Chamelecón is a suburb of San Pedro Sula in Honduras .
45-574: Chamelecón is ten minutes' drive south from San Pedro Sula . It has an approximate population of 53,400. It came to world attention on 23 December 2004 when 28 people were murdered and another 28 injured while returning from the centre of San Pedro Sula by the MS-13 gang opposed to the (proposed) restoration of the death penalty in Honduras. Many of the residents of this poor suburb work in textile manufacturing . This Honduras location article
90-459: A tropical wet and dry climate ( Aw ) under the Köppen climate classification , with a dry season spanning from January through May and a wet season covering the remaining months. The city experiences relatively high temperatures year-round and some rainfall. However, it does not quite fall under the tropical monsoon climate category. San Pedro Sula has experienced hurricanes and tropical storms and
135-431: A Greek Orthodox cathedral, Iglesia Ortodoxa de Antioquía San Juan Bautista , built in 1963. This archeological site is two kilometers along the street that goes to Lake Jucutuma . Expeditions from 2006 found multiple pre-Columbian pieces, and ruins of an unknown civilization. The ruins are currently abandoned since 2009, it was reported that during Rodolfo Sunseri administration in 2006–2009 that he pretended to rescue
180-593: A population of 1,445,598 in its metropolitan area in 2023, it is the nation's primary industrial center and second largest city after the capital Tegucigalpa , and the largest city in Central America that is not a capital city. Before the arrival of the Spanish, the Sula Valley was home to approximately 50,000 native inhabitants. The area that is home to the modern city served as a local trade hub for
225-525: A population of 1200. The city benefitted from the growth of the banana trade in the 1870s and 1880s and formed a close relationship with US-based shipper and railroad entrepreneur Samuel Zemurray 's Cuyamel Fruit Company , and the construction of the Interoceanic Railroad between 1869 and 1874 which connected the city to the coast at Puerto Cortés . Zemurray worked closely with local elites who invested in subsidiary enterprises and thus shaped
270-586: A significant Garifuna workforce from the Bay Islands off Trujillo and in 1901 the government gave concessions for them to use over 7,000 hectares for banana cultivation. However in practice it was impossible to protect all of this land for its given purpose and corruption saw a local military commander in Trujillo, Colonel Gustavo Alvarez, squander 2,000 hectares of land allocated to the Garifuna and give
315-603: Is Colonia Juan Lindo and Colonia Jardines Del Valle. From the river past 24 Avenida, north to 25 Calle and west to 12 Avenida, is Colonia Universidad. Universidad de San Pedro Sula is to its south, across the river. West of Colonia Universidad is Colonia Country, a small neighborhood including the Academia Americana , and Colonia Villas del Sol, which runs from Boulevard Mackey west to include Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Honduras en el Valle de Sula , and goes north to Río Bermejo but does not cross it. Just past
360-506: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . San Pedro Sula San Pedro Sula ( Spanish pronunciation: [sam ˈpeðɾo ˈsula] ) is the capital of Cortés Department , Honduras . It is located in the northwest corner of the country in the Sula Valley , about 50 kilometers (31 miles) south of Puerto Cortés on the Caribbean Sea . With a population of 701,200 in the central urban area (2023 calculation) and
405-477: Is a multi-sporting complex that has facilities for most Olympic style games including football, boxing, swimming, baseball, cycling, and multipurpose gymnasiums. San Pedro Sula is the only city in the country that houses to two football stadiums. The Estadio Olímpico Metropolitano is located in the Villa Olímpica and is the largest in the country with a capacity of 42,000. The Estadio Francisco Morazán
450-806: Is just to the north of center. Nor-Este neighborhoods include Barrio San Cristobal, Villa Florencia, Colonia Ideal, Barrio Morazán, Colonia Modelo, and further out Colonia Bográn, Colonia El Carmen, and Colonia Los Laureles. Includes the road to the airport, Aeropuerto Internacional Ramon Villeda Morales and to the city of La Lima . Southeast neighborhoods include Barrio Medina (11 Calle SE to Avenida Juan Pablo II, 4 Avenida SO to 10 Avenida SE), Colonia La Aurora (defined by 7 Calle SE to 10 Calle SE, and 14 Avenida SE to Segundo Anilo (approximately where 18 Avenida would be), Barrio Cabañas, Barrio La Navidad, San Pedro, Barrio Las Palmas, Barrio San Luís, Colonia La Unión, Barrio La Paz. Farther out: Colonia Rivera Hernández, San Cristobal. With dateline giving San Pedro Sula as
495-416: Is located in the center of the city and holds 23,000 people. The stadiums are home to San Pedro Sula's most popular professional football teams Marathón and Real CD España . As of 2009 , San Pedro Sula has been the home venue for Honduras national football team matches. San Pedro Sula is home to several universities, including: It has a Roman Catholic Cathedral that was built in 1949. as well as
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#1732772439446540-519: Is prone to them during the hurricane season usually when the storms form in the southern part of the Caribbean or Western Africa. San Pedro Sula, as most cities built under the Spanish colonial period, is divided in quadrants. Avenues in the city run from north to south and streets run from east to west. First Street and First Avenue mark the "center of the city" and effectively divide it into four major quadrants NW, NE, SW and SE. Barrio El Benque,
585-418: Is where the economic development of the country is concentrated via the city's industrial, commercial, and financial development." The then-manager of Hotel Copantl attributed its growth in business-related tourism ...[to] the maquila (apparel manufacturing) industry. As of 2011 , San Pedro Sula generated two-thirds of the country's gross domestic product (GDP). San Pedro Sula was the " murder capital of
630-473: The New Scientist reported that global banana production was under threat by disease and may be wiped out within ten years if preventative measures are not taken to protect against it. Scientists from the banana industry in Honduras responded to the potential crisis by implementing new large-scale breeding schemes in a new FHIA variety. This FHIA banana crop is resistant to major diseases and pests, but
675-572: The Fortaleza de San Fernando , was built in Omoa , less than 50 miles from San Pedro Sula. The subsequent increase in trade supported an increase in population from 70 inhabitants in 1714 to 357 in 1789. Post- independence San Pedro Sula remained an impoverished village, dependent on trade between Omoa and the country's interior. In 1875, Frank Frye, the American consul in the Bay Islands , reported
720-542: The Mayan and Aztec civilizations. The Spanish conquest brought about a demographic collapse from which the native population would never recover. On 27 June 1536, Don Pedro de Alvarado founded a Spanish town beside the Indian settlement of Choloma, with the name of Villa de Señor San Pedro de Puerto Caballos (modern San Pedro Sula). The new town had 35 Spanish citizens, and Alvarado allocated 200 of his slaves to help build
765-608: The American government trained the Honduran army and air force to protect the supremacy of the banana companies operating in the country. The growth of banana production in Honduras soon saw the industry constituting some 88% of Honduran exports at its all-time peak, centering the economic activity of the country almost entirely on the Atlantic coast region, with the economic center at the coastal city of San Pedro Sula rather than Tegucigalpa . The Honduran banana industry employed
810-614: The Gros Michel with the Cavendish variety, which had some resistance to the disease. General Sierra's efforts to perpetuate himself in office led to his overthrow in 1903 by General Manuel Bonilla , who proved to be an even greater ally of the banana companies than Sierra had been. Companies gained exemptions from taxes and permission to construct wharves and roads, as well as permission to improve interior waterways and to obtain charters for new railroad construction. At one time
855-558: The Las Isletas Peasants Enterprise, where they harvested the bananas independently and reaped the profits, producing one million boxes of bananas in 1976 and four million in 1977. Las Isletas attempted to sell the fruit directly through the Union of Banana Exporting Countries at one stage, resulting in the arrest of 200 militant members of Las Isletas and a raid on the association's headquarters under pressure from
900-556: The Standard Fruit Company, who feared being outlawed by the process. In the mid-1990s, the Honduran economy went into severe recession, which hit the banana and coffee industries hard and sending world prices soaring. Although the economy recovered significantly in 1996, the banana industry in Honduras was struck hard by the lasting impression of Hurricane Mitch in late 1998, a Category Five Hurricane considered
945-765: The Tela Railroad Company and the Trujillo Railroad Company. By 1929, the United Fruit Company operated in over 650,000 acres (2,600 km ) of the country and controlled the major ports. Initially, Honduran producers focused on growing the Gros Michel type of bananas, which had important characteristics that made them easy to store and ship and appealed to consumers in North American markets. However in
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#1732772439446990-579: The Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Honduras en el Valle de Sula, and spanning the Río Bermejo, is Colonia El Pedregal, which has residential high-rises. Further out, north across the Río Bermejo, running to the edge of the city, and with calles (streets) renumbering from 1 up, are Colonia Los Alpes and Rancho El Coco and Residencial Los Cedros and Colonia La Tara. Far to the north is Colonia Fesitranh. Barrio Las Acacias
1035-511: The business district, is just to the west and south of the center, and other neighborhoods in the suroeste include Barrio Paz Barahona, Barrio La Guardia, Colonia Altamira, Colonia Mesetas, Barrio Río de Piedras, Barrio Suyapa (from 12 Avenida S out to Avenida Circunvalación, from 7 Calle S to 10 Calles S), Colonia Hernandez, Barrio Prado Alto, and Colonia El Chamelecón. The latter includes area from 23 Avenida S west to 27 Avenida S, from 1 Calle (named Bulevar Los Próceres there) south to 5 Calle S0. To
1080-546: The center. Noroeste neighborhoods include Colonia Moderna (from 1 Calle to 5 Calle NO, from Avendia Circunvalación to the river beyond 24 Avenida), Colonia La Mora (from 5 Calle NO to 7 Calle NO, from Avendia Circunvalación to the río beyond 24 Avenida), Colonia Zeron, the Colonia Columbia by the Universidad de San Pedro Sula , Barrio La Cervecería and Barrio Guadalupe. Across the river along which 24 Avenida runs
1125-558: The coast where steamers from a variety of US-based shippers purchased them. However, the steamship companies gradually merged until only a handful remained, and these were soon dominated by the Vaccaro brothers of New Orleans , who in 1899 founded the Standard Fruit and Steamship Company which eventually became Dole. Because northern Honduras had a poorly developed transportation network, only farms located along major streams, and
1170-535: The country, with just under 70% of all firearms being illegal. 83% of homicides in the city involve firearms. According to the Los Angeles Times , "the homicide rate is stoked by the rivalry of the brutal street gangs, mostly descendants of gangs formed in Los Angeles and deported to Central America in the 1990s, including Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) and the 18th Street gang . Their ranks are fed by
1215-521: The disastrous economy of Honduras, and emboldened more recently by alliances with Mexican drug traffickers moving cocaine through the country." Crime and economic stress have led to the migration of large numbers of unaccompanied minors to the US border. The latest data from the CBP shows San Pedro Sula as the major source for Unaccompanied Alien Children (UAC) migrating from Honduras. San Pedro Sula features has
1260-405: The early 1920s banana-producing areas began suffering from a blight known as the " Panama Disease " which, combined with soil exhaustion from monocrop agriculture, led to a production decline in many parts of northern Honduras. The companies sought to restore production by rerouting railroads and renegotiating concessions so to bring more virgin land into cultivation. In addition they began to replace
1305-715: The few existing railroads in the immediate vicinity of the coast could viably participate in the export trade. Thus, the steamship companies needed to invest in a local infrastructure of railroads that would expand the area available for cultivation. By 1902 local railroad lines were being constructed on the Caribbean coast to accommodate expanding banana production. The Honduran government, operating on Liberal economic policies that had been in place since 1876, made significant concessions of land and tax exemption to anyone who would open up agricultural land. While some Honduran producers were able to take advantage of these opportunities,
1350-540: The growing banana trade; between 1894 and 1903 the trade had grown almost four-fold from somewhat over 600,000 stems to over two million. Shipping capacity increased as well, from four steamers a month to the United States, to 18. The choice of US destination ports expanded from just New Orleans to include Mobile , Philadelphia and Boston . The initial growth in trade was from local banana growers. An 1899 census showed northern Honduras had some 1,000+ people in
1395-485: The land to the wealthy landowners. In 1964, Castle & Cooke bought out the Standard Fruit Company, and concentrated on the production of bananas and pineapples under the Dole label in Honduras. In September 1974, Hurricane Fifi devastated some 60% of Honduras' agricultural production, and many of the plantations had to be abandoned, seriously affecting the economy. In response, the redundant plantation workers formed
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1440-401: The list for three consecutive years, with about three homicides per day. Both cities are major operational and strategic distribution points in the illegal drug trade , particularly to the United States , and have significant gang activity. In response, authorities launched Operation Lightning, saturating violence hotspots with police and soldiers. Meanwhile, arms trafficking has flooded
1485-790: The location, the New York Times in 2014 described the Chamelecón district as a "warren of modest cement-block houses painted in now chipped and fading pastels", subject to pressure of street gangs. This is not the Colonia El Chamelecón neighborhood within San Pedro Sula, but rather it is the Chamelecón that lies outside to the south of San Pedro Sula, on the Chamelecón River . The Villa Olímpica
1530-408: The most significant concessions went to US-based companies that had the capital to purchase and develop land quickly. Companies like the Tela Railroad Company were granted land concessions in exchange for building railroad lines. In its 1912 concession, the Tela Railroad Company received 6,000 hectares of national land (that is land that was deemed vacant) for every 12 kilometers of track they laid, on
1575-443: The new town and work the surrounding fields. He sent out expeditions into outlying regions to secure the new town, extend the area of Spanish domination, and commandeer supplies. Alvarado annulled all encomienda rights established in the area under Andres de Cerezeda, and reassigned the villages to the citizens of San Pedro. The new settlement barely survived the colonial period. In 1601, the Spanish government declared Santo Tomás as
1620-501: The official port for the Central American colonies; this move diverted exports from Puerto Cortés and resulted in an economic decline that would last through the 17th century. Additionally, San Pedro Sula was left exposed to raids by pirates and French, Dutch, and English mercenaries. By the mid-18th century, the Spanish government decided to build a number of coastal fortresses to curb English attacks. One of these fortresses,
1665-555: The park with 4 million Lempiras, but the project never started. The city is served by Ramón Villeda Morales International Airport , with passenger and cargo airline services to Panama , the United States , El Salvador , Mexico , Spain and other countries and domestic flights also. Banana production in Honduras Banana production in Honduras plays an important role in the economy of Honduras . In 1992,
1710-410: The region between Puerto Cortés and La Ceiba (and as far inland as San Pedro Sula ) growing bananas, most of them on small holdings. This numerous class was able to expand production, take over communal lands and win the political struggle with cattle ranchers over land control in the early decades of the twentieth century. In the early years of the industry, banana growers delivered their fruit to
1755-482: The revenue generated from banana sales amounted to US$ 287 million and along with the coffee industry accounted for some 50% of exports. Honduras produced 861,000 tons of bananas in 1999. The two corporations, Chiquita Brands International and the Dole Food Company are responsible for most Honduran banana production and exports. Honduras began exporting bananas in the late nineteenth century, and
1800-566: The route from Tela to El Progresso, laid out in alternate blocks on both sides of the rail lines. After the first concessions in 1912, US concerns achieved more or less complete control of the productive alluvial plains of Honduras' Atlantic coast. The area around Puerto Cortés was dominated by the Cuyamel Fruit Company , the La Ceiba region by Standard Fruit, and Tela and Trujillo were controlled by United Fruit's subsidiaries,
1845-458: The south of Colonia El Chamelecón are Colonia Dubón, Colonia Figueroa, Colonia Trejo (from 10 Calle S to 12 Calle S, from about Avenida Circunvalación to 25 Avenida S, including the Consulate of Nicaragua), Colonia Altamira, and Colonia Altiplano. Colonia Las Mesetas runs from 12 Calle S to 14 Calle S, from 21 Avenida A (S) to past 24 Avenida S. Barrio Guamilito is just to the west and north of
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1890-414: The trade grew rapidly. Initially, in the 1870s most banana production was confined to the Bay Islands , serious production did not begin on the mainland until about 1880. The US consul reported that in 1894 goods worth almost $ 350,000 were exported to the United States through Puerto Cortés , the region's main port, and by 1903 exports had almost tripled to over $ 900,000. Much of these exports came from
1935-622: The way politically for Cuyamel to establish itself and pay very few taxes. In 2013, fifteen years after the effects of Hurricane Mitch , Honduras is one of the poorest countries in Latin America; around San Pedro Sula, banana production has not fully recovered, and "manufacturing has all but dried up." The problems are exacerbated by organized gangs, whose rules prevent residents from safely leaving gang-controlled neighborhoods such as Chamelecón for jobs in other parts of town. In 2000, then-Mayor Roberto Larios Silva said "San Pedro Sula
1980-404: The world " until early 2016 when Caracas , Venezuela, surpassed its homicide rate. Since the 2009 Honduran military coup "unemployment and underemployment rates have doubled while the number of people living in extreme poverty has skyrocketed." In 2013, the city had 187 homicides per 100,000 residents, surpassing the 148 per 100,000 of Ciudad Juarez , Mexico. The latter had previously topped
2025-502: The worst in 200 years, with winds reaching 200 mph (320 km/h) and inundating land with excessive precipitation drowning many of the crops. Hurricane Mitch is believed to have destroyed over 50%, possibly as high as 80%, of the banana and coffee crops in 1998, costing an estimated $ 3 billion in damage. Since 2000 the industry has recovered, although the country is still one of the poorest in Central America. In 2003,
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