NewsTracker Answers for week of Apr 25, 2022

Q: Former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández was extradited last week to the United States, where he faces drug trafficking and weapons charges. Where is Honduras, the second largest country in Central America?

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Q: As president from 2014 through 2022, Hernández is accused of participating in a drug conspiracy that that moved more than 550 tons of cocaine to the United States. Honduras has the highest murder rate in Central America, a distinction once held by its small southwestern neighbor ...

A. Belize

B. El Salvador

C. Guatemala

D. Nicaragua

B. El Salvador’s murder rate has dropped dramatically, but officials were accused last year of negotiating with jailed gang leaders to reduce homicides in exchange for access to cell phones and sex workers. Unresolved disappearances also have jumped in the country, leading to questions that gangs are trying to hide body counts.

Q: Prosecutors claim Hernández collected millions of dollars from drug cartels, including one run by Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman in which nation?

A. Bolivia

B. Colombia

C. El Salvador

D. Mexico

D. Guzman of Sinaloa, Mexico, oversaw the mass production of heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine and marijuana and its distribution throughout the United States and Europe. After escaping from a Mexican prison, “El Chapo” was extradited to the United States, where he is serving a life sentence for murder, drug trafficking and other crimes.

Q: Latin American poverty combined with the billions of dollars spent on illegal drugs in the United States and Europe has led to an explosion of violent drug gangs corrupting governments and terrorizing citizens. Honduras is the second-poorest nation in the Americas. Which is the poorest?

A. Belize

B. Haiti

C. Nicaragua

D. Venezuela

B. Haiti’s gross domestic product (GDP) divided by its population is $2,800 per person. The GDP per person is $5,100 in Honduras; $5,300 in Nicaragua; $6,100 in Belize; and $7,704 in Venezuela. These are the five poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere. By comparison, the GDP per person is $60,200 in the United States, the biggest market for illegal drugs.

Q: The United States has spent more than $1 trillion on its 50-year “War on Drugs,” which included spending billions to stop trafficking in Latin America. Is the use of illegal drugs in the United States increasing or decreasing?

A. Increasing

B. Decreasing

A. According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the number of illicit drug users rose to 13% of Americans 12 years or older in 2019, nearly reaching its peak from 40 years ago. The percentage of Americans in prison is four times higher than at the beginning of the drug war, and U.S. overdose deaths exceeded 90,000 in 2020.