US Studying Return of Peace Corps to Honduras
Tuesday, 31 January 2012 00:00
Honduras Weekly
United States Ambassador to Honduras Lisa Kubiske yesterday said that the US State Department is undertaking a technical analysis of the security situation in Honduras to determine the feasibility of returning Peace Corps personnel to the country. Prompted by the shooting of Peace Corp worker Lauren Robert, 27, who was wounded in the leg during an attempted robbery on a bus in San Pedro Sula on December 3, 2011, the State Department decided less than three weeks later to pull all 158 Peace Corps volunteers from Honduras. Although the incident was a random crime (two other passengers were wounded along with Ms. Robert), the State Department took the precautionary move to suspend operations in order to study the conditions on the ground and re-evaluate the operating structure and safety guidelines for volunteers.
"[The State Department] is conducting a technical analysis. These are volunteers, and so we have a responsibility to protect them a little. We will be conducting a review during the next few days, and probably a few days after that we should have a response," said Ambassador Kubiske. According to Honduras' Foreign Minister, Arturo Corrales, "We believe the situation [with the Peace Corps] is temporary because our government is proceeding quickly to re-establish peace and security within Honduran territory." (1/31/12)
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