Luis Fajardo examines controversial plans to create privatised cities in the impoverished Central American country, Honduras. These new cities would have Western-style laws overseen by foreign judges in semi-autonomous enclaves. The hope is that they would offer stability and prosperity to Hondurans and international investors weary of violence and chaos.

Many condemned the initiative as thinly-veiled colonialism. But the current leaders of Honduras, one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere and one of the most violent in the world have begun laying down the legal groundwork for the plan. President Juan Orlando Hernandez won re-election in 2017 in a vote where the privatised cities plan was one of the central controversies.

Activists warn that the privatised enclaves will only worsen social inequality and undermine sovereignty in an already weak and deeply divided country.
How much sovereignty should poor countries like Honduras relinquish to chase foreign investment? Can cities, by definition the wellspring of civic spirit, flourish if their public institutions are privatised? Should someone own an entire city? And would you like to live in it?

(Photo: Amapala Church with Isla del Tigre Volcano background Valle Honduras Credit: Getty Images) Show less