Honduras gangs open to truce to end violence

Two ultra-violent Honduran gangs apologized Tuesday for their crimes and declared they were willing to discuss a truce to cut violence in the nation with the world's highest murder rate. Leaders from the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) and Mara 18 (M-18) street gangs made their statements in separate press conferences at the prison of San Predo Sula, the Central American country's second biggest city. "We want to ask for forgiveness from society before God if we caused pain at any time," an MS-13 member identified as Marcos told reporters. "We also want to ask for forgiveness from the authorities." "What we want is peace with God, peace with our society and the authorities," he said. M-18 members refused to give any names and covered their faces with scarves. "We come in peace to ask for forgiveness from society," one of them said. Another M-18 gangster described the event as a "process of dialogue ... to reduce violence." "We give our word that if the government listens to us, gives us jobs, gives us rights and looks after us, we can continue talking," the man said. The bishop of San Pedro Sula, Romulo Emiliani, had approached the two gangs months ago in a bid to mediate a truce. President Porfirio Lobo voiced support for the Catholic cleric's mediation efforts on Monday. Emiliani and Adam Blackwell, a representative of the Organization of American States (OAS), attended Tuesday's press conferences. Blackwell helped to achieve a truce between the same gangs in El Salvador. Honduras has the highest murder rate in the world with 85.5 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants per year. The country has become a major transit point for US-bound drugs from South America.