OPINIONS & EDITORIAL

Monday, July 30, 2001 Online Edition 30

GUEST EDITORIAL

The ethics dilemma

By STEPHEN FLANAGAN JACKSON

Newspapers are a business, but a business unlike the local hardware store on Avenida Juan Pablo II or the Papa John’s Pizza. Newspapers are a business that should have a social conscience, a sense of social responsibility.

Journalists, the message makers of the content for newspapers, should also have a social conscience, a set of principles and values -- in a word: ethics.

As such, ethics are part and parcel -- or should be -- of the newspaper’s and the journalist’s stock in trade.

The newspaper -- indeed, the news media -- is a business with special historic and social responsibilities. Newspapers have an obligation beyond making a profit (ie. money) for the owner or stockholders. Newspapers -- journalists -- are on the precarious front line, fighting for the public’s right to know and for freedom of expression. Of course, if the newspaper does not make a profit, it goes out of business. If the journalist does not make money or put food on the table for himself and his family, he changes jobs or professions.

How to mix the practical with the philosophical? Therein lies the rub -- and the challenge -- for news media and for journalists in Honduras, as well as in the entire world.

The newspaper business, indeed the labor of the individual journalist, is a work fraught with minefields when it comes to ethics.

The ethical test in Honduras may be the leading advertiser or potential advertiser who suggests, for his won particular special interests, that the newspaper back off its investigation of the putrid, offensive sewer system of Teguz. The advertiser feels this type of article is bad for business, bad for tourism. Why expose such things? Why, as we say, hang out our dirty laundry in public. What is bad for business is bad for the newspaper, hints the potential advertiser, not so subtly. With a checkbook dangling over the newspaper’s head like Damocles’ sword, the advertiser has clout and a budget to match. The newspaper, on the other hand, has a payroll and printing expenses that can only be met by advertising revenue. The pressure is obvious: back off and keep the account or move forward aggressively and lose advertising revenue.

Such ethical challenges sneak up on the newspaper and the journalist constantly.

"Do not even accept one glass of water from a news source," is the admonition of the purist journalist. "You will forever be compromised in what you write once you start accepting small favors or outright bribes!"

But what is a financially struggling newspaper and/or journalist to do?

With each edition, newspaper directors and journalists subject themselves to scrutiny anew. Edition after edition, directors and journalists put their best and worst on full public display and risk economic retaliation in the marketplace.

The ethics of the newspaper and of the journalist are, therefore, not formed in a vacuum. Also in the mix are the ethics -- or lack of -- exhibited by the advertisers, or potential advertisers, the news sources, and even the public, all of which affect the ethics of the newspaper and the journalist.

Newspapers and journalists are coming under attacks concerning ethics more and more, not only in Honduras but in the United States and all over the world where freedom of expression and an independent news media are an ideal.
The newspaper and the journalist place the fruits of their labor before the public daily and/or weekly and thus receive the brunt of this criticism. Forgotten are the ethical standards -- or lack thereof -- of the advertisers, the news sources, and even the audience. These standards, often fuzzy and difficult to pin down, also have a large impact on the ethical operations of the news media. They influence and play off each other.

In Honduras, as well as in the rest of the world, a principled, philosophical approach to newsroom ethics, forged in a study of philosophy and manifested in the day to day practices of a sensitive craft or profession, is essential.

To search out the truth and to serve readers are the two main building blocks for constructing and adhering to a code of ethics, whether institutional or personal. No rulebook, no easy answers exist.

Journalism is a tough job, a job that requires eternal self-vigilance and self-introspection.
 

RIDICULOUS ALLEGATIONS

Dear HTW:

I am writing to express our indignation with regard to the article "Dam protest turns violent" as printed on the front page of HTW (July 21). This kind of regurgitated reporting of totally false stories without even rudimentary verification is both irresponsible and a sad indication of the journalistic quality of HTW.

Trocaire is the official Irish Catholic Agency for World Development which has been working for peace and development in the poorest countries in the world since it was established by the Episcopal Council of Ireland in 1973.

Neither Trocaire nor Sally O'Neill have any links whatsoever to the IRA and such a serious allegation is both preposterous as well as damaging to the excellent reputation that Trocaire and Sally O'Neill, as its director, have in Central America. Nor do Trocaire or Sally O'Neill have any links to COPIN, nor to the disturbances that took place in Tegucigalpa.

For your information, Sally O'Neill left Honduras on July 7 to participate in an international conference promoting world peace and development being hosted by the government of Ireland and as of yet has not returned to Honduras. This further illustrates the ridiculousness of the allegations as printed in La Tribuna on Thursday, July 19 and reproduced by HTW on Saturday, July 21.

We request that HTW makes a full public apology in the next edition of this newspaper. If this is not the case, Trocaire will be obliged to take further action, reserving the right to defend itself against such defamation by the media.

Lucy Hayes
TROCAIRE
Comayagüela, M.D.C.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Part of HTW's mission is to report the most significant news stories as published in the local Spanish dailies; consequently, there is the possibility that on occasions some of the information obtained in this way and reported by HTW may be incorrect. This was the case in the article, "Dam protest turns violent," in which the allegations concerning Sally O'Neill and Trocaire were obtained from the La Tribuna article in question. HTW regrets having published this erroneous information and apologizes to our readers.

GOOD EXPERIENCES WITH COPS

Dear HTW:

Mr. Harrell in his letter "Americans and the Honduran Way" (July 16) seems to associate my letter "Disturbing Experience" (June 18) with "a sickening trend to Americanize the Garden of Eden." Why? My letter had nothing to do with what he talks about. Nor am I American (not all of us English speakers are).  What I do think is that the plastic-liter bag of water, which I have only seen in Honduras, is one of the best inventions I have ever seen.

I agree with my fellow countryman Mr. Shreiber that we could do with more of the positive experiences foreigners have in Honduras to brighten the pages of HTW. So to contrast with the anonymous letter "Security in SPS" (July 2) denouncing racist attitudes towards gringos by certain policemen, I would like to share my much more friendly and reassuring experiences with the Honduran police, from whom I never felt any racist hostility.

The only time I felt I needed the police was when I was interviewing street children for an article and was suddenly surrounded by 10 of them in Parque La Merced in Tegucigalpa. There behind them was a uniformed policeman walking up to check what was going on. All the boys ran off so he smiled at me and walked on. Great! I was fine and the boys were fine. The policeman was neither heavy-handed nor was he ignoring what was happening.

The other two experiences I had meeting policemen were much more relaxed. In the first, I was chilling out on the communal balcony of a budget hotel in La Ceiba when a mustached, thick-set, middle-age ladino man wearing a bright red shirt and a cowboy hat came up and started chatting to me. He was staying in the hotel, he said. After the classic Honduran/tourist conversation of where was I from, what was I doing in Honduras, etc., he told me that his job was being a plain-clothes policeman. He had a house outside La Ceiba but during the working week he stayed in this hotel. It was an ideal place to help him keep an eye on things, he said. "Sure, I know about the crack-smoking prostitutes staying next door to you, but as long as they don't harm anyone and keep themselves to themselves I let them be. My job is to keep myself as well informed as possible about everything that goes on so that we can deal with the real problems when they arise, and catch the real criminals." That is how relaxed the conversation was.

Any doubts about his authenticity were taken away (a) by the confirmation of other people in the hotel, and (b) seeing him in a long conversation the next morning with uniformed officers at a police post visible from the balcony of the hotel.

My other experience with the police was in Tegucigalpa. I was in the habit of chatting on a daily basis to one of the armed guards outside the bank next door to my hotel. As I walked past one day he was chatting to a uniformed motorcycle officer. My friend called out to me. I came over and he introduced me to the policeman. The policeman was very friendly. He shook my hand and started asking me where was I from, and did I like Honduras. Two days later he was standing with another motorcycle policeman, and on seeing me he called me over in a friendly way. He introduced me to his colleague, and then we all got into a long conversation about first names, always interesting in Honduras with its mixture of Honduran, U.S. and Spanish names. I remember the second officer showing me his badge when I couldn't understand his name properly.

Even locals with little reason to love the police told me that they are very badly paid for what is obviously an unpleasant and dangerous job.

Billy Weiss
Totnes, England 

Meet his gray eminence, John Negroponte

Who is John Negroponte? How much does he know about Honduran death-squad Battalion 3-16? What role did he play in its creation and to what extent was he aware of the atrocities it committed? What else could he reveal about the nature and extent of U.S. involvement in Central America's bloody civil war?

Negroponte faces tough confirmation hearings in the U.S. Senate.

By W. E. GUTMAN

John D. Negroponte, President Bush's nominee for U.N. ambassador, is likely to face a bitter battle for confirmation over questions about the murky role he played in the Central American wars of the 1980s. He may also be asked -- under oath -- to explain the unscheduled deportation of people who have all the answers.

While ambassador to Honduras from 1981 to 1985, Negroponte directed the secret arming of Nicaragua's Contra rebels and is accused by human rights groups of overlooking, if not actually directing, a CIA-funded Honduran death squad -- the infamous Battalion 3-16 -- while at his post.

Although Negroponte has vehemently denied any knowledge of the carnage, revelations by his own handlers, declassified documents and disclosures by former death squad leaders have since cast grave doubt on his credibility.

The hasty expulsion of several former death squad members has also raised questions. The men, who had been granted asylum in the U.S. and Canada in exchange for silence, were deported to Honduras within days of Negroponte's nomination.

One of them, Gen. Luis Alonso Discua Elvir, who served as Honduras' deputy ambassador to the U.N. until Washington revoked his visa in February, went public with details of U.S. support for the death squad he co-founded. His revelations could sink Negroponte's chances and further embarrass the U.S.
Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.), a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, said recently that John Negroponte "was at the center of a clash over deep disagreements we had about the role the U.S. should play in Central America and, more importantly, the way -- often secretive or, at best, unclear -- that our policy was being conducted."

Kerry added that "new information suggesting that the U.S. Embassy in Honduras knew more about human rights violations than was communicated to the Congress and to the public needs to be probed carefully and thoroughly examined."

"THE USS HONDURAS"
Negroponte, a long-time protege of Secretary of State Colin Powell, spent 37 years as a foreign service officer. He served as an envoy in Vietnam and as U.S. ambassador to Mexico and the Philippines.

In 1981, President Ronald Reagan sent Negroponte to Honduras, the "banana republic" Washington commandeered as a base for covert military operations against the leftist Sandinistas who controlled neighboring Nicaragua.

On several occasions, Jack Binns, Negroponte's predecessor in
Honduras, warned the State Department that violence against political opponents of the Honduran government had been on the rise. He got the cold-shoulder treatment, he said, until he was summoned to Washington and reprimanded by Assistant Secretary of State Thomas Enders for reporting human rights abuses through official channels.

"He [Enders] was afraid it would leak and make it more difficult for us to continue our economic and security assistance to the contras," said Binns, now retired. Binns' stint as ambassador lasted only a year, ending shortly after protesting the violence in Honduras.

At Negroponte's behest, U.S. military aid to Honduras ballooned from $4 million to $77.4 million. He also helped orchestrate a cabal now known as the "Iran-Contra Affair," during which arms were funneled through Honduras to help the Contras overthrow the leftist Sandinista regime in Nicaragua.

In the background, a murky military unit called Battalion 3-16, trained by the CIA, carried out its ghoulish task of impeding the "spread of communism to Honduras." According to a 1994 Honduran human rights report entitled "The Facts Speak for Themselves," at least 184 political opponents were rounded up, tortured, slain and buried in mass graves.
Negroponte later testified that he knew little about the battalion and professed to be a staunch advocate of human rights. Former colleagues disagree, affirming with willful cynicism that he was indeed deeply involved in human rights, but not quite the way he claimed.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a former embassy official said that Negroponte "told death squad leaders to cease and desist, but promised them that he wasn't going to say that out loud." In fact, the former official quipped, compared with the abductions and murders regularly chronicled in local newspapers and recorded by human rights groups, "dispatches about the human rights situation in Honduras were so sanitized that cadres at the U.S. Embassy in Tegucigalpa joked that they were written about Norway."

THE OSTRICH AMBASSADOR
Jose Miguel Vivanco, director of Human Rights Watch/Americas, called Negroponte "the ostrich ambassador. He never saw anything wrong. He never heard about any serious human rights violations. It was like he was living on a different planet."

Honduran Human Rights Commissioner Leo Valladares has been seeking the truth since the late 1980s, petitioning the U.S. to share relevant data. Under the Freedom of Information Act, the U.S. government has released thousands of pages to him but the documents are heavily blacked-out.

"They gave me thousands of pages, but in reality they gave me zip," says Valladares. "I hope the U.S. Senate will examine the original documents. Perhaps they can help rescind Negroponte's nomination and encourage the search for a worthier candidate."

THE USUAL SUSPECTS
If anyone knows anything -- and he seems eager to tell all -- it is Gen. Discua Elvir, a graduate of the U.S. Army School of the Americas and a founder of Battalion 3-16. Former Honduran President Carlos Roberto Reina sent Discua to the U.N. in 1996, in part to give the general diplomatic immunity from investigations into the battalion's past, and to forestall the threat of a very real military coup by the general. Perhaps Discua knew things about Reina that needed to be kept under wraps.

Discua, a "deputy representative," earned about $6,000 a month, considerably more than his boss, the ambassador. But New York's climate was not to his liking. Instead, he spent most of his time in balmy Miami, where he engaged in real-estate schemes and operated an import-export business.

In January, a Florida-based human rights group, the International Educational Missions, received a tip that Discua was in Miami. In February, three weeks before Negroponte's nomination, the State Department revoked Discua's diplomatic visa on the pretext that he had failed to fulfill his ambassadorial duties. He was then expelled from the U.S. The speed of his removal continues to raise questions in State Department circles. Some have called it the result of a conspiracy.

Discua's expulsion coincided with the deportation, in January, of Juan Angel Hernandez Lara, another alleged member of Battalion 3-16 living in Florida, and the deportation from Canada on Feb. 20 of Jose Barrera, a Battalion 3-16 interrogator.

Hoping to be granted political asylum and asserting that they would be killed if they were to return to Honduras, both gave copious details of their activities in the death squad. Although Lara and Barrera recanted after returning to Honduras, Discua Elvir volunteered an explicit account of the battalion and of U.S. involvement in its genesis and subsequent activities.

Interviewed by the daily La Prensa, Discua said that he had been invited to the U.S. for two months in 1983 to coordinate the battalion's activities with those of the contra forces. He has also appeared on TV in full military regalia with promises to sing himself into inviolate immunity from prosecution.

IN THE WINGS
Human rights groups insist that Discua is protected by his knowledge of other Honduran leaders' past crimes.

"Discua is sending an explicit message to the United States: 'If you continue to do damage to me, I will squeal like a porker and reveal your role in Battalion 3-16 and the situation of that time,'" suggested Berta Oliva de Nativi, the director of a group representing the families of the "disappeared."

Emboldened, at least one other former member of 3-16 has offered to provide evidence linking Negroponte to the battalion if he is guaranteed protection in Honduras. Other retired high-ranking Honduran military officers also trained by the U.S. and subsequently charged with various offenses may find it useful to join the chorus.

Meanwhile, Negroponte has declined all interviews before the Senate hearing, which has yet to be scheduled.

Monday, July 23, 2001 Online Edition 29

Nation corralled by gangs

Coming from diverse backgrounds, gangs are self-isolated rebels without a cause and with a bleak future. Born in different environments, mareros cry out for attention by committing violent acts against a defenseless population. They create imaginary enemies whom they eliminate, and charge "war taxes" to sustain the core of the gang. This rotten center is comprised of leaders who have needs different from those of their subordinates, like the need to maintain drug and alcohol habits, for example. Still, they claim to be blood brothers of the children they send forth to charge those taxes.

It was predicted many years ago that the massive urban immigration would give way to chaos in the cities of Honduras. It abused the fragile infrastructure of these cities, making them lose control and create a lack of satisfaction of the essential and vital needs of the community.

The number of gang members in the country has grown to more than 70,000. Among the many gangs are the Salvatrucha, La 18, Los Rokeros (The Rockers), and Los Batos Locos (The Crazy Dudes). They have no jurisdiction, they worship Satan, and they commit all sorts of felonies and sexual offenses. These individuals do not bathe, tattoo any and every part of their bodies, do not shave and wear ridiculous pants, if any. Their kind originated in the Bronx of New York City and in the poor Mexican neighborhoods of Los Angeles. Mind you, we are omitting from this list the white collar gangs headed by the corrupt managers of banks and financial institutions. They might be cleaner, but their damage to society and their ethics are just the same.

Gang members are protected by civilian associations such as the Human Rights Office and Casa Alianza, considering that the majority of them are underage. Oh, that they could be prosecuted and judged for their crimes like any other citizen.
The cost of neutralizing these gangs is atrocious and devastating for our country. Basically, we need 70,000 more police officers just to deal with them. Aside from this, the country lacks a penitentiary infrastructure to provide the free clothing, food and utilities these criminals get during their "rehabilitation" -- a rehabilitation that creates no independence by providing gratuitous clothing, health care, food and shelter.
Wise Honduran doctors have argued rabidly on radio stations, television and in the printed press over solutions to this social problem. The result, of course, is free publicity and notoriety for the gangs and a reminder to all law-abiding Hondurans of the threatening circumstances they are under.

Using their almost comical hand and finger signals, they communicate that they want to speak with no one who is not of their mara. What little is understood from their corrupted slang vocabulary is their threats to society. Could it be that they find more evils in our society than they do in their groups?
It is possible that they are manipulating us and purposely corralling civilized folk behind a concrete wall. Or it could be a result of man's self-destructive spirit.

On our behalf, we still see no solution to this problem and politicians do not want to halt the rural immigration into urban areas.

What is true is that this morning, afternoon, evening, or tomorrow at dawn, another misdeed will be occurring in Honduras; because the gangs don't sleep.
 

FALSE, MALICIOUS LIES

Dear HTW:

The information posted on Lorenzo Dee Belveal's website is an attempt to disseminate false and malicious lies about Honduras and specifically anyone who has any connection to myself, Emilio Silvestri, or my mother, Rita.

First let's set the record straight. The communication dated June 22, 2001 and entitled Emilio Silvestri and in fact, quite a few of the postings on Lorenzo Dee Belveal's website, are bogus! For those of you who will take the time and search through the user's ID numbers, you will spot the use of false names and false messages by similar user ID numbers. On Belveal's website the posting supposedly submitted by Emilio Silvestri dated June 22, 2001, sender number 207.42.185.131 happens to be from the same sender of a posting dated Feb. 27, 2001 in the name of E McNab under sender number 207.42.185.131. In checking with E. McNab, he denies having sent this posting and I certainly did not send the posting attributed to my name.

A further study of Belveal's website has other such false postings. Most of these false and malicious postings are signed with initials only to disguise the identities of the people who sent the postings. This leads one to believe that the contents are questionable. I have spoken with each person whose full name does appear with their note and all, except for one lady who no longer lives on the island, have denied sending the postings.
The postings attributed to Emilio Silvestri and denied by myself, is a posting by those supporters of Lorenzo Dee Belveal or Belveal himself. This is his continuing effort to influence and inflame the Americans on Roatan and the American Embassy against my candidacy. As a matter of fact, most of what Lorenzo Dee Belveal publishes is suspect.

A search of the court records by my opponents has failed to uncover any stealing of lands or any wrong-doing for either my mother or myself. The search did, however, uncover the pending and open arrest warrant for one Lorenzo Dee Belveal, a fugitive from Honduran justice.

My friendship and my mother's friendship for Americans, Europeans, or any tourist on Roatan has long been known for the past 35 years. Roatan needs and wants all perspective residents and investors if it is to grow, prosper and create jobs for our people. Those of you who have any doubts as to my sincerity are invited to talk to me personally and view the damaging evidence in my possession about Lorenzo Dee Belveal and his sordid history while on Roatan.

Please feel free to view these documents in my file, then you will understand Dee Belveal's reasons for attempting to discredit Honduras, its public officials (including past presidents of Honduras) and attacking my family and me.

Emilio Silvestri
Via Internet


Dear HTW:

Lorenzo Dee Belveal's letter to the editor needs a strong response. Emilio Silvestri is running for Alcalde of Roatan against the present incumbent, Jerry Hynds, this November. Emilio has been falsely accused of "ethnic cleansing," which implies purging Roatan's gringos and other foreign investors, resident inversionistas and resident rentistas should he win the election in November. Emilio Silvestri has absolutely no intention of any such move.

During our conversation in my office, Emilio denied these ridiculous accusations and assured me (I am a pensionada living in Honduras since 1996) that they are totally unfounded and untrue. He welcomes and appreciates every Gringo and has no intentions to break Honduran laws, promulgated in 1992, Ley de Inversiones, 1995 Decreto #146, and many others, which started the influx of both foreign monies and know-how to promote Honduran growth.

Talking to Emilio and learning briefly about his background, qualifications and experience, I tend to believe that what he has said is true. He has studied law and has a law degree, is bilingual and has extensive administrative experience. He is sincerely interested in Roatan's welfare, environment and development and is aware of the importance of education, etc.

This is a strong man who has the welfare of Roatan -- much like our present mayor, Jerry Hynds -- as his overall goal in mind. While clearly the financial investments are part of the backbone of the island's development, Emilio is totally aware and, more importantly, supportive of the work (voluntarily performed with love and dedication) we foreigners do in schools, hospitals, youth organizations, and so on.

Lorenzo Dee Belveal somehow placed information on the Internet in an unethical manner, without verification of facts, without interviewing anyone here on Roatan, and without respect for fair reporting, to enjoy it -- might be his hobby -- character assassination.

Eva L. Brooks
Senior Editor, Bahia Magazine
Roatan

NO TRANQUILITY AND RESPECT

Dear HTW:

After living in Honduras for many years as a legal resident, I decided to make use of the duty-free provision of the residency to import a car. In order to do this, I had to change the venue of my visa from "Gobernacion y Justica" to the newer Instituto Hondureño de Turismo, since only the latter provides incentives such as exoneration on duty on an auto once every five years plus a one-time tax exemption on personal household effects.
The law in question, for those interested, is Art. 151-93 of July 28, 1993. In essence, to attract retirees and their pensions to aid the local economy, the law states that since these people no longer work, they and their families deserve the "tranquility and respect" of these provisions. It then lists quite simply the requirements for two different categories of resident visa, "pensionista" and "rentista."

I personally salute the intent of this law and its relative simplicity. However, inexplicably, a lawyer is required by the Institute to apply for the visa, despite the forthright requirements.
With my visa from Gobernacion y Justica, all that was required to renew it and remain a legal resident throughout the ensuing year was yearly proof of adequate income, two photos and a small fee.

The Instituto of Turismo has made different rules. They require, in addition to the above, a monthly accounting of dollars changed into lempiras in the form of receipts. They accept only receipts from licensed money exchanges and banks willing to do these transactions. In other words, I cannot cash money for a friend or seek a higher exchange rate. Turismo does not consider official certification of retirement income adequate proof of income except for the initial application. This monthly obligation is akin to being on parole as an ex-delinquent, having to check in monthly with the authorities to verify compliance with the rules.

At the same time I have to go through all this, I see foreign tourists of all descriptions simply paying a 30-lempira fee per month in the immigration office to remain in the country indefinitely. I have to ask, what's the advantage of a resident visa?

Upon bringing a car into the country, I was told I have 90 days permission. (Actually, this was a mistake on the part of the border authorities. Duty is supposed to be collected right at the border from residents, while a tourist can enter under 90-day permission. Once again, I ask, what's the advantage of being a legal resident if one has to leave their car and find another means of transportation to their homes unless they pay thousands of dollars on the spot?)

During these 90 days, the authorities are supposed to do the paperwork for the duty-free status. When they failed to do mine in time, I had to travel to Tegucigalpa to get a 90-day renewal and pay more money, which they arbitrarily reduced to 45 days, X-ing out the 90 days printed on the form. This is a deadline to do their work and has nothing to do with compliance by the car owner. When this time period ran out, I was assured that I could continue using the car, since the paperwork was "in process" but then had my car confiscated and was fined by the same DEI authorities who were delaying on the paperwork.
This is not the "tranquility and respect" that the law intended. These actions described constitute abuse under any definition. It almost seems someone does not want quality foreign residents in the country.

As a former member of the U.S. Congressional committee that devised new laws for amnesty to easily legalize many hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens in the U.S., including Hondurans, I do not feel the authors of Art. 151-93 had this intention when they devised this law providing incentives to bring in legal residents. I personally cannot thumb my nose at the law anywhere, but it is obviously and unfortunately far more expedient to circumvent these laws and their complications by remaining under prolonged tourist status and renewing automobile permission. By doing this, Honduras finds itself in the unenviable position of being safe haven for large numbers of unsavory foreign nationals from several countries including my own, such as pedophiles, tax evaders and people running from the law.

I hope those authorities who have the power to make rule changes can return this situation back to what was originally intended -- that of providing encouragement to responsible, characteristically law-abiding and sedate retirees to settle in a lovely country and spend their hard-earned pensions here to improve the economy.

Ed Elsner
Tela

All the presidents' men

How do you reward loyalty and discretion? With positions of power that ensure further loyalty... and discretion.

By W.E. GUTMAN

President George W. Bush faces the mother of all battles when the as-yet-unscheduled Senate confirmation hearings convene to debate his nominee for U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. The candidate, John Negroponte, has skeletons in his political closet and their bones are apt to rattle in the chill of Democratic scrutiny.

Monday, July 16, 2001 Online Edition 28

Top Secret 

The manipulators of our national government have always managed to hide their condemnatory documentation, access to which is capriciously regulated by the functionary du jour.  And what is more disgraceful is that when they finally do us the favor of leaving the country to return to their homes, they burn or take with them all of the information that is vital to proving their acts of corruption.

Many governments have a system of classification relating to the secrecy of information.  Usually these powerful governments have a priori made decisions regarding the secrecy of documents that relate to such things as international relations or secret pacts and alliances, or secret investigations into the Catholic Church or investigations into drug trafficking or the destination of money used to buy the favor of small countries like ours.  Also secret is information about simple government purchases, like the price paid for 10 reams of paper, 150 pens with red erasers, or the Lps. 250 spent taking a good looking secretary out to lunch.

In its organization, the State should have a serious commitment to employing professionals experienced in the classification and organization of documentation.

To see how poor (or good, if you look at it from a conspiracy point of view) stands the government's management of information, one needs only to look at journalism.  Modern journalists in our country have pathetically poor access to information, and the information they get is heavily filtered through many bureaucratic channels before being released.

A good example of the relative ease of access to information can be observed in our neighbor, Guatemala.  Recently, Arnoldo MacDonald Canter, assistant manager of the Guatemalan Social Security Institute (IGSS), transferred various accounts containing millions of quetzals to his own financial institutions.  Involved in other illicit activities, MacDonald Canter stole more than 200 million quetzales.  The attorney general's office of that country caught the white-collar criminal in time and prosecuted him.  The Guatemalan Press had unrestricted access to all the pertinent information regarding the case at all times, using it at almost the same time as the Attorney General's Office.

The National Congress of Honduras should pass legislation dealing with the classification of information by the government.  It should define the levels of secrecy for all the activities of the administration.  What must be stressed in this legislation, though, is that information about government spending should be public knowledge.  It is ridiculous for the president of a nation to have a "secret" fund to dispose of as he or she pleases without having to account for one penny of it.  It is ridiculous that only a government-controlled entity steeped in political favoritism has access to the financial records of the National Congress.

We understand that some information must remain hidden for the benefit of the greater good.  Still, even the United States, with its "Big Brother" like attitude of handling information, has a system for eventually releasing that information.  Some will come out in 10 years, some in even longer, but eventually the truth will survive... even if it is labeled: Top Secret.

PRAISE AND COMPLAINT 

Dear HTW:  

In reference to the Readers' Forum in the June 30 issue, I am also a foreigner in San Pedro Sula, having been transferred here to manage a Hotel.  It was pleasing to see that there was an English-language newspaper in the city (I am English).  We duly receive your paper in the lobby of the Hotel every week, and undoubtedly, all copies are gone within the morning.

However, I am concerned that most all your Letters to the Editor that are published carry a negative connotation or bantering from North Americans who have had lamentable experiences here.  Is there never an article that stresses the goodness of the city?  And there is plenty of it.

Why cannot you constructively sift through the frustrated experiences of a few and get a hold of the good ones.  I would be happy to include several excellent situations that my family and I have encountered in San Pedro and in our tours of the country (we are a family of five).  This has been done in Costa Rican English-language newspapers very successfully: stressing the good, not stoking the fire with the negative.

Ralph Nelson's article in this number is a great example of what I am trying to say. Help us by furnishing tourists with positive aspects, and leave the bedraggled ones in your files.

We would all appreciate that change of tone.  

Peter Shreiber  
Via Internet

Dear HTW:  

Your Readers' Forum in the HTW June 30 issue was a pleasure to pick as usual.  However, you should not stoop as low as your writers in contributing articles without a name.  Again, unfortunately, you publish the shallow experiences of yet another American tourist, but you sort of cover for him by omitting names.

Surely you can do better than that!  We are, oh surprise, living in a democracy and quite frankly, what this "tourist" is complaining about does not merit secrecy.  I feel it is giving too much importance to something so insignificant.

Come on, HTW, your coverage is far too classy for something of this nature.  

Name withheld by personal decision
Via Internet

Dear HTW:  

I was in Honduras last week on a mission trip and happened to pick up your 30 June paper and read it with interest.  I wanted to comment on a couple of points, if I may.

The first was a letter in the Reader's Forum from Ralph Nelson.  I too found the Honduran people to be warm, friendly and giving.  They were willing to share food, experiences, work and jokes.  We were invited to their house and were given the only chairs available and offered something to eat.  I feel I left a lot of good friends in Honduras when I left.

The second point is about the article "Watch your tongue lest 'in-glish gobble it."  Don't let us "ugly Americans" dictate to you to use our language.  Keep your own beautiful language.  Sure, international trade, international travel, etc. dictate a common basis for communication, but internally use your language.  It should be on our shoulders, the foreigner, to learn enough of your language to make ourselves understood.  

Charles Parker  
Via Internet

AMERICANS AND THE HONDURAN WAY  

Dear HTW:  

There are so many times the editorials of this esteemed Newspaper reflect concerns of Honduras, the wonderful people and our pre-conceived notions of what life should be like.  The June 16 issue contained two articles, Clean Water for all and Disturbing Experiences that seem to exhibit a sickening trend to Americanize the Garden of Eden.

Clean and available water in Honduras, certified and regulated with someone, agency, held accountable is a true joke.  Fortunately, the people I have there even question if the ice cubes in my coke is from tap or bottle.  I have only had one mild stomach problem, and I believe it was from the ice.   Now, after many extended visits, I can consume almost anything, even vendor food at a futbol game in Tegucigalpa.  I remember when they did not charge for bottles, now we have millions of bags.  Yes, this is truly how we exert our "positive influence" in Honduras.  Take a problem of broken glass and make it worse.

Left wing, right wing.  Funny, birds cannot fly without both of them.  These terms mean totally different things in every other county, especially America.  If one were to examine the American presumption of left wing in Honduras, there really is none.  No welfare, few social agencies, very limited intrusion into personal lives, no radar, safety checks, auto insurance.  This is a country that cannot afford and does not need all the safety nets we have.

They have a very important factor we lack instead.  I truly hope this is a middle of the political road term.   Family and responsibility.  Seems in our wonderful country, if two or three generations live together, we call the INS, or shun them as weird, low class.  This is the stated norm in Honduras, even with the wealthy.  Hopefully, with all the American influence we have peddled and printed in Honduras, we will never take away the integral part that truly places the equation of true life and happiness in the favor of countries like Honduras.  We have escaped, elevated ourselves and otherwise obliterated from our culture this most basic need.  Becoming a disposable society, we have thrown away that which truly judges the success and failure of a culture.

It is refreshing to live in a country where the up and mobile yuppies have pulled the finances too thin.  Going to a professional advisor, being greeted with the suggestion that spending $400 a month for bottled water could be a first step toward partial relief, they chose to take the Lexus back, tells the whole story.  Kids go to summer camp, parents in a retirement home, we do have a good life in America.  Give me Honduras.  

Steve Harrell  
Via Internet

ANOTHER BIRD EXPERT  

Dear HTW:  

With respect to the article on the Biosphere Reserve by Pamela Conley in the June 30th issue, I would like to bring your attention to the fact that Robert Gallardo is not the only English-speaking person in Honduras who knows birds.  Sr. Jorge Barraza in Copan also knows the birds (and English) very well and leads tours as well.  

Helen Burgess  
Tegucigalpa

INFO ON 19TH CENTURY PORT CLOSINGS  

Dear HTW:  

I would like to provide the following information about the column "Through the eyes of diplomats" that appeared in the June 30 issue of HTW in relation to the rejection of the U.S. consul-designate for Comayagua and Tegucigalpa and the port closings.

A nearly-finished study of mine (to be published in 2002) treats this subject in detail and depth wherein are recovered numerous long-forgotten documents, many of which have never been published.  A sub-incident that involved a jailed American physician, Albert Wells, is also brought to light in this study.

Reference to this research was made back in 1996 when I was invited to give a talk at the 116 anniversary of the Archivo Nacional de Honduras on President Jose Maria Medina.  The book on Medina is in the press and will be published by Centro Editorial in San Pedro Sula in the fall.  The rejected consul study has had to wait for the book on Medina to be published.

As to the present matter, that incident took place in 1856, not 1855.  The U.S. Consul at Omoa was named Augustin Follin, not Tollin (his agent at Truxillo was Mr. Edward Prudot, native of Philadelphia).  The full name of the Honduran Minister of Hacienda y Guerra (Treasury and War) was Lic. Jose Maria Rojas, a Nicaraguan.  The commander of Omoa was Col. Saturnino Bogran.  

John C. Moran
La Ceiba

Justice takes a step 

Monday, July 9, 2001 Online Edition 27

At a loss 

According to the theory of modernization, the underdevelopment of Latin American countries (but let's stick to Honduras) is owed to the mentality of its inhabitants and the "wrong" set of values that rules them.  Contemporary sociologists now discard that theory, claiming it is the product of ethnocentricity by part of developed countries (mainly Britain and the United States).  Furthermore, they fought against the theory of modernization's solution to underdevelopment, which was the instillment of new values by a completely revolutionized education system.  New theories arose and substituted modernization, moving it to the honorary mention position of tossed out ideas in sociology books.

Let us stop a moment, though, and consider the values of Honduran society.  What should go into that list: truth, honesty, respect, excellency, perseverance, faith, hope?  We think not.  Don't corruption, thievery, dishonesty, greed, mediocrity, betrayal, apathy and complacency sound a little more on the mark?  If these are the values ruling a society of 7 million people, it is guaranteed that development will not be an activity they will participate in any time soon.

We ask ourselves why the values in our country are at such odds with what seems righteous and do not have to go very far to find the answer.  Historically, every society's value system has been imposed and enforced by that society's religion.  Honduras' main religion is still Catholicism, but even with a newly appointed Cardinal, the Catholic Church of Honduras has little hold over the country's morality.

It seems that people now no longer fear the threat of eternal damnation for sins committed.  Why should they, when

Catholic followers themselves can see the lack of values in the church itself?  Church leaders (remember the Ajuterique priest?) become poor role models when they inebriate boys and girls, then have sex with them, the get caught but suffering no serious consequences.  Church organizations with humble origins (like an organization started by a priest in Spain last century) have become elitist and discriminatory.

No, I guess that leaves religion out of the value-setting business.

Who then, sets the values of our society?  A father teaches his children through examples, and maybe the government does the same with the people.  Oh, and what examples it provides!  Theft, corruption, apathy, greed and what not (well, you read the list already) are all occurring at every level of the country's ruling body.  If you do not believe us, try to get a passport, or your residency card, or a marriage license, or try doing any activity directly involving the bureaucratic black hole of the government and see for yourself.

A weak religion and a dysfunctional government set our values, and Honduras continues to be an undeveloped nation.

Yet, if you remember, sociologists say that our underdevelopment has nothing to do with our mentality or our set of values.  They say that Honduras would not advance simply by adopting the values of hard work and honest living because they came from some Anglo-Saxon source.  If that is true, then hurray for us.  Come on, though, let's be a little more realistic.

GRINGOS BEWARE! 

Dear HTW: 

An Internet discussion site has inadvertently put Americans who reside on Roatan on firm notice that hard times lie ahead for them, should Emilio Silvestri win the upcoming election as Alcalde of Coxen Hole, to which he aspires.

Silvestri was apparently discomfited by public comments posted on the discussion site at URL <http://ldbelveal.net/voxpop/discussion/disc2_toc.htm> concerning Arnold Morris' loss of his Honduras citizenship.  Family loyalties might have been part of the incentive behind Silvestri's vituperations, since Arnold Morris is his step-father.  In any case, the hopeful candidate for the post of Coxen Hole Alcalde, stated his case as follows (and all in capital letters):

From: EMILIO SILVESTRI

22 June 2001

IT LOOKS LIKE ALL OF YOU PEOPLE WHO WRITE ON THIS DON'T HAVE ANYTHING ELSE TO DO.  MR. ARNOLD (MORRIS) HAS NOT DONE ANYTHING WRONG SINCE COMING TO HONDURAS.  ALL THIS TALK ABOUT HIM WAS CAUSED BY YOU BUNCH OF GRINGOS (A*******).  FOR YOUR INFORMATION "YES" THEY ALSO TOOK ME AND MY MOTHERS AMERICAN VISA, BUT JUST LET ME WIN THE ALCALDE SEAT AND EVERYONE OF YOU WILL ALL PAY REAL ... HARD FOR IT.  IF MR.ARNOLD (MORRIS) IS NOT ALLOWED TO STAY IN HONDURAS, AT LEAST NEITHER GRINGO WILL BE SEEN ON ROATAN AGAIN.

A couple of extremely pertinent questions arise from this highly disturbed and disturbing public threat:  First, what measures does Silvestri have in mind to use against the Gringo expats who currently reside on Roatan?  Second, is his declared  policy of an island 'ethnic cleansing' activity also endorsed by Don Ricardo Maduro, the well-regarded presidential candidate with whom Silvestri has vocally associated himself in his search for election?

This writer would strongly urge Don Ricardo Maduro to promptly declare his position vis-a-vis the Silvestri manifesto concerning Gringo residents on Roatan.  If, indeed, Don Ricardo endorses the 'purging' of Gringos from the island, it seems no more than reasonable that the victims of the 'cleansing' be given some reasonable advance notice of the impending and open-ended expulsion threat.

A footnote to this matter seems to be in order.

The June 25 issue of Honduras This Week carries a story indicating that the Honduras Corte Suprema de Justicia has "ruled unanimously in favor of an appeal presented by the attorneys of Arnold Morris to halt the ongoing deportation proceedings against him.

"Morris, who allegedly obtained Honduran nationality by fraudulent means, is wanted by the U.S. Department of Justice and FBI for felonies committed in Florida.

"Morris currently resides on the island of Roatan where he owns a hotel and other businesses.  He is married to Rita Silvestri, a Honduran national."

Emilio Silvestri, the candidate for Alcalde of Coxen Hole, is the son of Rita Thompson Silvestri de Morris.  The U.S. visas of both mother and son have been revoked, ostensibly for their personal association and collaboration with an indicted fugitive in flight from United States justice.

The United States government is seeking the extradition of Morris to answer to 26 counts of commercial fraud and money laundering pending against him in the Pinellas District court in Tampa, Florida.  It is uncertain what effect the Honduras Supreme Court ruling will have on his continuing efforts to avoid extradition. 

Lorenzo Dee Belveal
Via Internet

CAN WE CLOSE THE GAP? 

Dear HTW: 

When I read about the illegal road building in Trujillo, [June 2001, National] I began to ponder the extremes between the USA and Honduras.  And in the process of wondering how to get to our leaders to bring each country to reason, I began to realized that it is only we the people who can close the gap.  First, let me explain that I am very involved with Honduras, via one particular village with which I am working and to which I have become quite attached.  The people in this village are probably in the lowest financial arena in Honduras; however, they are as industrious as any I have met anywhere.  So, be assured, my heart is equally there and here.  Now, the problem of the gap between the two countries.

Here in the USA, you decide you want to build a house on a piece of land, but you can only afford a small piece.  The owner is happy to sell you a small piece, but first you must go through many phases of permits, surveying, proving that a small bush won't be damaged, that a small worm won't be injured, that a bird's nest won't be disturbed, that all of these non-human things must be protected.  The cost and time to build can be beyond belief.  Now, if the person does not get the many required items and permits and goes ahead, he will be sought out, armed police and many legal officers will be on hand to swarm over him and get him properly in jail, or fined so that he wonders if he is really living in a free country.  Not exaggerated.  When our founding fathers originated our great country, they expressly provided that officers would not swarm over us -- but they do, only 200 plus years later.

In contrast, we look at our country of Honduras and the opposite holds true.  If you read the story of the illegal road being built, or the other illegal activities, you wonder why there must be such a gap in our world.  As I see it, only an effort by the people can change both situations.

In America, we need to slow the horrible waste of the environment frenzy, and begin to spend some of our money on our less fortunate neighbors.  Moreover, many have lost touch with reality and live for the ball games, the balloons, the concerts, while our neighbors struggle for a meal.  The gap widens.

May I suggest too many have lost touch with our Creator.  He gave us the Ten Commandments, the miracles and a chance of eternity with Him.  We need to close the gap among the peoples of the world, but in the process we must turn back to Jesus, who is our only hope of returning to sanity, to the true meaning of giving, to living normally.  Without Him, we have no hope, either here or for eternity.  We can begin, one at a time, to close the gap (if we know the way -- John 14:6). 

Thomas E. Doyle
Oakland, MD

BELIEVE IN DEMOCRACY 

Dear HTW: 

Well, Mr. Pinel sure has got me wrong, thinking that I condemn right-wing criminality while ignoring it from the left wing.  We are in 2001 where the Cold War is well over and democracy is the order of the day.  Those who have committed horrific crimes need to be tried whatever ideology they claim was motivating them.  By comparing Allende with Castro, Mr. Pinel seems to put more store in what people believe when judging them than in than what they actually do.  I have long felt it a shame that the great left-wing Latin icon has been the psychopath Guevara rather than the hero Allende.  Were both alive today, Guevara should be on trial for mass murder while Allende should be feted as a hero.

Mr. Pinel's assertion that Pinochet is a great military man is absurd.  He might have been so if he had ever had to fight in a war, but all he ever did was to round up the intelligent Chileans whom he considered subversive and shoot them.  A dirty police state war.

I think the Sandinistas have every right to gain power democratically as Chavez has the right to rule Venezuela, agreeing with the OAS decision to keep only the dictator and pseudo-radical Castro out of the organization, nor would I want anyone other than George W. Bush in the White House till 2005.  I believe in democracy and the necessity of sorting out people's ideological and other differences around the negotiating table.

Meanwhile, Mr. Nelson's letter clarifying his position around "dregs of humanity" was very welcome to me.  A study of the history of Honduras clearly indicates the victim role that the poor have had to play in Honduras, pressured continuously by larger and more powerful forces from the world around them.  Most Hondurans have to live hard lives with not very much in the way of material goods, power over their life circumstances, or pleasures; and yet they remain remarkably open, friendly and, in the great majority of cases, honest -- like the great majority of poor throughout the world.  Blaming them for their own plight is absurd.

All I saw in my brief stay in Honduras is that the poor wanted to get ahead and really make something of their lives, remaining remarkably optimistic in the face of the difficulties in doing so.  Of course, you find plenty of dregs of humanity amongst poor Hondurans but you do without doubt in every nation and every class in the world.  It is when the dregs get political power and start killing people that things get really scary, which is why it is so important to see political crimes judged.  Hitler used the poor, dirty Jewish dregs of humanity argument to commit the holocaust, and that is why a similar argument if used in reference to the poor Hondurans makes my blood boil.

Thus, I am pleased that Mr. Nelson, who writes many sensible and agreeable things, is actually in agreement with me about this. 

Billy Weiss
Totnes, England

Monday, July 2, 2001 Online Edition 26

Gold standard solution to nation's currency woes 

The lempira, except for a brief shining moment when it was made of silver, has never enjoyed stability.  Theoretically, there are many advantages that would accompany the devaluation of the Honduran currency.  And indeed, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has insisted that the lempira should retreat its position as an answer to our current economic crisis.  As another option, dollarization could occur, which unfortunately would subsequently be followed by the devaluation of the dollar itself.

On many occasions we have stated that all of the world's currencies fluctuate on the market the same as ours does.  Only the patron God of money, gold, was ever able to retain its value for any notable amount of time.  Unfortunately, we are not using this metal as the basis for our currency in reality because it is something that is not produced by most industrialized countries.  These latter countries would never even dream of acquiescing to such an option because it would benefit only the countries that produce gold, and not their own technocratic societies.

Honduras' economic formula has not changed since the last time we dealt with this subject: the lempira goes down, the yen, the dollar and the ECU all go up.  This is a vicious cycle that works inversely to our national interests.

Our proposal has always been to adapt a formula wherein Central America acts only for its own benefit.  All that is needed is legislation stipulating that all financial transactions conducted throughout the region be supported by deposits of at least 20 percent of their net worth in gold.  The majority of Central American countries possesses this shiny yellow metal, and the industrialized countries would be forced to trade in equality with us.  This would make Central America a much stronger player in any of the world's markets.

Trying to solidify the economy with another, more powerful currency would produce the same problematic situation we already have because it too would fluctuate in the market.  Even the almighty dollar goes up and down with demand and credit rates.  There is really no other currency recommendable as a substitute for the poor Honduran lempira.  However, if the law requiring a percentage of operations in gold was passed, our situation would improve.

We must protect what our country produces.  If the situation is that gold is one of the most important resources produced by our nation, then we must capitalize on this.  Normal, legal tender currency is really just a symbol of an unseen value existing as an intangible commodity in the sealed vaults of the Central Bank.  Economists are the first to turn valuables into intangibles in order to give detail to the day to day world economy.  This position satisfies many appetites at the same time and would give our currency some notoriety.

MESSAGE MISINTERPRETED 

Dear HTW: 

I would like to apologize for the carelessly worded letter that was printed in the June 4 edition of HTW.  Reader Billy Weiss misinterpreted the message that I intended to send and was justifiably offended and angered.

That letter to HTW was intended to be a sarcastic jab response to a previous letter from another HTW reader who actually did refer to Hondurans as the dregs of humanity.

What I was trying to say was that people who don't respect Hondurans have probably never gotten to know many Hondurans.

Oscar Mendez is the chief of personal banking at Banco del Pais.  Oscar is one of the nicest fellows I've ever met.  Ask Don Pearly, who Oscar considers a friend.  After his day job, Oscar is a college professor.  He works two full-time jobs to put his girls through school and help support his mother.  He grew up in a house made out of sticks and mud with no electricity or running water.  He worked by day and attended school by night.  Thanks to him, his mother and younger siblings now have electricity, running water and a secure roof over their heads, and they don't have to go to school hungry.

Anyone who has had the privilege of meeting Oscar could not have anything but the utmost respect for him and the people of the country he lives in.

The very poor people in Honduras have bread and coffee for breakfast if anything at all.  Those fortunate enough to be welcomed into a Honduran's humble home will, without exception, be offered something to eat or drink.  When you're being offered bread and coffee, it means that the host is offering you all they have to eat.  It's a humbling experience.  One is left pondering whether they have it in them to show the same respect for visitors to their own home.

I gave a ride to an old man one morning.  He was on his way to work in the hot sun all day.  He saw that I had a cold and offered me the plastic Pepsi bottle filled with purified water that he had.  He said that I should drink plenty of fluids.  I couldn't take his water.  He didn't have any money, but he knew that his co-workers would share what they had with him even as he intended to share what he had with me.  That's what Hondurans do.

I don't understand how anyone could not have the utmost respect for people like that.

Behind the crooked politicians and street crime is a kind, respectful, beautiful and giving people.  Anyone who doesn't agree with me is challenged to greet a truck driver as he's eating breakfast at a roadside comedor or shake the hand of an old farm laborer while he's on his way home in the afternoon or visit Oscar at BDP.  I guarantee it will change your point of view.  Again I am sorry to Billy Weiss and to anyone else I may have offended by my tired attempt at sarcasm. 

Ralph Nelson
Via Internet

NO SECURITY IN SPS 

Dear HTW: 

As a foreigner who has been living in San Pedro Sula for the past five months, I have been shocked and appalled by the general lack of security in the city as a whole.  I spend very little time downtown, and never at night, but in this time I have witnessed in all cases, from the other side of the road, three bag snatching attempts where the thief had produced a knife on the victim (all in broad daylight).  A women being robbed, pushed to the ground and physically assaulted, all as the surrounding people on the street screamed and two policemen leaned on a car only 40 meters away.  The police  finally decided to go and have a look on this occasion, only when the thief had fled and all that was left was a women, whose face was covered by a mixture of fresh blood, cuts and streaming tears.

This goes with out reading all the daily crime occurrences in the San Pedro Sula area.  As I brought the paper this morning [June 16] and continued to walk along towards central park.  The headlines caught my attention: "El Ministro de Seguridad tambien ya tiene "luz verde" para despedir a los policias corruptos" and "Gautama promote seguridad a inversionistas extranjeros."  The security problem is a large one, but it is always positive to see that things are at least getting done or the problems are being discussed.

I was all of a sudden confronted by four military police.  I will admit that my Spanish isn't very good, but as they pointed for me to get up against the wall and took my small backpack away, I guessed what was going on.  I asked what the problem was, and was told nothing, routine search.  I was searched against the wall.  As all the contents of my bag where taken out placed on the street and completely looked through. Nothing was spared.  I was slowly becoming annoyed, as this dragged on and my questions and concerns where only greeted with smiles and jokes from the police.  After a few minutes my bag was returned, I grabbed it and walked away not even paying any attention to what they said as I left.  I got to the other side of the road, opened my bag and went through all my belongs making sure that nothing was taken.  All was there.

I watched the military police walk away as they spoke and joked with each other at my expense, I guess.  I have no problem at all with such procedures if there is a general search of people on the street.  I expect no special treatment, but I would like to be treated fairly and equally as everyone does.  But when, in my opinion, I am picked out of the crowd only for the fact that I am a foreigner or gringo and hassled for no more than a joke or just maybe on the outside chance they thought they might get some money out of me if there was the slightest thing that could be turned to be incriminating.

I am annoyed.  Surely there is more urgent matters, especially in downtown security, than to search someone who is a tourist or a visiting foreigner.  I can't guess who they will target next.  Old ladies shopping, families with young children?

The security problems in San Pedro Sula are going to take a lot of changing.  The current economic situation isn't helping either.  But the corruption in the police at all levels is maybe problem number one.  I seriously do hope that the government can fix this problem.  If not, for all the citizens of San Pedro Sula security issues are never going to improve, only worsen slowly week by week as they are now, and what future is there in that. There is no future. 

Name withheld upon request
Via Internet

Watch your tongue lest 'in-glish gobble it ?

By W.E. GUTMAN