Spanish
The President of Honduras Nasry Asfura has put an end to a privilege rooted in the daily life of the capital: public officials will no longer have police or military escorts in their daily circulation.
From now on, ministers, deputy ministers, directors, and other authorities must face traffic like any citizen, organizing their schedules without relying on convoys or sirens that paralyze urban activity.
According to Asfura himself, it is about restoring citizen confidence and reversing decades of abuses that have separated the rulers from everyday reality.
The change includes a symbolic decision by the president himself, who assured that he has requested a significant reduction in his official security and uses vehicles of his own private property.
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Asfura explained that, although he will reinforce his personal security, he will decide and finance those resources from his own pocket, not with state funds, as a way of showing consistency in terms of austerity. According to his statements, “if austerity and responsibility are demanded of others, the example must start from the Presidency.” The president announced the measure after a direct meeting with the Minister of Security, Gerzon Velásquez, where he ordered the suspension of the use of the National Police of Honduras and the Armed Forces for personal protection of officials. Asfura emphasized that the public force should "be focused on protecting the population, combating crime and ensuring security in neighborhoods, colonies and roads, and not on facilitating the transfers of people with public positions." Among the highlights, the president ordered the prohibition of the use of sirens and motorized escorts, except in justified circumstances. He affirmed that the habitual use of these devices is “offensive” to the inhabitants who face long hours of vehicular congestion every day. Asfura described these official practices as "humiliating for the population," because they imply a "message of superiority and disconnection from the reality of the majority of Hondurans." The leader publicly acknowledged that the use of bodyguards and official vehicles for officials had become a habit, naturalized to the point of becoming a kind of acquired right. According to Asfura, this privilege was incompatible with a government that tries to manage public resources efficiently and transparently. The elimination of these prerogatives responds, in part, to the criticisms of civil society organizations, entrepreneurs and citizens who have historically denounced not only the operational cost of mobilizing official convoys, but also the negative impact on circulation and the institutional image. In the president's opinion, initiatives like this are the first step to rebuild the relationship between the State and citizens. In his statement, the Head of State wanted to make it clear that his administration does not promise immediate solutions or symbolic deadlines, and that many of the current road and urban management problems are due to "decades of bad practices, wrong decisions and lack of planning." He insisted that profound changes require time and perseverance, but decided to start with the elimination of privileges, which he hopes will become a standard for the exercise of public service.Throughout his speech, Asfura emphasized that the state's money comes from the effort of taxpayers and that it is his responsibility to “ensure that every lempira is well invested and generates visible results for the population.”
