OPINIONS & EDITORIAL

Monday, April 30, 2001 Online Edition 17

GONE WITH THE WIND 

Dear HTW: 

I have read your interesting article about Mr. Maduro's ideas for running Honduras should he be elected president.  I, personally, do not see any newness in his intentions.  It is exactly the same thing that Honduran politicians have said over and over during the political campaign.  Once it is over and if elected, they go back on their intentions and start appointing relatives and friends, unqualified to do the job.

Lack of genuine interest in developing this country or resolving its problems has always been the rule rather than the exception.  The interests of every candidate so far in the history of Honduras has been concentrated around how to make good business out of "running the government."

Just remember recent events in past governments.  In the last 15 years, all candidates "promised" to do whatever it takes to "promote" economic development in Honduras and they also "promised" to appoint the best professionals to run the government efficiently.  After the elections, reality struck and relatives and friends were appointed.  Promises of economic development and social justice were thrown in the "political dump."  What a joke! Honduran politicians know who they are dealing with: naive inhabitants whose only way of thinking is in red (Liberal) or blue (Nacional), and Motagua and Olimpia.  Blame lies probably more on the people for falling for such trickery and their stubbornness in going along the political line rather than judging the candidates for their own merits.  Shame lies on the politicians for taking advantage of such naiveté.

Honduras is now in a severe depression caused by the so-called neo-liberalism or structural adjustment.  This country by its own stage of economic and social development did not, at any time, need the application of such strict measures.  The real goal of such programs is aimed more toward favoring developed nations that would benefit from them.  As it has been proved in over 15 years of being under such programs, Honduras' inhabitants have gone from poor to miserable.  Just tell me, in what theoretical book of economics or thesis, will you find the idea that in order to develop a country you need to create misery, that you need to kill the striving middle class, that you need to sell your natural resources, in detriment of the environment, all for the sake of "economic development?"

All candidates in the past embraced the position of "saviors" of the Hondurans by saying that they would reverse and reject structural adjustment.  When they got elected, those were words gone with the wind.  They all, without exception, bowed their heads to the mighty international organizations.  Where is the pride they showed during the political campaign?  Gone with the wind! 

Diego Turcios
via Internet

MINERALES SETS THE RECORD STRAIGHT 

Dear HTW: 

Minerales de Occidente S.A. de C.V. (Minerales) is a Honduran-owned company that owns and operates the San Andres Mine in western Honduras.  Recently the mine and the mining industry in general have come under attack from Miguel Marsh of ASONOG.  It has been reported that members of the press have assumed that the statements made by Mr. Marsh must be true because the company has not responded to them.  Mr. Marsh has never written to Minerales regarding problems he perceives exist at the mine nor has he approached the company for a meeting to discuss his concerns.  His statements that have been written in the press or transmitted over the radio are based on misinformation, half-truths or analysis of reports by unqualified individuals.  Instead of reporting the facts, Mr. Marsh wishes to distort the facts and sensationalize.

In an article published in Honduras This Week, Mr. Marsh claims that the mine employs only 144 people.  Minerales and permanent contractors working at the San Andres mine site currently have over 360 employees with a yearly payroll of over Lps. 30 million.  Contrary to the article, the number of jobs at the mine had nothing to do with the granting of the mining concession.

The current concession was granted in 1983 for a different mining operation.

The jobs being provided at the mine pay above minimum wage and employees are being taught skills that they will be able to use in the future.  There is also the job multiplier effect from the US$ 1.2 million that the mine spends every month on goods, services and wages.  Economic theory would suggest that this adds another 1,080 jobs to the Honduran economy.  So, instead of the 144 employees that Mr. Marsh talks about, there are an estimated 1,440 jobs derived from the operation of the San Andres mine.  And of those 1,440 jobs, if each worker has five dependents that would mean that 8,640 Hondurans derive their livelihood from the San Andres mine.  Mr. Marsh provides a job for himself but for how many others?

There is also mis-information concerning the new town of San Andres and the movement of the old town.  In the first place no one was evicted from his or her land or home.  In Honduras, the mineral rights are separate from the land surface rights.  A mining concession gives a person the mineral rights but does not give the concession holder the surface rights, these have to be obtained separately.  A land survey was completed to determine who owned the land and how many houses were located in the old town.  Negotiations were held with the head of each household and each family was compensated with a new home and provided monetary compensation for their old home and any plants or trees on their property.  The new houses are made of concrete block with a concrete floor with sewer and water hook-ups and electricity.  Many of the old houses were of substandard construction with few of the homes having running water and there was no central sewage system in the old town.  The old town did not have electricity and currently the residents receive electricity at no charge.

Approximately Lps. 45 million was spent in building the new town and purchasing land for the project.  What are the divide and conquer tactics that Mr. Marsh talks about that were used?  Mr. Marsh also states that he wants to prohibit the expropriation of campesino and indigenous lands, yet no land was expropriated by anyone for mining purposes.

The final movement of the residents from the old town did create some problems.  Even though negotiations had been held with all of the residents in the old town of San Andres, certain people decided to build additional houses in the town after the survey in order to receive homes in the new town.  This created a confrontation because of the perceived obligation to provide additional houses.  This lead to the now famous "water tank incident" where an over-zealous former employee knocked down the water tank in the old town of San Andres after all of the residents had been moved except those few protestors who had built new houses on land already purchased.  Unfortunately, when the tank came down a pipe struck and injured one of the protestors.  Contrary to Mr. Marsh's allegation, no one was intentionally run over by a bulldozer.  In the end, some additional housing in the new town of San Andres was provided and the injured protestor was compensated.

Mr. Marsh also states that the mine makes illegal discharges of waste into the nearby river.  The mine does not make illegal discharges of waste into the nearby river.  The mine does discharge excess rainwater collected within the process facilities into the nearby river after the water has been tested by the company and DEFOMIN to insure that it meets Honduran water quality standards.  DEFOMIN inspects the mine on a regular basis and DEFOMIN is the government agency in Honduras that has been given the legal authority to regulate the mining industry.

What the mine does not discharge is "in process solution" which contains cyanide and gold.  The mine is in an area of moderate to high rainfall and under normal circumstances even the rainwater that falls on the process facility can be retained in the ponds that the company uses to store process water.  The mine was never designed as a "zero discharge facility", that is not possible in areas of high rainfall.  The ponds are designed to contain a 100-year rainfall event provided enough free capacity is maintained in the ponds.  If this is not done then "in process solution" could be discharged.  As for the use of cyanide itself, Mr. Marsh wishes to prohibit the use of cyanide in mining operations.  If that is done there will be no gold mining industry in Honduras as there are

no safe or economic alternatives.  Cyanide, when used properly, is a very safe compound, it has no long-term health effects on humans and rapidly degrades in the environment.

Minerales does have a list of compromises that it has been fulfilling for the local communities.  Most of these compromises have been completed such as building a new cemetery and providing materials to build another clinic.  Those left to complete include construction of a park, delivery of medical equipment and some erosion control work.

There are also many benefits that the residents around San Andres receive because of the mine.  A substantial sum of money was spent on road improvements that included the construction of two major bridges, the construction of one other bridge and numerous stream crossings, plus the re-construction of over 22 kilometers of roadway.  Before these improvements access to the numerous communities around the mine could be cut-off for hours or days during the rainy season and traversing the original road was difficult and time consuming.

Minerales has an extension re-forestation program similar to the efforts previously started.  To date over 100,000 trees have been planted in and around the mine.  Minerales this year will plant an additional 44,000 trees and donate another 11,000 trees for others to plant.  Soil erosion can be a significant problem for a mine but Minerales plans a major effort this year in the planting of grasses and other ground cover to stop soil erosion.

In the article in Honduras This Week, Mr. Marsh leads the reader to believe that the taxes paid by Minerales are insignificant.  The company pays over Lps. 300,000 per month to the local municipality plus an annual permit fee to operate of Lps. 160,000.  Minerales also pays approximately Lps. 750,000 per month in fuel taxes.  These taxes are in addition to corporate income taxes that will be paid by the company and payroll taxes withheld from the employees.  The mining law in Honduras is similar to the mining laws in other countries, if it were not, no company would risk the tens of millions of dollars it takes to develop and construct a modem gold mine.  Contrary to Mr. Marsh, Hurricane Mitch had nothing to do with the passage of the new mining law; the new mining law had been in the works for many years prior to its passage.

If it is Mr. March's objective to ensure that mining is done responsibly in Honduras, then Minerales is in full support of his actions.  If it is his intent to shutdown mining in Honduras, what right does he have to deny Hondurans the benefits of a mining industry in Honduras?  The mining industry in Honduras will provide an additional US$ 80 million in much needed foreign exchange to Honduras this year.  Businesses like the San Andres mine collectively create an economy that allows a nation to prosper.  Why shouldn't the natural resources of Honduras be utilized if it is done in a responsible way? 

Randy Martin
General Manager
Minerales de Occidente, S.A. de C.V.
Santa Rosa de Copan

Planning for the future 

We would like to bring to your attention a document titled National Project: XXI Century "Honduras, a Nation for everyone."  In a few words, it is a proposal for the sustainable internal growth of Honduras written in the National Autonomous University of Honduras by the University Team of Civic Volunteers and its coordinator, Dr. Roberto Herrera Caceres.

In business administration school, we learned that the modern executive lives in two time periods.  The first one was planned yesterday and is executed today.  The second time period is the one planned today and that will be executed tomorrow.  Using this, we can come up with the theme of Honduras' development.

In the past, the government had a specific office dedicated to planning for the future called the Secretariat for Economic Planning.  During the 70s, this office was literally in charge of planning the future of the country.  Many futurologists participated in this dream, more of them crazier than sane.  As a result, they wrote endless books, sponsored by both friendly countries and allies (the USSR and Cuba, as well as other countries behind the Iron Curtain also offered sponsorships for these kinds of projects).  As theoretical as they got, these futurologists pretended to have one main disciplinary goal: the controlled and ordered growth of the country.

Time canceled out this government office and governments became focused only on the present, not planning for the future.  Hence, Honduras' growth is limited only by its natural development or lack of such.

This National Project document reminds us much of that 70s secretariat and its functions.  It is full of enthusiasm, but lacking conclusions, aiming for an almost impossible near future in the life of this poor country.  Nevertheless, this type of document is handy, because it reintegrates the idea of looking forward back into the minds of Hondurans.  If one can find no use for it whatsoever, he or she might at least pause and play mind games with the existential questions the document asks and the uncomfortable answers it replies with.

Basically, our future is quickly approaching a dead end, and it is difficult to think that food will reach our hungry mouths if we do not take action in changing it.  President Flores made reference to this in the Americas Summit.  The President's speech focused on a lady: Maria Soledad.

Maria Soledad lives in a rural area of Honduras with a troop of children.  Her husband left her long ago, stressing more meaning upon her name (Soledad means alone).  She has no one to complain to, and does not do it because she does not know how.  She does not ask for her future to be planned, nor for a better opportunity because she does not know such things exist.

We must ask, how could she know any better, if her chances for a better future and opportunity were stolen from her generations before she was born?  Maria Soledad's ancestors exchanged our country for debts that have left it in a hole impossible to get out of.  These foreign debts acquired by Honduras long ago are constant screws that will continue grinding down our progress and hindering any plan we might try to make for the future.  We suppose that this "minor" detail never came into the minds of the "poor" countries that granted those loans with impossible payback terms.

Monday, April 23, 2001 Online Edition 16

BAD GUYS COLOMBIA, USA 

Dear HTW: 

I am beginning to lose hope regarding your newsman skills.  You, in spite of a clear explanation, insist that the soap opera in Central America is "caused" by Nicaragua and El Salvador banding against Honduras.

Why is it so difficult for you to accept that the bad guys in this soap opera are Colombia backed by the USA?  The USA can sometimes be a bad guy, you know that don't you?  Countries don't have friends, they have interests.

If you really want to help, confront the bad guys in the State Department or whatever, and ask the situation start being redefined with the idea of sending Colombia back at least 600 of the 800 kilometers of our seas, that now they and Uncle Sam say are their seas.  (It's highly recommended that you see the d*** map.)

Democracy and a free press allows you to do that. 

Werner Schweinfurth Pinel
Tegucigalpa, M.D.C.

CADASTRAL SURVEY A CHARADE 

Dear HTW: 

This letter is for the purpose of pointing up the most recent absurdity in connection with Roatan real estate matters.

A notification was widely circulated a few days ago (12 April, 2001) concerning a Cadastral Survey to be undertaken shortly on island properties.  Under ordinary circumstances, such a project would be enthusiastically welcomed, as a long-overdue effort to bring some order and reliability to land records on that endlessly abused and legally victimized island.

In the present situation, however, the proposed Cadastral Survey can only be viewed as yet one more pseudo-legal charade in a long list of such exercises, calculated to enrich the brigade of island lawyers, politicians, and further fleece unwitting foreign investors.

Consider the realities:

Problems in the Honduras real estate sector have little to do with cadastral maps and plat surveys.  On the contrary, rigging a cadastral survey at this late date will only further confuse a situation which has arisen from decades of inept, corrupt and mismanaged land dealing.  Merely superimposing another layer of administrative paperwork over the present hodgepodge of confusing and conflicting legal, illegal and clearly fraudulent procedures will accomplish nothing in the way of legal clarification.

The roots of the Honduras real-estate problems begin with the thoroughly corrupted court system.  Start with the totally politicized and vastly underpaid Corte Suprema de Justicia.  The claim of honest function is a hollow pretense that nobody with even the most vestigial level of judicial understanding will credit.  Politically appointed Supreme Court Judges, serving only a four-year term, and paid a pittance of a salary, can't afford to be honest - even if they were so inclined.

In turn, all subordinate courts in Honduras are under the judicial supervision of the Supreme Court which, as such, is responsible for the judicial integrity of the entire legal structure.  Especially The Courts of Letters, that are charged with all property matters.

The Roatan Court of Letters has always labored under some unique problems, including but not limited to its geographical distance from Tegucigalpa.  As a result of this remoteness, the Roatan Court of Letters has long functioned with little in the way of juridical supervision.  This pattern of administrative neglect has given rise to practices in that venue especially, that amounted to nothing less than glaring parodies on the fair administration of even the most rudimentary justice.

While procedural laxities and abuse of judicial procedures has long been the rule, rather than the exception in the Roatan Court, it reached its disgraceful nadir in 1993, with the arrival of Arnold F. Morris.  Morris was - and still is - a fugitive in flight from a 26-count Indictment for commercial fraud and money laundering, in Florida.  He came to Honduras looking for safe haven from the FBI, the U.S. Department of Justice and INTERPOL.

He arrived in 1992, then quickly met and married Rita Thompson Silvestre, a Roatan widow, and she arranged the purchase of a (fraudulent) Honduras citizenship for her new husband.  This transaction was handled through the good offices of then-President Rafael Leonardo Callejas, for a reported US$25,000.00 and a Cadillac sedan.

Morris decided to get into the real estate business on Roatan, and he found a valuable assistant in then-Roatan Judge of Letters, Fernando Azcona Schrenzel, the nephew of former President Jose Azcona Hoyo.  With this collaboration arranged, Arnold Morris was soon the "behind the scenes" king of real-estate on Roatan.  With the Judge of Letters "in his pocket" he was legally untouchable.

He and his family cohorts, operating through "Southwind Properties" and Alpha Trust, S. A., found it no longer necessary to purchase land they wanted to sell.  They could merely steal it and have fraudulent documents drawn up by the co-conspiring Judge of Letters, and then re-registered as replacements for the authentic documents.  This procedure continued unabated for several years, in spite of constant complaints to the highest levels of both local and national government, as well as the Honduras Judiciary.

It was only on October 15, 1997, that the Honduras Supreme Court finally got around to firing Judge Fernando Azcona Schrenzel, for "improper acts."  Out of his job as Judge, Azcona moved to La Ceiba, to devote his time to the development of a real-estate "Colonia."

Although Azcona was fired 'for cause,' all of the requests for Judicial Reviews of his fraudulently improper rulings and document forgeries were ignored by the Supreme Court -- which has the effect of leaving hundreds of acres of stolen land in the Morris-Silvestre group's possession.

Even with the removal of Azcona from the Roatan judgeship, Morris was able to keep his courthouse connections intact, via Azcona's successors, which is a testimonial to the flexibility of Honduras judicial collusive arrangements.  Especially when the payoffs are deemed adequate.

It was not until June 29, 2000, that President Carlos Flores Facusse finally got around to revoking the fraudulently acquired Honduras citizenship, and ordering Arrnold Morris out of the country.  But even here Morris has been able to avoid capture by a posse of Honduran police, INTERPOL and U.S. officers who were reportedly dispatched to capture him.

He continues to live on Roatan.  He continues to operate his "family" real-estate businesses, and he continues to avoid the Honduras eviction order.  And he continues to hold onto the illegally obtained properties that he managed to acquire with the co-conspiracy of his family members and the corrupted Roatan Judge of Letters, active or passive political collaboration by both national and local authorities.

The crux of this story is that the proposed Cadastral Survey can't possibly serve any purpose except as an attempt to cover up these crimes with the hypocritical axiom that "The past is prologue", and to set these misdeeds in cement, while confirming and continuing them for all time to come.  A Cadastral Survey will merely help hide the wrongs and the wrong-doing.

Justice demands redress of judicial wrongdoing.  This is what Judicial Review is all about.  To remove a judge from the bench for criminal abuse of his authority, without ordering Judicial Review of his misdeeds infinitely compounds the judicial sins, and marks the Supreme Court as a knowing co-conspirator after the fact.

To countenance a Cadastral Survey without first reviewing the collateral judicial errors and reversing them is, at the very least, heinous. 

Lorenzo Dee Belveal
<ldbelveal.net>

ROATAN DOCK DILEMMA 

Dear HTW: 

We wish to respond to Sandra Sampayo's article in HTW (3/31/01).  Her report on the Roatan's port/cruise ship controversy was most informative.  However, several errors need to brought to everyone's attention.  The government of Honduras has released funds for the repair of the dock several weeks ago.  This information was given to us two weeks ago by Senorita Kenya Zabata, associate Minister of Tourism, and verified for us by both Governor Ebanks and Mayor Hynds here.  The stumbling block - the repair of the dock - if not overcome immediately will not only cost Roatan much needed revenue, but also hit all of Honduras a considerable blow.

What held up the renovation of the dock?  The bidding process! The bidding process is mandated by law in order to get the best possible price for the most perfect and cost effective product.  The widening and updating for this 10-year-old dock is no small undertaking.  However, carefully drawn-up plans by experienced architects are now available and have been approved.  Furthermore, President Carlos Flores has asked, via his minister, Gustavo Alfaro, the Port Authority personal in Puerto Cortes and

specifically Tomas Lozano to initiate the work right away and eliminate the bidding process.

There is an interesting legal question here: Can a president of a country disregard a law during an emergency or does he need the consent of the National Congress.  Another lengthy, time consuming procedure.  In our opinion this situation constitutes an emergency!

At this writing, the rebuilding of the dock has not begun in spite of the President Carlos Flores' intervention.  You might ask, what is the emergency?  Sandra Sampayo's article points out some, although her figures do not correspond with the information we are given here.  Each cruise liner landing on Roatan for one day pays, according to its size, between $3,300 and $4,100 or more.  This amount goes to the government via the Port Authority in Puerto Cortes.  The port authority then reimburses the municipality of Roatan $ 3.00 for each cruise ship passenger.

Here is some third grade arithmetic: If 2,000 visitors arrive  on this island, the benefit to our municipality is $6,000, etc.  Another benefit to Roatan, not to be minimized, is the spending that each of the visitors does here.  Roatan's local economy - the cabdrivers, the tour operators, the giftshops, the restaurants, Anthony Key's Dolphins, the Bird Park, the Iguana Farm, etc. -- would be seriously hurt by the continuing absence of cruise ships.  Not to forget, each purchase - a coke, a meal, a trinket -- made by a visitor is taxed by 12 percent, all of which is returned to the Honduran treasury.  Really, not only Roatan looses, the entire country stands to share that loss of revenue.

Of course, this must be the reason that President Flores wants to skirt the bidding process.  Roatan has created a welcoming environment for a day's visit here.  We are thinking of Las Palmas, Anthony's Key, Gio and Half Moon Bay's Restaurants, glass bottom boats, and much more.  Roatan's creative entrepreneurs were guided "by what tourists want" as Sampayo put it.  Roatan has demonstrated that their "on shore product" is equal, if not better, to other Caribbean Ports.

Each of our visitors here are potentially ambassadors for Honduras.  Their favorable impressions will be communicated to friends and neighbors upon their return.

Why not help Roatan as part of Destination Honduras out of its current predicament.  A predicament, that not only hurts Roatan, but also all of Honduras. 

Carlos Antonio Montoya, publisher
Eva L.Brooks, senior editor
Bahia Magazine
Sandy Bay, Roatan

AIDS ISSUE NEEDS TO BE ADDRESSED 

Dear HTW: 

I recently read an article in the Washington Post regarding AIDS in Africa, and specifically about the South African government's unwillingness to declare the AIDS epidemic in South Africa a national emergency.  Such a declaration would allow South African pharmaceutical companies to bypass international patent rights laws (with regard to AIDS drugs) and produce a generic version of the AIDS drugs themselves.  The generic drugs would, of course, be much cheaper than those produced by Western pharmaceutical companies.  President Thabo Mbeki's main concern about such a declaration has to do with bad publicity and how that would discourage foreign investment in South Africa.

I think this issue may be moot in Honduras because I don't know if there exist Honduran pharmaceutical companies that have the capability to produce these AIDS "cocktails."  Still, it seems obvious that one of the reasons the AIDS epidemic in Honduras is not written about more often in the local press or talked about by public officials is, in fact, due to the bad publicity aspect of it all, particularly when Honduras is trying to develop its tourism industry.  I imagine there are few people who would be greatly attracted to Honduras if they were bombarded with info about the AIDS situation in the country.

I have read many articles about AIDS in Honduras.  All of them paint a most gloomy picture.  If I were a business person with economic interests in Honduras, I probably would not want to discuss the AIDS issue and may go to great lengths to deny the seriousness or perhaps even the existence of the problem... much like President Mbeki in South Africa.  I understand the logic, the rationale.

Reality check: Is the AIDS situation in Honduras, in fact, of epidemic proportions?  Or has it been overblown by the media and numerous studies?  As someone who is interested in finding ways to help solve Honduras' health care problems, I'm curious to know the truth regarding AIDS in Honduras, as well as the differing interest groups involved in the debate (or I guess really, lack of a debate).

Clearly, the AIDS situation in Honduras (whether or not it's an epidemic) will not go away by itself.  It probably will continue to get worse.  And it probably will continue to have a negative impact on so many other areas of Honduran society, not the least of which is leaving an increasing number of orphans and street kids.  One can assume that most of these effects will lead to higher crime rates in the future, at least, which will inevitably be a bigger "show stopper" for foreign investment in Honduras.

So the point really isn't about AIDS negatively affecting investment in Honduras.  It's whether we choose for it to affect investment in the short-term or the long-term.  One way or another, if we do not seriously, honestly, and openly address this problem like a  mature nation, Honduras will suffer both from a health standpoint and an economic one.  There's no escape here. 

Marco Caceres
Washington, DC

Time for revolution 

We find it difficult to accept that the already low price of coffee has gone down even lower.  The price of the coffee bean is pitiful.  It seems like an invitation from the world to stop production of this precious commodity.

It is our understanding that the price of coffee was initially at about US$1,000 per 100 pound bag.  Today, the same 100 pounds of coffee, that our campesinos toil under the sweltering sun for hours to produce, is not even worth a hundred bucks.

Accusations constantly fly that Third World countries are impoverished by choice.  People must understand that our poverty is not always caused by a lack of production.  Like puppets in a theater, we are subject to the price wars of the powerful nations of the earth.  Japan might win this war one day, the United States may win the next, but it is countries like Honduras that in reality pay the price, in the form of increased poverty.

As a consequence of this imposed poverty, the impending disasters of high crime and drug use are inevitable.  In short, when we accept the world's unconscionable invitation to lower coffee prices, then joblessness and poverty occur.  The society looses more of its financially stable members.  Crime, theft and delinquency rise, placing further stress upon the society.  In the meantime, the people with power sit back and lament that they do not know what to do with the poor dependents they themselves created.

We propose a revolution.  We do not mean a revolution aimed at achieving the ridiculous isolationism of Fidel Castro.  We propose to change our environment to function in a manner that supersedes human greed.  Our goal is to establish justice, in its original definition.  By this, we mean giving each person what is rightfully theirs.  By paying a coffee farmer what his labor is worth in real world monies, we circumvent poverty in that farmer's life.

Fighting poverty in the Third World does not require great science to find a solution, it merely requires common sense.  It is not common sense that a computer assembled by a machine in five minutes should be worth more than the toil of a farmer from dawn to dusk for a month.

The international organisms that control and manipulate finances in the world are demanding ever more from the poor countries that they sustain.  By lowering the prices of the agricultural products we produce, they are basically demanding our practically indentured labor 24 hours a day, while they sleep in plush beds and dream of more pricing games they could play.  It seems that they would want to punish us for something we are not guilty of: lacking the technological advances and trained personnel required to be an industrial nation.

So, international organisms move their large monies about like pawns in a price-war game, and farmers in the valleys of the Third World have to pay the price with hunger and unemployment.  The time has come for those international organisms that preach equality to take action instead of talk.  The prices of products should be set by those who sweat to produce them.

Monday, April 9, 2001 Online Edition 15

Proud maritime tradition 

Some of our old documents point out that, in 1880, the government of Guatemala claimed to own a shipping vessel named "La Hondureña."  The document states that the ship made necessary connections between Central American countries and the Caribbean.  This vessel, along with six other ships, formed the national and foreign fleet of the isthmus in those times.

Along comes 1907 and with it the infamous Lee Christmas, who stole a ship in New Orleans.  Christmas joined his lifelong friend, Guy Malone, and sailed the "Hornet" all the way to Honduras to support the revolution lead by Manuel Bonilla.  The "Hornet," which entered and left Puerto Cortes on countless missions, was the first warship ever owned by Honduras, as well as the first ship made out of metal.

Less known but still of the same era is the "Tatumbla," a steamship that confronted the Nicaraguans when they tried to invade Puerto Cortes in 1907.  The reason why it is not often recalled is probably the shame its memory brings.  The "Tatumbla" had many invaders in its sights, but did not fire a single shot.

Time went languidly by, as it tends to do in the tropics, and commerce became responsible for increasing Honduras' fleet.  This is how Vaccaro Brothers Company, a pioneer in banana agriculture, became the Standard Fruit Company.  The sailing vessels swelled in number and became the famous White Fleet, one of the most prestigious lines in the world at the time.  The United Fruit Company also formed part of the fleet.

Looking into an old book, we found the following advertisement: Standard Fruit & Steamship Company, Vaccaro freight and passenger service to: Havana, Panama Canal, Honduras, Nicaragua and Veracruz, Mexico.  The 1933 ad proudly shows off the steamship "Atlantida."  The company also was responsible for the famous Honduras-New Orleans connection.  When La Ceiba burned down in 1915, my family emigrated to New Orleans.  My grandmother said that for six years it cost only 5 pesos per person to make this trip, that was less than three dollars at the time.  Visas were not a problem, it was enough to say that the passenger was a good citizen of Honduras.  Sometimes we think that New Orleans is as beautiful as it is because its immigration history shows only the French and the Hondurans.

Very little has been written about the merchant marine history of Honduras.  Maybe this essay will inspire a historian to make a book about the interesting events that go along with that aspect of our nation's story.

Nowadays, Honduras has Central America's largest merchant marine, both in numbers and capacity.  We do not doubt that the Bay Islanders have much to do with this; their ability and pride has elevated shipping to a place of honor again.  The tenacity, effort, hard work and excellence of these mariners have made the fleet something to contend with.

On top of the largest fleet in isthmus waters, Honduras has a special shipping enterprise in beautiful Trujillo.  A group of foreign investors has gone to the port town and is planning to build the awesome Freedom Ship.  This ambitious project will be a floating city and the largest ship on the planet, measuring almost 300 meters in length.

The maritime commerce of Honduras is a national pride.  They deserve our full support and recognition.  The Bay Islanders have asked for an extension of their dock and it should be given to them.  From the annals of history to the unwritten future, Honduras has been master of its waters, and it is up to us to assure the continuance of that mastery.

MEANING OF OLIGARCHY 

Dear HTW: 

I normally do not respond to crank articles denouncing my country but I must make some comments regarding the [letter] written by Mr. Jesse W. Jamison of Copan Ruinas.  Referring to Webster's dictionary and the meaning of the word "oligarchy."

Oligarchy: Government by the few; a government in which a small group exercise control for corrupt and selfish purposes.

I challenge you, sir, to name one corrupt official in the United States of America who has not been convicted and put away.  I will give you one and a big one, to boot.  The chairman of the Ways and Means Committee Rostenkowski who was tried and convicted of corruption and sent to a Federal Penitentiary.  There were others and they have all been tried and put away.  The United States is a true democracy, one of the few in this world.

Certainly, we have problems, the biggest being the influx of illegal aliens who bring their bad habits with them.  Blame this on a few corrupt politicians who courted their votes in the last election but, bit by bit, we are eliminating them because it is unfair to others in those countries who are waiting their turn to get legitimate entry visas.

You besmirch the name of my brother, George Wilson, by implying he was stupid and a dolt.  Far from it.  George was a brilliant geologist and mining engineer who was murdered by sicarios under orders from someone who wanted to grab all the gold that George had discovered in the area of the Guayapa River.  George was not aware of the violent cesspool that is Olancho because he was never informed by the then ambassador of the dangers that existed in that area even though he checked in at the U.S. Embassy regularly.  Ironically, a few days after his murder, the U.S. Embassy issued a Consular Warning for Travelers.

He employed locals and gave them a decent living wage but, in turn, was betrayed by those very persons.  George was intent on his work and had no interest in condemning Honduras one way or another.  He was intent on his work and nothing more and was not interested in fomenting any revolution nor disobeying the laws of the land.  He had all the legal documents issued by Honduras to work in that country and was a decent and honorable human being who respected the rights of others.  He was ambushed, kidnapped, robbed, and brutally murdered by thugs, several of whom are now in jail.  The rest we will find and see to it they get what is coming to them, believe me.

I agree wholeheartedly with Dr. Juan Larach in his correct assessment of what is taking place in Honduras today.  I spent many years, off and on, in Honduras in the employ of the U.S. Government starting in 1980 and through 1994 and I dare say I know more about Honduras than Mr. Jamison and have been in places in other parts of this world that make Olancho look like Paradise.  I worked with some very honest Honduran authorities, both military and civilian, and I know how they decry the sorry state in which Honduras now finds itself.

Angry?  You bet I am, at the ignorance of some people who speak without thinking.

Mr. Jamison has a right to express his opinion but he had better brush up on the meaning of the world oligarchy and name Hondurans who have been put away for gross corruption. 

A. Wilson
Via Internet

ANYONE SANE OUT THERE? 

Dear HTW: 

I would like to address the several Hondurans who recently wrote "letters of protest" to this honorable publication in an effort to dress down those few people who expressed their dismay over life and society in Honduras.

After contemplating their criticism for some time, I have come to the conclusion that these "patriots" have either not lived in Honduras for some time or live in a walled and gated community with no contact to the outside world.  You may recall my letter dated approximately one year ago serving to give a dissertation of the treatment we received, courtesy of the local custom's department, who destroyed and damaged thousands of dollars worth of our furniture and household goods and finally backed off when our agent in Puerto Cortes paid the inevitable bribe.  Of course, we also had to pay wages for the very laborers who deliberately damaged our household goods.  Since then I have met a confluence of charming and wonderful people, all natives.

Life is great until periodically we are forced to deal with the government, bureaucracy and police.  As "pensionados," the law states we are entitled to import one car or truck per person.  So we did, the used car we brought is still in storage because your (our?) fine government insisted we pay as much import duty as the car is worth.  We ended up paying Lps. 7,000 plus agent's fees to import "our used pick-up," or we would not have any transportation at all.

Now to municipal codes.  My wife's family home is located next door to a bar without toilets.  Every night our pick-up is being spit at, urinated or, at times, even defecated on by some very uncouth denizens of the dark.  For the second time since our arrival, we are enjoying a local fiesta that is spread over 2 weekends and includes pick-ups equipped with loud speakers cruising through this little community at 4 a.m. -- yes, four o'clock in the morning, blaring loud music and urging the citizenry to get out of bed.  This is followed up with loud music and fireworks all day.  These fireworks have the percussional audio volume of a shot gun to a hand grenade.  As last year we resided in a home neighboring the event site, our yard was littered with dozens of spent fireworks shells.

The garbage remains a lingering malaise.  Why not teach the subject in all schools?  Children can be turned into fanatics.  The police now have motorcycles and pick ups.  Instead of harassing, law abiding drivers at road blocks while looking for mordidas from Gringos, why don't they patrol the roads and stop recklessly stupid drivers in defective vehicles, not road worthy, while littering the highway?

For my latest exploit, I attempted to obtain a Honduran driver's license.  I carry a valid Oregon license, and pride myself in an almost flawless 50-year driving history.  As we arrived at the Tegucigalpa office appointed to facilitate the issuance of driver's license, my brother-in-law inquired with several office personnel, including a supervisor, as to the requirements to obtain said license.

As this office is part of the traffic police, we finally ended up talking to the "commander," a gentleman with a colonel's rank.  He listened to our request and then said, "He needs an eye exam and then take a test" whereupon he was told that this "gringo" does not have the command of the Spanish language, whereupon we were directed to "learn Spanish, then return to take the test."  I know dozens of people who were issued a driver's license without a test, and when exposed to traffic in Tegucigalpa, or the Pan American Highway, you definitely get the impression that at least half the driver's out there have neither the skill nor the mental state to operate a motor vehicle.

Question: Is there still anyone sane out there?  Help! 

Kurt Gruen
Tegucigalpa, M.D.C.

Human Rights Info Act big test for Honduran democracy  

By MARCO CACERES  

Monday, April 2, 2001 Online Edition 14

The Central American soap opera 

Writing about the relations between the countries of Central America leaves us feeling like we have discussed an over-dramatic soap opera.

The worst part about it is that we must take it seriously.   On several occasions we have recommended prudence and courtesy to guide our friendly relations with our neighbors.  International negotiations are stressful enough to be adding petty fights over small disagreements to affect the unity Central America needs to survive.  International relations are like a raw sore inside the mouth that will continue to rot and grow worse until you see a doctor about it.

Once again Honduras is denouncing the 35 percent import tariff Nicaragua is levying all Honduran products.  The tax is in retaliation for the maritime delimitation treaty signed between Honduras and Columbia.  This retaliation is looked down upon by the rest of Central America, but conveniently from afar.  While Honduran businesses are badly hurt by the tax, Salvadoran, Costa Rican and Guatemalan products are doing magnificently.

Honduras has tirelessly appealed for aid from the Central American Court of Justice, but the pleas have fallen on deaf ears.

In the months since the retaliatory tax began to be enforced, Honduras has taken no action except appeal to the courts and contemplate a reciprocal punishment.  Millions of lempiras are being lost a week and all our government has done is think about punishing Nicaragua in return.

If a 35 percent tariff is to be implemented against Nicaragua, then we say that it should be implemented against all other Central American products.  Those other countries that simply agree with us but do not help and instead profit from our dilemma should also be penalized until Nicaragua gets its act together again.

This would imply some problems with our exports as well as the products we import; but Honduras does not have to rely on Central American products to survive.  Remember, there is Mexico and South America as viable options for alternative sources of products, as well as potential markets for our own products.  Also, Honduras does count on the biggest fishing fleet in the area.

The integration efforts of Central America have not been equal for all sides.  The institutions fighting for the isthmus to be united seem to be more interested in themselves than in their goal.  Those interests are subjective and partial, as well as financial in nature, making these organization lose a lot of prestige.  It seems that Morazán's dream requires a maturity of the countries that they do not yet possess.

Asserting whether the Central American countries have enough shared values to be unified turns out to be an uncertain science.  One of the dirtiest parks in Guatemala City is the one dedicated to the dreamer of a united isthmus, while Morazán is considered a well-respected wise man in El Salvador and Honduras.

All in all, the greatly coveted integration of this strip of land is as far away today as it always has been.  The dramas continue being provoked by almost cyclic petty differences.  The day is soon approaching when the dream of a united Central America will not be enough to satisfy its inhabitants.  Dirty politicians will have to bite the bullet and make the dream a reality.  In the meantime, the soap opera continues.

BEAUTIFUL EULOGY 

Dear HTW: 

I and my brother, Steve. D. Wilson, are deeply moved at the beautifully worded eulogy by Mr. Verner V. Duus to his late brother Erling Duus, the Prairie Populist, a true genius.  It can be well applied to our brother George M. Wilson, a brilliant geologist and mining engineer who was cut down by terrorists in Olancho on Feb. 11, 1998.  George now lies in eternal rest in his beloved state of Nevada along the tomb of his late wife, Karen.

We, too, feel the grief expressed by Mr. Duus at the death of his beloved brother who knew his time and place of death whereas our brother George had no inkling of his premature demise.  It would have been easier for us to accept George's death had he had some incurable disease as the late Mr. Duus, as was also the case of our other beloved brother, Peter, who died of prostate cancer and who had an inkling of his impending death but accepted it as did the brave Mr Duus and became reconciled to his fate.  We were with him to the end and he smiled before he died and thanked us for being his brothers.

Death may have taken the lives of Mr. Erling Duus and also the lives of Peter and George Wilson but their memories are with us forever until it is time for us to meet our maker and shuffle off this plain called Earth.

For Mr. Erling Duus and for our late brothers George and Peter, I can only say "Requiescat en Pace" and may we meet again in the hereafter.  I feel they are looking down upon us here on Earth and smiling at us, gone perhaps but never forgotten.

Thank you, Mr. Verner V. Duus, for your moving and beautiful words describing the last days of your beloved brother.  I could not have put it more eloquently. 

Andrew Wilson
Pacific Grove, CA

STRENGTH IN NUMBERS 

Dear HTW: 

I'd like to thank Ralph Nelson for his kind words regarding my "Honduran Lobbyist 101" series.  I'm certainly glad to hear that people read the stuff I write and actually find it interesting.  I read Ralph's letter to the editor several times and I think that the crux of his question is, "Of what real use is Honduras to the United States, and more specifically to the Bush administration?"  That's a good question, and it begs a follow-up question, which is, "What does the U.S. Government have to gain from doing any favors for Honduras?

Ralph correctly points out that, absent the Cold War, Honduras doesn't hold the same strategic value to the U.S. that it once did.  Neither does the country produce anything that's of particularly great value to U.S. industry and consumers, especially now that the cigar smoking fad has died down (just kidding).  And agreeing to stay in line with U.S. votes in the United Nations?  Well, that's not ever been a huge ace up Honduras' sleeve.

The fact of the matter is that it's just plain hard for Honduras to bargain from a position of strength with the U.S.  Generally, I believe that a sound strategy for Honduras is to deal with the U.S. not as a single country but as part of the region of Central America and Mexico, whether it has to do with free trade agreements, illegal immigration legislation, or anti-drug trafficking deals.  This just seems like good 'ole common sense to me.  "Strength in numbers" and all that.

The more intricate strategy for Honduras to deal with the U.S. involves coming up with creative, honest, and rationale arguments for certain pro-Honduras policies, such as extending Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for the roughly 100,000 Honduran illegal aliens in the U.S. or granting these individuals an outright amnesty.  Honduras, for example, can say to the Bush people, "Look, we know you're not crazy about our illegal immigrants, but deporting them is neither in the interest of the U.S. nor Honduras."

"You'll have to spend lots of money to find and send them back, and we would lose hundreds of millions of dollars that these individuals send to their families in Honduras each year in the process.  It would be a lose-lose proposition."

Honduras' leverage in making this a convincing argument depends on two things.  First, I believe Honduras needs to be willing to say to the U.S., "If you're going to give us any type of foreign aid, then by god let it be by allowing our citizens to remain in your country.  This will do more to ensure stability in Honduras than any combination of USAID projects and debt relief measures."

Secondly, Honduras needs to recruit key players within the Bush administration and Congress to constantly be making its case in Washington, D.C. circles.  The goal is to convince the U.S. that it is in its interest to grant amnesty to Honduran illegal aliens and that it is, in fact, a new and more enlightened approach to conducting foreign policy -- one of which it can be proud.  What we're talking about here is a "sell job." good marketing.

Otherwise, in the absence of any obvious major benefits Honduras holds for the U.S., what we're left with is relying on Mr. Bush's seemingly natural tendency to look to Latin America for some of his initial foreign policy victories.  I'm not too keen, though, on passive strategies which suggest waiting for favors to come your way. 

Marco Caceres
via Internet

TIME IS MONEY 

Dear HTW: 

I was interested in your editorial of March 26 extolling the joys of Semana Santa in Honduras.  Unfortunately, Semana Santa is also indicative of another side of Honduras; that is trying to do business here.  Anyone doing business in Honduras, and this includes HTW, faces the paradox of Honduras.  The beautiful idyllic country with lovely gentle folks who are always behind the economic curve through no fault of their own, versus the view of a country out of control when determining compensation for their workers.

Sure, Semana Santa started as a religious holiday, but when the workers demand to leave on the Tuesday before and get paid for it, who pays?  Business people are forever getting slammed in the press as exploiters of workers; however, speaking to businessmen you get an entirely different story.  Whenever the issue of wages comes up, the press pulls out some number and says, "you only pay $1.00 per hour."  What they fail to add on to that number is the following.  An extra month of salary paid in June and another paid in December; the famous 13th and 14th months.  Add to that another month of pay that gets put into a severance fund if the worker is fired and that is a 15th month.

Abuses in this system abound, as each worker knows how much is in his "severance fund" and when needed, many resort to tactics in order to get fired so they can have access to this money.  Add to that the generous vacation benefits guaranteed by the government of 22 days (one month) after working for four years.  Of course, normal vacation and holidays are paid in other countries, however, this little Semana Santa bonus is extra.

Add-ons such as having workers sit idle when the power is lost, or during general strikes when business cannot be done but workers who come still must get paid are never calculated.

Now the rumor is that the Liberal Party, in order to garner favor with workers, is proposing a 15th month, and a provision in the law that allows workers to get their severance even if they quit.  To a worker, it sounds great.  To a business person it is onerous and counterproductive.  What no worker ever wants to consider is that each increase in salary of even one lempira, costs the company at least 1.7!

Honduras would be well served if it started thinking as the saying goes, "Time is Money."  This does not fit comfortably into the bucolic image that we all tend to think about when Honduras is mentioned, but it is reality and what we all know is that Hondurans needs some reality thinking.  The competition businesses in Honduras faces is not from other companies here; it is all other countries, and in that comparison, Honduras pales. 

James Lakes
via Internet

PONDS ARE VIABLE SOLUTION 

Dear HTW: 

I read with interest your article entitled "Controversial Sewage Project Scrapped" in the March 10, 2001 issue of Honduras This Week.  I want to thank you for bringing to public attention the loss that the suspension of this critical waste management project represents for the community of Trujillo.

I have been deeply saddened by the inaccurate information that has been disseminated about the Trujillo project, and the subsequent opposition it has engendered.  From my perspective of 20 years of development work in Latin America, I believe this was not only one of the best-designed community infrastructure projects that I have seen, but one that enjoyed the highest degree of community participation.

The project would have improved the health of the population by reducing infant mortality from diarrhea – an entirely preventable illness resulting from exposure to the raw sewage that runs in the streets of some Trujillo neighborhoods.  In fact, the raw sewage situation in Trujillo in one of the worst I have ever seen.  Moreover, this project was to be a grant – not a loan – a major infrastructure investment at no cost to the Trujillo community.

Please allow me to clear up some of the remaining misconceptions about the project and correct some factual errors in the HTW article.

The article states that the project lacked necessary construction and environmental permits and was undertaken without community consultation as required by the ILO.

In fact, the community was consulted extensively during the development phase of the project.  USAID contractors went from neighborhood to neighborhood asking individuals about their environmental priorities, and determined that the lack of a functioning sewage system was the number one community concern.  The Garifuna neighborhoods and communities of Trujillo were actively involved in the identification of this concern, including those of Cristales and Rio Negro, and USAID has documents signed by members of these communities acknowledging their agreement with the project.

Prior to initiating constructions, USAID conducted an extensive environmental impact study applying the most stringent international standards, which previously had been accepted in wastewater projects in Honduras.  Construction began only after a formal agreement was signed between the Honduran Social Investment Fund (FHIS) and the Municipality of Trujillo – the entity charged with authorizing construction.

There are no open wastewater stabilization ponds just meters from Garifuna communities.

The proposed pond is approximately 1.2 kilometers from the community.  The picture used in the article to illustrate proximity to nearby communities is not that of a wastewater stabilization pond, but of an ordinary manhole along the sewage line – just like the ones that can be seen in the streets of all urban areas with proper wastewater treatment, including Tegucigalpa.

USAID has considered extensively all reasonable alternatives to this project; in fact, we spent more than a year weighing possible options prior to deciding upon this one.  This same technology is being utilized effectively all over the world, and at this point in time, due to cost constraints, there really are no viable alternatives.

The oxidation ponds do not turn into "cesspools" when properly maintained.  There are currently more than 3,000 functioning wastewater stabilization ponds in Latin America and the Caribbean that pose no health risk to neighboring communities.  They are also widely utilized in the United States.

Let me conclude by offering the following citation from a recent report by Dr. Stewart Oakley of Chico State University in California, one of the leading experts on the use of this technology in the region.

"Wastewater stabilization ponds are the most simple, cost-effective and reliable of all wastewater treatment processes.  They are also among the best treatment processes available for pathogen removal.  As a result, ponds are always the preferred wastewater treatment technology for municipalities (end even large cities) in tropical and semi-tropical climates where sufficient land is available.  Wastewater stabilization ponds have been promoted throughout Latin America and the Caribbean by the Pan American  Center for Sanitary Engineering (CEPIS), the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the World Health Organization (WHO), the Inter-American Association of Sanitary Engineers (AIDIS), the International Water Association, and numerous national organizations within the country."

I appreciate your giving me the opportunity to set the record straight.  The oxidation pond solution in the location chosen was the only viable solution for Trujillo. 

Joseph F. Lombardo
Acting Mission Director, USAID
Tegucigalpa, M.D.C.

Maduro makes the rounds in Washington 

By MARCO CACERES 

I recently (March 22nd) had a chance to catch Ricardo Maduro on a couple of his stops around Washington, D.C.  He was in town for some meetings with people from the Bush Administration, as well as some people on Capitol Hill.  Now that he is the National Party's official candidate for the presidency of Honduras, Mr. Maduro was understandably "making the rounds" in Washington's power circles.  One of the foremost issues on the Maduro agenda was that of seeking an extension of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for the more than 100,000 Honduran undocumented aliens in the United States.

Mr. Maduro also made time to meet with members of the Honduran community in the Washington area.  He spoke several times of his interest in meeting with as many of the Honduran associations in the United States as possible to discuss the need for improved cooperation between them as a way to strengthen their political clout there.  Mr. Maduro realizes how important it is for Hondurans and Honduran-Americans in the United States to join forces and start to speak with one voice.

The first meeting at which I encountered Mr. Maduro was hosted by the Inter-American Dialogue, a policy analysis center that deals with Western Hemisphere issues.  I arrived early at 8 a.m. and got a good seat, which was fortunate because the small conference room quickly filled up with a variety of representatives from embassies, consultancy groups, private companies, and the press.  The one-hour meeting was largely an informal question-and-answer session, and I think it was useful mostly in the sense of gauging the general personality and tone of Mr. Maduro.

THE HOW

I had the chance to lob the opening question to Mr. Maduro.  I said to him, "I sense we all know the issues and the problems that Honduras faces.  Most of them are similar to the ones about which we were talking 20 years ago and could be talking about 20 years into the future.  We know the 'what.'  What we don't know is the 'how.'  What is your strategy for implementing solutions in a very short four-year period?"

That's a tough question for anyone to answer effectively in a few minutes, but Mr. Maduro responded at least eloquently and in a way that made me feel that he has given the matter some thought.  He told me that he obviously didn't think he could solve all of Honduras' problems or perhaps not even make a significant dent, because many of the problems are symptomatic of flawed systems that require major structural repairs.

Mr. Maduro went on to say that the strength of his candidacy lies not only in his ideas for reform, but equally in his ability to put together a top-notch administrative team to help flesh out these ideas and implement them.  He stressed on more than one occasion that one of the differences between him and others in government is that he believes that the skills necessary to effectively run a country are not entirely different from those required to manage a successful business.  Thus, the individuals he would appoint to positions of leadership within his administration would be those who had specific skills and experience needed to accomplish the tasks at hand, rather than those to whom he owed a political favor.

Of course, this is not a unique statement for any candidate vying for office.  Suffice to say that no one in their right political mind would admit to making appointments based on "cronyism."  But at least Mr. Maduro's answer was to the point and was delivered crisply.  As always, time will be the ultimate judge of the level of commitment to his belief.

So Mr. Maduro's "how" essentially lies in his ability to pick good and competent people to his administration, based on a different standard of qualifications and merit.  Certainly, that makes sense.  Countries and corporations have been changed for the better (or for the worse) by simply adopting a new way of doing business, spurred on by hiring a new breed of leaders with unique talents.  It sounds idealistic and possibly too good to be true.  But it is doable, particularly if a leader is not beholden to anyone and has received a mandate from the people through an overwhelming electoral victory.

HEART OF QUESTION

Interestingly, I think that Mr. Maduro got to the heart of my question about the "how" sooner than he may have thought.  I would have been perfectly content with his brief and simple answer.  However, Mr. Maduro went on to deliver what I sensed was a segment from his stump speeches during his campaign of the past few months.  He stated, for example, that there are three things on which he will focus if elected.

First, Mr. Maduro emphasized the need for adopting measures that will ensure sustainable development in Honduras.  In other words, types of economic and social initiatives that are appropriate and make sense for the country, and can be naturally sustained for many years to come.

Secondly, Mr. Maduro emphasized the need for efficiency.  Government and other institutions in Honduras simply have to be made to function more effectively to provide needed services to the people.  There should not continue to exist this underlying feeling by Hondurans that nothing seems to work properly.

Thirdly, Mr. Maduro emphasized honesty.  This one is self-explanatory.

All three items on Mr. Maduro's list of priorities are going to be tough to address, especially the last two -- efficiency and honesty.  While sustainable development efforts can be legislated and perhaps enforced, turning a society into a more efficient and honest one is an infinitely more nebulous endeavor which may require a generation or two to realize.  I suspect that no matter how great an administrative team you put together, culturally-ingrained problems will prove insurmountable over the course of a single presidential term.

That is why it was encouraging to hear Mr. Maduro touch on the issue of education.  I know that he is fairly passionate about addressing the educational crisis in Honduras.  The FEREMA education foundation that Mr. Maduro established in memory of his son a few years ago is one example of the strengths of his conviction in this area.  I regret that education was not one of the topics on which he elaborated very much.

At the end of the day, it was evident that, even though Mr. Maduro was still on his feet and engaging, his voice needed a respite.  While I cannot honestly say I know the true Maduro significantly more now than I did before, one thing is very clear.  Mr. Maduro is tireless and he does his homework.  And, as a result, he seems to have developed an incredible repertoire of contacts in Washington, which should come in handy for Honduras in the event this man comes out ahead in November.