Oscar Álvarez (politician)

Last updated August 21, 2022

Oscar Alvarez is a former Honduran politician who served as Secretary of Public Security for the Government of Honduras from 2002 to 2005, as well as serving from 2010 to 2011 under a different administration. He has also been elected to the National Congress of Honduras multiple times, where he held the distinction of named Congressional Party Leader by his peers for the duration of the 2014 term.

Minister of Public Security

Álvarez is in charge of all internal security for Honduras. In his first term he played a key role in helping to implement Homeland Security’s CSI (Container Security Initiative), which gave Hondurans the ability to ship containers to any port in the United States without major security restrictions.

Álvarez also worked closely with several United States agencies in the fight against organized crime, narcotics trafficking, terrorism, human smuggling, and gangs. Such agencies include but are not limited to: Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Customs and Border Patrol (CBP), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). His attempts to make Honduras safer led to a tough crackdown on gangs that saw many gang members put in jail.

Álvarez was also a key element in the establishment of the Honduran Border Patrol Units, in close cooperation with Homeland Security’s Border Tactical Units (BORTAC). Up to today, it is considered among the most successful exercises involving international cooperation in law enforcement between the United States of America and Honduras. On September 10, 2011 unexplained events led to the forced resignation of Alvarez and his closest staff. According to CSmonitor.com: “The departure of the Honduran Security Minister Oscar Alvarez, the leading crusader against police corruption in Honduras, is a victory for crooked cops.

With the departure of Honduran Security Minister Oscar Alvarez, an outspoken foe of police corruption, the country is facing an uphill battle as it grapples with attempts to reform its notorious police force.

In a surprise move, the administration of President Porfirio Lobo announced late Saturday night that it had accepted Mr. Alvarez's resignation. Up until now, he had been seen as one of the president’s closest and most influential advisers. While officials are claiming that the resignation was voluntary, Alvarez was joined by Foreign Minister Mario Canahuati as well as several other ministers and deputy ministers, suggesting they were dismissed as part of a major shake-up.”

Past accomplishments

Alvarez has held numerous presidential appointments in Honduras, including Deputy Chief of Staff and Director of the Office of Coordination and Analysis, which reports directly to the President of Honduras. Alvarez is founder and president of ATESA Seguridad, one of the largest security companies in Honduras. ATESA Seguridad provides turn key service to many major banks and industries. Services include risk analysis, due diligence, design and implementation of electronic and physical security, training and maintenance of the equipment. Also, Atesa Seguridad has done specialized work for global security companies such as Control Risk, Kroll and foreign intelligence services.

Alvarez attended several US military schools including Ranger, Special Forces and the Corps of Cadets at Texas A&M University, where he had the distinction of being the first cadet to receive commission in a foreign army. During Alvarez’s career he has been awarded several medals and recognitions including the Honduran Army Combat Medal, Commendation Medal, US Special Forces School Achievement Medal and Special Recognition from the US State Department, FBI and DEA. Mr. Alvarez has a BA in political science from Texas A&M University and has attended the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) taking courses on International Relations and Security Studies.

Family

Alvarez is married and has four children.

Related Research Articles

The Public Force of Costa Rica is the Costa Rican national law enforcement force, which performs policing and border patrol functions.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, the FBI is also a member of the U.S. Intelligence Community and reports to both the Attorney General and the Director of National Intelligence. A leading U.S. counter-terrorism, counterintelligence, and criminal investigative organization, the FBI has jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crimes.

The Drug Enforcement Administration is a United States federal law enforcement agency under the U.S. Department of Justice tasked with combating drug trafficking and distribution within the U.S. It is the lead agency for domestic enforcement of the Controlled Substances Act, sharing concurrent jurisdiction with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The DEA has sole responsibility for coordinating and pursuing U.S. drug investigations both domestically and abroad.

A special agent is an investigator or detective for a governmental or independent agency, who primarily serves in criminal investigatory positions. Additionally, many federal and state special agents operate in "criminal intelligence" based roles as well. Within the U.S. federal law enforcement system, dozens of federal agencies employ federal law enforcement officers, each with different criteria pertaining to the use of the titles Special Agent and Agent.

Robert Cleve Bonner is an American former prosecutor, former United States District Judge, former Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration and former Commissioner of United States Customs and Border Protection. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of the California Institute of Technology, a retired partner at the law firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher and former Chair of the California Commission on Judicial Performance.

The Administrative Department of Security was the security service agency of Colombia, which was also responsible for border and immigration services. It was dissolved on 31 October 2011 as part of a wider Executive Reform, and was replaced by the Dirección Nacional de Inteligencia (DNI).

Law enforcement in Bolivia is reliant on the 40,000-member Cuerpo de Policía Nacional responsible for internal security and maintaining law and order. Unlike many South American countries, the Bolivian police force always has been accountable to the national government rather than to state or local officials. The 1950 Organic Law of Police and Carabiniers officially separated the police from the military. Frequently, however, the national police call upon the military for assistance in quelling riots and civil protests.

This article deals with the activities of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of the federal government of the United States that are violations of human rights.

The federal government of the United States empowers a wide range of law enforcement agencies to maintain law and public order related to matters affecting the country as a whole.

Hugo Llorens is a retired American diplomat. He is a former U.S. Special Chargé d'Affaires of the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, (2016–17) and United States Ambassador to Honduras (2008–2011). In his 36-year career he was posted to numerous countries spanning 6 continents. In 2002–2003, he joined the White House staff and served as Director of Andean Affairs advising the President and National Security Advisor on issues pertaining to Colombia, Venezuela, Bolivia, Peru, and Ecuador.

Juan Orlando Hernández Alvarado (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈxwan oɾˈlando eɾˈnandes]; also known as JOH; is a Honduran lawyer, politician and drug trafficker, who served as President of Honduras from 2014 to 2022.

Tegucigalpa, formally Tegucigalpa, Municipality of the Central District, and colloquially referred to as Tegus or Teguz, is the capital and largest city of Honduras along with its twin sister, Comayagüela.

The illegal drug trade in Latin America concerns primarily the production and sale of cocaine and cannabis, including the export of these banned substances to the United States and Europe. The Coca cultivation is concentrated in the Andes of South America, particularly in Colombia, Peru and Bolivia; this is the world's only source region for coca.

Drug trafficking organizations are defined by the United States Department of Justice as, "complex organizations with highly defined command-and-control structures that produce, transport, and/or distribute large quantity "Law enforcement reporting indicates that Mexican DTOs maintain drug distribution networks, or supply drugs to distributors, in at least 230 U.S. cities." The use of weapons and fear are commonplace in trafficking which often lead to other crimes in the process. The structures of many of these organizations are of a para-military nature using armed combatants to protect their stock of illegal drugs from growth to delivery.

Mark A. Morgan is an American law enforcement official who served as the Chief Operating Officer and acting Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection from July 5, 2019, to January 20, 2021.

Kiki Camarena DEA agent murdered by drug traffickers

Enrique "Kiki" Camarena Salazar was an American intelligence officer for the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). In February 1985 Camarena was kidnapped by drug traffickers hired by Mexican politicians in Guadalajara, Mexico. He was interrogated under torture and murdered. Three leaders of the Guadalajara drug cartel were eventually convicted in Mexico for Camarena's murder. The U.S. investigation into Camarena's murder led to ten more trials in Los Angeles for other Mexican nationals involved in the crime. The case continues to trouble U.S.–Mexican relations, most recently when one of the three convicted traffickers, Rafael Caro Quintero, was released from a Mexican prison in 2013. Caro Quintero was again captured by Mexican Forces in July 2022.

Valeriy Viktorovych Heletey is a Ukrainian Colonel General who served as Minister of Defense from 3 July to 14 October 2014.

Chuck Rosenberg is an American attorney. He formerly served as the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia (EDVA) and for the Southern District of Texas; as a senior FBI official on the staff of two FBI Directors; as Counselor to the Attorney General; as the Chief of Staff to the Deputy Attorney General; as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in EDVA in Norfolk and Alexandria; and as the former Acting Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration.

The National Police of Honduras is the uniformed police force of the Republic of Honduras. The force is organised into regional headquarters, municipal headquarters, headquarters of fixed or mobile stations, and police posts. There are at least 360 police centres throughout Honduras. The National Police of Honduras has its headquarters in Tegucigalpa, the capital city of Honduras. The National Police of Honduras is the fourth largest police body in Central America by number of employees. It is the sixth largest force in Central America by police officers per capita. The force's patroness is the Virgin of Carmen. On 16 July of each year the "National Police Patroness Day" is celebrated.

References

^[1]^[2]^[3]

↑ "Honduran security minister steps down, deepening security crisis". CSMonitor.com. 2011-09-13. Retrieved 2016-03-30.
↑ "Buscador - Diario El Heraldo Honduras". Elheraldo.hn. Archived from the original on 2016-04-08. Retrieved 2016-03-30.
↑ "Óscar Álvarez: "Era más fácil que me fuera yo que los policías corruptos" - LaTribuna.hn". Archived from the original on September 13, 2011. Retrieved September 15, 2011.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[1] "Honduran security minister steps down, deepening security crisis". CSMonitor.com. 2011-09-13. Retrieved 2016-03-30.

[2] "Buscador - Diario El Heraldo Honduras". Elheraldo.hn. Archived from the original on 2016-04-08. Retrieved 2016-03-30.

[3] "Óscar Álvarez: "Era más fácil que me fuera yo que los policías corruptos" - LaTribuna.hn". Archived from the original on September 13, 2011. Retrieved September 15, 2011.

[1]

[2]

[3]