If the Honduran institutions do not recover from the recent elections, the country and the entire region could be seriously jeopardized.
And the near future of the country will depend in part on how differences over the election results are resolved.
An editorial in Nacion.com reports: "Against a background of institutional weakness, constant expansion of drug trafficking, petty corruption, gangs, violent crime and a rate of 86 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants, the largest in the world, Honduras presidential election was held on 24 November."
Guatemala’s weak institutions have been unable to contain drug traffickers, causing marked erosion in the authority and legitimacy of the state.
In numerous Latin American countries, organized crime and violence are corroding governance and imperiling democratic legitimacy. This phenomenon is most severe in Guatemala, which is currently experiencing a full-blown crisis of the democratic state.
Conrado Reyes was elected as Guatemala’s Attorney General by the deans of 9 law schools and the chief of the Supreme Court; his designation was annulled after 17 days in office.
An article by Tim Johnson in the Miami Herald describes how the country’s fragile democracy “nearly went narco”.
On May 25, Reyes took oath as attorney general and quickly proceeded to fire more than a dozen seasoned prosecutors, who’d been handling sensitive cases related to political murders, corruption and drug trafficking.
An open war is going on in Jamaica over the detention of a kingpin drug dealer; this is an example of what may soon happen in Central America.
An article by Joaquín Villalobos in Elpais.com signals Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala as the countries of the isthmus most affected by drug trafficking, a black market activity which leads to violence and corruption, and may eventually transform a country into a ‘failed state’
According to the US State Department, Guatemala, Mexico and other Latin American nations are now or are about to be failed states.
Carlos Alberto Montaner, in an article published in Elperiodico.com.gt, said: "When does a State become "failed?" This is not about the level of poverty, education or health. It occurs when legal institutions become degraded.