in the streets. It has become a normal situation for any resident to see a dead body lying on the street grounds.
To address the issues that are haunting San Pedro Sula, multiple shuffling of posts has been done. However, the process may take a long time for the city to totally get rid of criminality, corruption, and poverty.