Honduras has the highest homicide rate in the region and one of the highest in the world. In the past five years, in the country of only eight million inhabitants, more than 35,000 citizens have been murdered and in 96% of the cases impunity has prevailed. The United States has beefed up its military presence, arguing that it is necessary to reduce the violence, but human rights organizations remain unconvinced. The recent killings of student protesters has raised the specter of the presence of death squads, whose existence is denied by the government and the US military. Gerardo Torres reports from Tegucigalpa. teleSUR