In search of the lost silver mines near La Leona

This entrance to a colonial-era Spanish mine is located in the La Leona district of Tegucigalpa.  (Photo by Eric Timar.)  

By ERIC TIMAR

Special to Honduras This Week 

Several months ago I hatched a plan for an article written for visitors to Tegucigalpa, an article about old Spanish mines.  I would find out where I could see entrances to such mines, write about the early history of mining, throw in some mining trivia, and bang, I would have an interesting piece for Honduras This Week.  I would sit back, watch tourists pour in, and wait for Mayor Castellanos to present me with keys to the city in gratitude for the publicity.

I knew that the Spaniards had established mines in the 16th and 17th centuries near present-day Parque La Leona, so one morning I wandered up there with a notebook and camera.  I picked two distinguished-looking men on a park bench and asked them if there were any old mines nearby.

They rubbed their chins and frowned and said a certain hole in the ground far away might be an old mine entrance, but to get there I would need to negotiate my way through gangs of delinquents and packs of large, biting dogs.

So I decided to do the historical research first.

SPANISH MINING IN TEGUZ

The historian Linda Newson, in her 1986 book The Cost of Conquest, writes that Honduras produced mainly gold until silver was discovered in and around Tegucigalpa in the 1500s.  Tegucigalpa's silver dominated mining in the colonial period from that time forward.

How was silver extracted from its ore?  The Spaniards used the "patio" method.  The process takes its name from shallow circular pits, 15 yards across, in which the ore was worked.  Silver ore was ground up with water to make mud, and this mud was spread 10 inches deep over the patio.  Miners then added salt and mercury and mixed everything by having mules pull stone blocks over it repeatedly.  This process forced the silver to combine chemically with the mercury.  The mud was rinsed away, and the silver-mercury compound was heated to force off the mercury.  Miners in Tegucigalpa imported large amounts of salt from the southern coast and mercury, from Seville to produce their silver.

The historians cited in this article do not speculate as to whether this heavy use of mercury drove either the miners or the mules insane.  Mercury residues in the city would go a long way toward explaining present-day driving habits.

Some types of silver ore could be processed just with heat, without using mercury.  Newson writes that miners were happy to uncover these veins because the Spanish authorities expected to collect taxes when they shipped mercury from Seville.  When miners could produce silver without mercury they could underreport their income and bilk the crown.

WORKER SHORTAGE

Newson writes that there were not enough Spaniards in the area to work the mines very well, and those that were here might not have been exactly wedded to hard manual labor, so they used native Hondurans.  How abusive were the Spaniards in treating their local "help"?  According to the Honduran historian José Reina Valenzuela in his 1981 book, Tegucigalpa: Sintesis Historica, the rulers of Spain in the late 1500s and 1600s were relatively -- and I stress the term 'relatively,' since this was a long, long time before Rigoberta Menchu won her Nobel Prize, or Ben Nighthorse Campbell got himself elected U.S. Senator -- the rulers of Spain were relatively enlightened in their treatment of Native Americans.  For example, it was 'expressly forbidden by royal order' for indigenous Hondurans to work inside the mine tunnels; they could only be employed out in the open processing the ore and doing other ore chores.  Reina Valenzuela writes that "more than a few" mine owners ignored the laws and mistreated their workers; the native Hondurans tended to run away from the mines.

When too many native Hondurans fled, or were killed off by diseases or warfare, the mine owners looked for African slaves to replace them.  Reina Valenzuela writes that a shipload of African slaves arrived in Trujillo in 1618, and two more in 1620, at the request of miners in Tegucigalpa.  Anyone living in Tegucigalpa might have an obvious question, regarding all these Africans -- where are their descendants?  The city has no 400-year-old community of blacks, as does, say, the southern United States.  Reina Valenzuela guesses that the 17th-Century Africans either ran away from the mines or died out without descendants.  And the local mining industry, it turns out, never occupied very many slaves.

How big was the Spanish mining operation in Tegucigalpa in the 16th and 17th centuries?  Were thousands of indigenous Hondurans and Africans toiling in the hills?  Numbers for Tegucigalpa alone are not available -- the writers back then very inconsiderately did not isolate the city in their statistics, nor did they divine that Tegucigalpa and not Santa Lucia, say, would develop into the city where I would write this report -- but there are numbers about the region as a whole.  Newson writes that in 1590 Tegucigalpa and Ojojona had 11 mines between them employing a total of just 24 slaves and 24 indigenous workers.  Sixty years later Santa Lucia and a nearby site supported seven mine owners who employed 182 slaves and 80 indigenous workers.

BACK TO LA LEONA

By now I was ready to battle delinquents and dogs, if necessary, to see old mine entrances and imagine myself in the mercury-ridden shoes of a Spanish miner.  I spoke with another Honduran historian, Dr. Mario Felipe Martinez Castillo, who told me that entrances did indeed exist near La Leona -- and he gave me a name: a certain family had mine shafts visible on their property.

Two things were obvious now.  This article would probably not work very well as a guide for visitors, since they would have to talk their way onto private property in order to replicate my tour.  Second, no one was going to mistake me for Indiana Jones -- instead of hacking my way through bush to see mine entrances, I was going door to door in a well-to-do neighborhood to try to explain my quest to suspicious gardeners.

At the household Dr. Martinez mentioned, a guard shooed me away politely, but he did tell me that I could see mine entrances on the property of another family nearby.  At this house I was let in, and I photographed two entrances -- one outdoors and one behind the wall of a building.

The mine outdoors was a blocked-over entrance, about five feet high, beneath an archway built into the side of a slope.  It may have run directly under Parque La Leona, but there was no way to tell.

To see the second old mine shaft, I was sent down a stairway to a two-story stone building.  Inside, five teenage boys worked at sewing machines making Olimpia and Motagua T-shirts.  When I told them my mission, they looked at me oddly but sent for their manager who, sure enough, opened a back door in the main room and showed me two tunnels.  One passage, about three feet wide by six feet high, ran about 20 feet and disappeared around a bend.  The other, perhaps four feet high by six feet wide, likewise ran into the hill a few yards and turned.

I imagined the Spaniards and Hondurans and Africans who had worked in these mines.  They would have had a beautiful view of the valley that would develop into today's Tegucigalpa -- green hills untouched by urban blight with the Choluteca river wandering around below.  I imagined them building the arches at the entrances and hoping the hillside did not fall in, hoping the mines did not flood -- Linda Newson writes that mines seldom extended more than 325 feet because they filled with water and were too difficult to clear out.

POOR MINE OWNERS

Newson mentions that, surprisingly, local mine owners in the colonial era were not known for their wealth; they were generally "poor and indebted."  Silver mining required amounts of money far beyond the means of most Spanish immigrants.  Many of them were perpetually in debt to moneylenders and were unable to exploit their mines properly because the native Hondurans could not work inside them, they ran away if they were forced to, African slaves were too expensive, and it was too difficult to dig mines deep.

So how does the story end?  What role did the mines of Tegucigalpa play in history?  The authors of the Encyclopedia Britannica -- who, bless them, have placed that entire document online -- wrap up their entry on Spanish mining thus:

"Very little of this American treasure seems to have been invested in economic production.  Most of it was used for display by the court and ruling circles, to pay for Spanish imports, for the Spanish armies abroad, and to satisfy the government's foreign creditors.  Thus Spain, with all the treasure of the New World at its command, remained a poor country."  

CULTURAL EVENTS  

ART AUCTION -- MARCH 29 -- The Camino Real Intercontinental in Tegucigalpa will host an auction featuring the works of Honduran, Salvadoran, Cuban and Colombian painters.  It is sponsored by the Embassy of El Salvador and the Botticelli Art Gallery. 

JAPANESE VISUAL ART -- THROUGH MARCH 30 -- The Ministry of Culture and the Embassy of Japan are hosting an exhibit of Japanese visual art at the Cultural Room of Plaza Bancatlan in Tegucigalpa.  Computer photographs, cartoons, illustrations and other forms of modern art are on display.  It is open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. 

HONDURAN IMAGES -- THROUGH MARCH 30 -- The Honduran Institute of Interamerican Culture (IHCI) on Calle Real, in Comayaguela, is presenting an exhibit of paintings by Copan artist Moises Becerra.  More information at 222-0703. 

WOMEN PHOTO AND CARTOON EXHIBIT -- THROUGH MARCH 30 -- The Mujeres en las Artes organization is holding a photography and cartoon exhibit on women's issues, titled Imagenes de la Cotidianidad:  Escenarios de lo Femenino, at the National Art Gallery in Tegucigalpa.  Call 221-0679 for information. 

LA FRAGUA THEATER -- MARCH 28,29,30,31 -- Teatro La Fragua of El Progreso, Yoro, will present a new version of the Passion, titled Jesus' Assassination at 7:15 p.m. on March 24 at their own facilities.  From March 28 to 31, the play will be presented at the San Pedro Sula Anthropology Museum at the same hour.  Admission is Lps. 25.  More information at 647-0974. 

CENTRAL AMERICAN SCENIC ART FESTIVAL -- THROUGH MARCH -- The Ministry of Culture, the Spanish Agency of International Cooperation and the Bambu Theater Group are organizing the 11th Central American Scenic Art Festival Bambu 2001.  The inauguration will take place at 7 p.m. at the Manuel Bonilla National Theater in Tegucigalpa, with the presentation of the monologue, titled El Diario de un Loco (A mad man's diary), starring Guatemalan actor Herbert Meneses. 

BOOK PRESENTATION -- APRIL 5 -- The Honduran Institute of Hispanic Culture will be host to the presentation of the book, Visiones del sector cultural en Centroamerica, sponsored by the Spanish International Cooperation Agency.  The event will take place at 7 p.m. 

SYMPHONIC ORCHESTRA -- MARCH 30 -- The Hotel Princess in Tegucigalpa will be host to an Unforgettable Viennese Dinner, along with the National Symphonic Orchestra of Honduras.  Admission is Lps. 500.  More information at 220-4500. 

YAMARANGUILA FAIR -- MARCH 31-APRIL 1 -- The municipality of Yamaranguila, Intibuca (15 minutes from La Esperanza, about 3 hours from Tegucigalpa) invites the public to the 2nd Fair for Food Security.  In the ambiance of a cool climate and forests you will find Lenca culture, presentation and the sale of local products, a guide tour and walks. 

THEATER FOR CHILDREN -- Teatro Renacimiento at Plaza Millenium in Comayaguela is host to a theater workshop for children, Tuesdays and Thursdays from 4 to 6 p.m., and Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 12 noon.  More information at 225-5517. 

FINE ARTS COURSES -- The Construction, Architecture and Design Center (CEDAC) in Tegucigalpa offers fine arts courses for children and teenagers.  More information at 232-4195, 232-8834. 

PAINTING AND PUPPETEERING WORKSHOP -- D'Barro is hosting a puppeteering, painting and modeling workshop for girls between 7 and 12.  For information, call 239-6905. 

ART WORKSHOPS FOR CHILDREN -- THROUGH MAY 31 -- The Mujeres en las Artes cultural association is offering a painting workshop for children aged 7 to 10, a traditional games workshop for children aged 8 to 11 and a ceramic workshop for children aged 6 to 12.   

ART WORKSHOP FOR ADULTS -- THROUGH MAY 31 -- The Mujeres en las Artes cultural association is offering ceramic workshops Fridays and Saturdays.  A mosaic workshop is given Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, and a graphic design course is given on Saturdays.  More information at 221-0679. 

SCHOLARSHIPS -- The Honduran Institute of Interamerican Culture (IHCI) is promoting a series of scholarships for Honduran professionals granted by the Fullbright, Laspau and Hubert H. Humphrey programs.  More information at 222-0703. 

ITALIAN FOOD FESTIVAL -- THROUGH MARCH 27 -- The Hotel Princess in Tegucigalpa is holding an Italian gastronomical festival at the Garden Court Restaurant from 11:30 to 3 p.m.  Seven chefs are waiting for you to taste their most exquisite dishes.  More information at 220-4500.  Cost is Lps. 250 per person plus tax. 

CULTURAL ENCOUNTER -- APRIL 7,8 -- The community of Copan Ruinas, in the western region of Honduras, will host the First Great Artistic-Cultural Encounter 2001, with the participation of artists, musicians, actors, poets, writers, film makers, dancers and other culturally active people.  The program will be developed at the Hacienda San Lucas.  For more information, call Vicente Murphy at 236-9362, or write to Carin Steen at copanpinta@yahoo.com

CLUBS 

FAMILIES ANONYMOUS -- Meetings are held Tuesdays at the Union Church in Tegucigalpa at 7:30 p.m.  More information at 239-9779. 

AL-ANON FAMILY GROUPS -- For relatives and friends of problem drinkers.  Groups meet Saturdays and Sundays in Tegucigalpa.  More information at 239-2698 (Spanish) and 226-6576 (English). 

NARCOTICS ANONYMOUS -- Meetings are held in Spanish every Monday, Wednesday and Friday in Tegucigalpa.  More information at 991-9417 or 232-8989. 

ENGLISH SPEAKING WOMEN'S CLUB -- ESWC meets every month on the second Thursday at the Hotel Honduras Maya in Tegucigalpa at 2:30 p.m.  More information with Adrienne Cosenza at 211-8842. 

HONDURAN-FRENCH ASSOCIATION -- The French Alliance in Tegucigalpa invites the public to join the Honduran-French Association.  More information at 239-6164.

MUSEUMS & GARDENS

TEGUCIGALPA

MUSEO DE HISTORIA REPUBLICANA

The Museum of Republican History is located at the Villa Roy building in Tegucigalpa's Barrio Buenos Aries. It is open 8:30 to 3:30, Tuesdays through Sundays and features portraits, paraphernalia, and other interesting items from past presidents. Admission is Lps.  20 for nonresident foreigners and Lps.  10 for Hondurans and Central Americans. For more information, call 2223470 or 2221468.

CENTRAL BANK MUSEUM

The Central Bank of Honduras located at the Comayaguela annex building is open from 9 a. m.  to noon and from 1 to 4 p. m. , Monday to Friday. It has a permanent coin and painting exhibit. For special presentations, call the Emision y Tesoreria department at 2372270 (78), ext.  2117 (2120).  [CLOSED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE. ]

NATIONAL ART GALLERY

The Galeria Nacional de Arte features rock art, preColumbian ceramics, colonial paintings, religious art and a wide selection of 20th century Honduran painters. The gallery is located at the Plaza de la Merced in downtown Tegucigalpa. It is open Tuesday through Saturday from 105 p. m.  and Sunday from 102 p. m. Admission is Lps.  10 for adults, Lps.  5 for senior citizens, Lps.  3 for students and Lps.  1 for children accompanied by adults.

IGUANA FARM

The Biosfera Ecocentro Iguana Farm in Colonia La Joya invites the public to come and learn everything about iguanas. Admission is Lps.  5 for adults, Lps.  3 for children. The facility is open every day (except Wednesday) from 9 to 5. For more ingormation, call 2306346.

COMAYAGUA, COMAYAGUA

COMAYAGUA MUSEUM OF ARCHAEOLOGY

Located in the city of Comayagua, two hours north of Tegucigalpa, the Comayagua Museum of Archaeology is in the building that served as the seat of government in the 19th century. Exhibits include prehistoric fossils, cave art, ceramics, and objects used by indigenous cultures during the preColombian era. The museum, which also has a small library, is open to the public Tuesdays through Sundays from 8:30 a. m.  to 4 p. m.

COMAYAGUA RELIGIOUS MUSEUM

Located in the Casa Cural in front of Comayagua's cathedral, this museum features religious paintings and objects dating back to the 16th century. Hours are 812 and 24 p. m. , Mondays through Fridays. For more information, contact Leonardo Letona at 7720348.

LA PAZ, LA PAZ

LA PAZ HOUSE OF CULTURE

The La Paz Casa de la Cultura is located in downtown La Paz. It features an attractive exhibit of the Lenca handicrafts and culture. It is open Mondays through Sundays.

SAN PEDRO SULA, CORTES

SPS MUSEUM OF ANTHROPOLOGY AND HISTORY

The Museo de Antropologia e Historia de San Pedro Sula features exhibits on the development of Sula Valley, from 1500 B. C.  to the middle of this century. The museum is open 10 a. m.  to 4:15 p. m.  Tuesdays through Saturdays and 9 a. m.  to 3 p. m.  on Sundays. Admission is Lps.  10 for adults, Lps.  5 for students and children under 12, and Lps.  2 for senior citizens. For more information, call 5571496/5571798 or fax 5571874.

MUSEUM OF NATURE OF SAN PEDRO SULA

Sponsored and managed by the Fundacion Ecologista H. R.  Pastor Fasquelle, this new museum was inaugurated last December in its current location at the Biocentro on 3 Avenida and 9 Calle Noroeste. It has 24 exhibits on the environment, natural resources and biology of Honduras. Hours are 8 a. m.  to 5 p. m.  daily and 8 a. m.  until noon on Saturdays. Admission is Lps 5 for students from public schools and Lps.  10. 00 for everyone else.

YUSCARAN, EL PARAISO

YUSCARAN HOUSE OF CULTURE

Yuscaran's Casa de la Cultura is located at the former Casa Fortin in downtown Yuscaran, El Paraiso department, just 45 km from Tegucigalpa on the road to Danli. It is open Mondays through Saturdays.

OLANCHO

PECH CULTURAL CENTER

The Pech have built a small house in El Carbon, Olancho to display their modern handicrafts. An exhibit of archaeological finds in the area is planned. You can ask to see the collection and/or get a tour of a Post Classic era fortified site. The Pech Cultural Center also offers medicinal plant tours, nature hikes, Pech dinners, etc. There is no admission fee to the cultural center. Hours: If you ask, they will open it.

COPAN

COPAN ARCHEOLOGICAL MUSEUM

Located in the village of Copan Ruinas, Copan department, the museum exhibits a splendid assortment of Mayan pieces that have been found in the Copan Ruins Archaeological Park just 1 km away.

LA PUENTE ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM

Featuring a sizeable collection of Mayan handicrafts and photographs as well as a room with Japanese antique ceramics, this museum is located at the El Puente Archaeological Site, about an hour's drive from Copan Ruinas.

MAYAN SEPULTURAS MUSEUM

Inaugurated in 1996, this is the premier Mayan museum in the Mundo Maya, featuring the finest examples of Copan's tombs, sculptures and architecture. Located at the Copan Ruins Archaeological Park, the museum is open Monday through Sunday.

TELA, ATLANTIDA

LANCETILLA BOTANICAL GARDENS

Located 2 kilometers from Tela on the Atlantic coast highway, the gardens feature one of the largest collections of tropical and subtropical plants, shrubs and trees in all Latin America. It is open from 7:30 a. m.  to 2:30 p. m. , Mondays through Sundays. There is an admission charge.

LA CEIBA, ATLANTIDA

 BUTTERFLY AND INSECT MUSEUM

Thousands of butterflies and insects from Honduras and 18 other countries are on display in La Ceiba' private Butterfly and Insect Museum. It is located in Colonia El Sauce, 2nd etapa, casa G12. Visiting hours are 812 and 25, Monday through Saturday. The museum is closed Wednesday afternoon. Fees are Lps.  15 for adults and Lps.  10 for students. Tel.  4422874, email: rlehman@ns. gbm. hn

TRUJILLO

TRUJILLO RUFINO GALAN MUSEUM

A private museum which has a memorabilia section, old chairs, anchors, silverware, beds of famous people locally. There is an industrial archaeology section on how lights, axes, stoves, sewing machines, typewriters have changed over time. They have a good collection of Garifuna handicrafts and the best collection of NE Honduras archaeological pieces  all unmarked. A written guide to the museum is available at the Trujillo Tourism Office in English and Spanish. The museum is open 8 to 4, closing for lunch. Adults Lps.  20, children Lps.  10. Located on Calle 18 de Mayo, next to the Crystales River and the famous "piscina" or pool, about a 15minute walk out of town.

ROATAN, THE BAY ISLANDS

CARAMBOLA BOTANICAL GARDENS

The private Carambola Botanical Gardens and Nature Trails is located in Sandy Bay, Roatan, Bay Islands. A wide variety of exotic plants is featured here, including "Roatan's most extensive orchid collection. "It is open daily from 7 a. m.  to 5 p. m. For more information, call 4451117 and ask for Bill or Irma Brady.

BAY ISLANDS MUSEUM

A private museum at Anthony's Key Resort, Sandy Bay, Roatan, Bay Islands, it mostly includes archaeological pieces, but there is a small section on the modern Bay Islanders. Museum admission is included in the cost of the dolphin show at Anthony Key's Institute of Marine Sciences. Small buses or taxis will take you to Sandy Bay from most Roatan towns.

The Maya Calendar is a public service for our readers. If you would like to announce an event taking place in Honduras, please send the information to: Calendar Editor, Honduras This Week, Fax 2322300, email: hontweek@hondutel. hn

Through the eyes of diplomats
U.S. - Honduran diplomatic correspondence

By RAMÓN ROSA IZAGUIRRE

This column aims to bring to life Honduran history as reported by U.S. Diplomats assigned to Honduras during the last two centuries.

In this series, reports from the Military Intelligence Division (MID) at the end of World War I are highlighted.  This week's excerpt is the last of four, which, under the title of a report on the psychological profile of Central Americans, addresses the focus of future propaganda in the region. 

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR PROPAGANDA 

AMERICAN LEGATION
Office of the Military Attache
November 9, 1918

From: Military Attache at Tegucigalpa, Honduras

To: Chief, Military Intelligence Division, General Staff, Washington, D.C.

Subject: Report on psychologic conditions in Central America  

Enclosed herewith is a report on the psychologic conditions in Central America, as analyzed and compiled after observation of the present situation in Central America by the Military Attache.  

Douglas Macduff,
Captain, Inf., U.S.A.,  
Military Attache to Central America  

__________

(Continuation)

If it is desired that Central Americans, that is the thinking, formulators of public opinion and policy (though by far in the minority numerically compared with the total population) -– be brought to realize that the United States is not a militaristic people, it is opined that this cannot be accomplished satisfactorily by asseverations to that effect on the printed page, no matter how cleverly camouflaged. Such a course produces in the Central American reader a mild academic interest, perhaps often a resentment of the insinuation. But present the same thing to him on the screen or stage and he receives a vivid, often indelible impression because of the visualization. He is thus enabled to develop actual conclusions. This is suggested in view of the impracticability of the superlatively desirable physical mingling in travel and study, as witness the intervisitation of business men of the various Latin American countries and the tour of the Mexican editors in the United States. It is obvious that the masses can be reached only by taking to them in visualized form the impressions it is desired they shall receive and continue to entertain us.

For propaganda work, during the war and after, the opinion is expressed that that means which will visualize the impressions it is desired to produce, will be the means par excellence to attain the result hoped for.

The fundamental proposition seems to be this: - distrust, suspicion, jealousy even hatred exists in varying degrees towards us among our Central American neighbors. This is due to various causes all founded on ignorance and is fomented by various other causes such as enemy suggestion and propaganda, often the interpretations given of our own national policy, the capricious and often criminally inconsiderate and ignorant conduct of individuals in things social and commercial. This gulf founded on mutual ignorance and darkened by a stupid and entirely avoidable indifference and unwillingness to learn and know each other, can be bridged only by the clearing up of this ignorance. It is not the purpose of this report to follow this second truism by a discussion of the various factors which will tend to secure this knowledge, such as on our part, for example, a knowledge of Spanish, of their customs, of their commercial, social and official usages, all of which are necessary and obvious accomplishments.

But the purpose of this report is to express the opinion that one efficacious way to eliminate the distrust and suspicion in which we are held by the peoples of Central America (however much we may desire to hide it), is to present to them in visualized form certain aspects of our national life in which there is nothing inherently military and which does not seek to impress them either directly or through insinuation with the power and might of the United Sates as a nation of arms. Pictures may be shown of the great industries, the automobile, cotton goods, canning, matches, pins, etc. etc. ad infinitum, of our educational institutions, the actual progress in education of a boy or girl from his tenderest years through to the conclusion of his scholastic training, of the need for sanitary and hygienic living with the presentation made in "before and after" form.  All explanatory matter should unquestionably be in simple Spanish, otherwise it is best to have none at all.  As the provincial Central American is vain and sensitive, envious comparisons between their countries and others should be avoided whether treating of national or personal characteristics.  The effects must be secured by suggestion and insinuation.

Just as in elementary arithmetic, for example, the child's interest is aroused and the problem is brought home to him by propounding simple questions touching objects with which he is daily familiar, so it is with the more or less untutored minds of the Central American masses.  For instance, in the "before and after" pictures, no matter of what subject, if both scenes could be actual vistas of the country wherein the film is to be displayed, the effect would be greater and the impression deeper and more lasting.  In other words to obtain the highest efficiency, the films should be made where they are to be displayed.

There are a thousand and one details of the general plan herein outlined which will occur to the professional and experienced psychologist and to the scenario writer but which it is inappropriate here to elaborate upon.  We must assist in educating these neighbors of ours about us while educating ourselves about them; we will have long to wait if we delay until they educate themselves.

(Readers' comments and requests are welcome, <ramon­_rosa@yahoo.com>. Source: U.S. National Archives.)  

Through the eyes of diplomats
U.S. - Honduran diplomatic correspondence

By RAMÓN ROSA IZAGUIRRE

This column aims to bring to life Honduran history as reported by U.S. Diplomats assigned to Honduras during the last two centuries.

In this series, reports from the Military Intelligence Division (MID) at the end of World War I are highlighted. This week's excerpt is the third of four, which, under the title of a report on the psychological profile of Central Americans, addresses conclusions reached by the Military Attache regarding the characteristics of Central American people.

If any reader should take offense at the some of the observations below, please remember, the opinions expressed are those of the Military Attache of 1918!

AMERICAN LEGATION

Office of the Military Attache 

November 9, 1918  

From: Military Attache at Tegucigalpa, Honduras

To:   Chief, Military Intelligence Division, General Staff, Washington, D.C.

Subject:  Report on psychologic conditions in Central America 

Enclosed herewith is a report on the psychologic conditions in Central America, as analyzed and compiled after observation of the present situation in Central America by the Military Attache.  

Douglas Macduff,

Captain, Inf., U.S.A.,

Military Attache to Central America 

__________

(Continuation)

It is ignorance which lies at the bottom of the anti-American feeling existent in Central America and which gives rise to jealousy, suspicion and fear.

The Central American is suspicious of foreigners because he is suspicious of his own kind; even as a member of the same political party, of the same Cabinet, even of the same household, there is scarcely any degree of confidence or trust; those with experience in Central America with opportunities for close observation in all strata of life, official and private, will support and vouch for this.  The Vice-President fears and distrusts the President; the Cabinet members take measures against the Executives and against each other; often members of the same family proceed against each other as their best interests dictate, not because of any concrete evidence of antagonism but because they are suspicious that there might be.  The suspicion, conceived in ignorance from time immemorial, is only an accentuation of the same characteristic among all races, but it is only among the generally ignorant, such as the peoples of Central America, that it attains the degree of a national characteristic.  The more ignorance of a subject or thing, the more suspicion of it there is. 

The Central American, as an entity, and in spite of many travelled and cultured men, are, of course more densely ignorant of us than of their own kind and hence our every move is regarded with suspicion.  We are presumed to be guilty until proven innocent.  What real enlightenment or knowledge of us has been obtained by travel, study and commercial intercourse (unfortunately not always of the happiest sort) amounts to a mere drop in the bucket.  There is no denying that only the densest ignorance prevails in Central America regarding us of the United States, our modes of thought and our standards. 

The great question as to the best means to overcome this ignorance is one difficult to answer.  It is evident that the actual physical, mental, moral and social intermingling of the races is the best means to this end, where the ideals of each may be assimilated by the other and the standards, modes of thought and of life of each may adapt and conform themselves to a common standard based upon mutual understanding and appreciation.  This is impracticable obviously from many points of view.  It remains then to seek the most efficacious substitutes for the bridging of the chasm of ignorance.

It is submitted that through commerce and moving pictures much good may be accomplished toward bringing about this happy desideratum.  The people of Central America, though anti-American, appreciate the need of our aid and friendship, as witness many almost pathetic appeals for help to the diplomatic officers of the United States from strong public men of those countries.

Furthermore, to the lay mind, it seems to be true that a great commercial struggle will come, with possibly England as our great competitor, not long after the conclusion of the war.  And with an eye to our commercial advantage, as well as to its efficacious aid in causing business interchange and diminishing the gulf of ignorance yawning before us, we must be prepared to fight our own fight and gain and hold our commercial prestige.

"The greater moral influence one nation has upon another, the more likely will it be that trade relations will flourish", and the more trade relations flourish the greater will be the moral influences of one upon the other.  And as a corollary, the greater will be the understanding between them and, pursued to its logical conclusion, the less will be the abyss of racial difference.

Ex-President Taft said: -"Trade is Peace", and so we must encourage and foment trade in order that the chances of a better understanding may exist between us and also that the opportunities for political disturbances may be lessened.  It is appreciated that in these countries, there is so little trade, both absolutely and relatively, perforce great numbers of able, intelligent, strong-willed men take to politics as a duck to water; so by its converse, the statement that "Trade is Peace" is exemplified.  For there is always a broad personal as well as political chasm between the two factions, and this, with the lack of the spirit of cooperation which is so characteristic of the Latin American races, is one of the potent factors in placing them in the position most of them occupy among the powers of the world.

(To be continued.  Readers' comments and requests are welcome, <ramon­_rosa@yahoo.com>. Source: U.S. National Archives.)  

Through the eyes of diplomats
U.S. - Honduran diplomatic correspondence 

(To be continued.  Readers' comments and requests are welcome, <ramon­_rosa@yahoo.com>. Source: U.S. National Archives.)