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Latin American Program in the News: Is World's Most Powerful Drug Kingpin Joaquín 'El Chapo' Guzmán Hiding in Honduras?

Eric L. Olson

Eric Olson, LAP Associate Director, comments to Forbes on recent speculations that Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman might have left Mexico and be hiding out in Honduras.

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Eric Olson, an expert on the Mexican cartels and Central America at the Woodrow Wilson Center, said that “it’s certainly possible that El Chapo is in Honduras. Borders are porous, law enforcement weak, and criminal networks control both territories and parts of the government including municipalities and sectors of federal law enforcement.”

That said, Olson told me by email, “I have no specific information that he is in Honduras.” He said that the last information he saw from a court case in Chicago involving the son of one of Guzmán’s top lieutenants, “is that El Chapo is still in his mountaintop hideout in Mexico.”

Olson observed that the DEA has much more freedom to operate and maneuver in Honduras than in Mexico. But, he cautioned, “this does not mean that DEA does not have an important presence in Mexico, it simply means it has more latitude in Honduras. Does this mean that the DEA would know if he is in Honduras? Maybe, but it’s not a guarantee.”

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About the Author

Eric L. Olson

Eric L. Olson

Global Fellow;
Director of Policy and Strategic Initiatives, Seattle International Foundation
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Latin America Program

The Wilson Center’s prestigious Latin America Program provides non-partisan expertise to a broad community of decision makers in the United States and Latin America on critical policy issues facing the Hemisphere. The Program provides insightful and actionable research for policymakers, private sector leaders, journalists, and public intellectuals in the United States and Latin America. To bridge the gap between scholarship and policy action, it fosters new inquiry, sponsors high-level public and private meetings among multiple stakeholders, and explores policy options to improve outcomes for citizens throughout the Americas. Drawing on the Wilson Center’s strength as the nation’s key non-partisan policy forum, the Program serves as a trusted source of analysis and a vital point of contact between the worlds of scholarship and action.  Read more