Citing “comprehensive safety and security concerns,” the U.S. federal overseas volunteer program announced Dec. 21 that it is pulling out of Honduras and suspending the deployment of new volunteers to El Salvador and Guatemala.
The Peace Corps said it decided to cancel the upcoming training class for Honduras pending completion of an ongoing review of the country’s security situation. The 158 Peace Corps volunteers currently in Honduras will also return to the United States in January on administrative leave, the organization said.
The organization canceled training classes for new volunteers for El Salvador and Guatemala as well, but said it would be keeping its 222 volunteers in Guatemala and 113 volunteers in El Salvador. Some 76 new recruits for deployment to the two countries, meanwhile, will be sent elsewhere, the Peace Corps said, according to The New York Times.
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