Part 1: The Opening Salvo (2009-11)
Julián Arístides González was up before dawn, grinding the coffee beans he’d grown from seedlings in his front yard. His wife, Leslie Portillo, was already dressed, and his daughter, Giulliana, needed to stir soon. She was catching a ride with him to high school, and his rule was firm: on the road by 6:30, not a minute later.
Julián ran a shower in the upstairs bathroom. Leslie called to him from the hall: “I’m leaving!”
She was one of the first female officers in the Honduran military, and she’d been leaving early all week ...