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San Pedro Sula, Honduras is a city besieged by crime in all its forms: gang violence, drug cartel killings and rampant extortion compounded by a fear of authorities.

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A police officer patrols in the back of a police truck in San Pedro Sula, Honduras March 8, 2012. A wave of violence has made Honduras among the most dangerous places on Earth, with a homicide rate roughly 20 times that of the U.S. rate, according to a 2011 United Nations report.Esteban Felix/AP Photo

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A police officer inspects tattoos on a Mara Salvatrucha gang member Jose Alexander Carranza after his arrest in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, March 8, 2012. No other country matches its rate of 86 slayings per 100,000 inhabitants a year, according to a 2011 United Nations Report. That is roughly 20 times the U.S. homicide rate.Esteban Felix/AP Photo

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A man who was injured during a shooting at a pool hall gets emergency medical attention from doctors and nurses at the Catalino Rivas Public Hospital in San Pedro Sula, Honduras March 11, 2012. San Pedro Sula, often cited as Honduras’ most violent city, with a murder rate almost double the national average.Esteban Felix/AP Photo

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A woman who was injured during a shooting at a pool hall gets emergency medical attention from doctors and nurses at the Catalino Rivas Public Hospital in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, MArch 11, 2012.Esteban Felix/AP Photo

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The body of Wilmer Orbera lies inside a pool hall after an attack by masked assailants in Choloma on the outskirts of San Pedro Sula, Honduras, MArch 11, 2012. Hondurans say gangs have imposed an almost unchallenged reign of extortion, murder and drug trafficking on this city and others.Esteban Felix/AP Photo

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A member of the Cobras elite police force, part of the national police, rests in a bedroom at their headquarters in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, March 8, 2012. The city’s location near Honduras’ Atlantic coast and border with Guatemala have put it on key international drug trafficking routes.Esteban Felix/AP Photo

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A woman carries her dog past an armory shop in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, March 11, 2012.Esteban Felix/AP Photo

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A police officer shows his damaged weapon in the police station in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, MArch 8, 2012.Esteban Felix/AP Photo

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A police officer lifts weights made with concrete at a police station in San Pedro Sula, Honduras March 8, 2012.Esteban Felix/AP Photo

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Police inspect people's ID's at a pool hall as they patrol in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, March 8, 2012.Esteban Felix/AP Photo

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A detainee peers through the jail bars at a police station in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, MArch 8, 2012.Esteban Felix/AP Photo

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The body of public transport driver Wilmer Barahona sits inside a van, held upright by a seat belt after he was shot dead in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, March 9, 2012.Esteban Felix/AP Photo

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The relatives of a murdered public transport driver grieve at the crime scene where he was shot dead in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, March 9, 2012.Esteban Felix/AP Photo

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The mother of Jose Euceda shows a photograph of her son, who was he says was killed by a police officer, inside his home in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, March 9, 2012.Esteban Felix/AP Photo

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Forensic workers inspect the body of a public transport driver who was shot dead in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, March 9, 2012.Esteban Felix/AP Photo

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A man who says he was attacked with a knife during an attempted robbery sits covered in blood inside the Catalino Rivas public hospital emergency room in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, March 9, 2012.Esteban Felix/AP Photo

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