Brus Laguna in La Moskitia

Recent confrontations between drug lords and the anti drug forces operating in Honduras has sparked complaints by Human Rights organizations in the United States of America and Honduras.

The most recent controversy occurred Saturday in Brus Laguna of the La Moskitia region, where a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent, working beside the Honduran authorities, was forced to shoot (and kill) a suspected narcotics trafficker. The man who was killed had been reaching for his weapon, and the agent fired in self-defense. The incident is the first time that a U.S. DEA agent has been compelled to kill a suspect in Honduras since “Operation Anvil” went into effect. Under this operative, the U.S. DEA has loaned out helicopters and members of their Foreign-deployed Advisory Support Team (known as ‘FAST’) in order to assist Honduras in the fight against drugs.

This incident, occurring so recently after the U.S. DEA was under fire for another shooting in La Moskitia, has led to protests from Human Rights groups in the U.S.A. and Honduras.