Feared 'Tiger' is out as top cop in Honduras [View all]
Feared 'Tiger' is out as top cop in Honduras
By FREDDY CUEVAS, Associated Press | December 19, 2013 | Updated: December 19, 2013 11:22pm
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AP) — Honduras' national police chief, a man who intimidated many in this violent country with a fearsome reputation colored by allegations he ran death squads a decade ago, is out of a job.
Gen. Juan Carlos Bonilla was removed as chief Thursday by President Porfirio Lobo, who said he acted after consulting with President-elect Juan Orlando Hernandez, who takes office next month. No reasons were given, but the change had been widely expected because of the impending change in administrations.
While acquitted of 2002 charges that he directed the killings of criminals as a lower-level official, Bonilla was dogged by the allegations, and critics questioned why he was named chief of a police force often accused of abuses and corruption. Supporters praised Bonilla as the right man for the post, noting he has never been linked to organized crime.
The firing had been viewed as likely since the Nov. 24 election of Hernandez, who has argued that a cleanup effort failed to weed out corrupt officers and shake up the National Police, which is Honduras' only police force.
More:
http://www.chron.com/news/crime/article/Feared-Tiger-is-out-as-top-cop-in-Honduras-5080649.php?cmpid=usw
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Gen. Juan Carlos Bonilla
El Tigre, President Lobo[/center]
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