OPINIONS & EDITORIAL

Monday, April 29,  2002 Online Edition 15

The world turns to self-interests in technological transition

By LORENZO DEE BELVEAL
Special to Honduras This Week

"Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. 
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me.
I lift my lamp beside the golden door."

These welcoming words were made an official part of the American legacy on October 15, 1924. This writer was six years of age at that point in time.

The total population of the United States in 1918 was 103, 208, 541. But population wasn't the defining social parameter. In 1918, the United States was an agricultural economy. Fledgling industries were springing to life, but 98% of all productive energy was produced by animal and human effort. Read: horses, mules and humans. Only 2% of the nation's productive energy was supplied from mechanical sources. Read: electricity, engines and related mechanical configurations.

With such overwhelming reliance on muscle-power - both human and animal - for the products and services required by the growing social family, small wonder that America invited the world to "give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses " America had a burgeoning need for more "hands", more muscles, more workmen - more, more, more! America welcomed immigrants from every corner of the earth, along with horses and mules from Panama, Central and South America. The needs seemed to be insatiable.

Now let's turn the clock up to 2002. In the period of some eight decades, the United States of America population has almost tripled. We are now a nation of 286,871,346 souls. The earlier need for more "hands" to staff rudimentary farm and factory functions has now given way to automation, robotics and mechanized production systems. Ranks of unskilled hand-laborer are increasingly becoming an idiosyncratic and un-economic oddity in the highly structured industrial complex. Machines and electronics simply do it better, faster, more economically - and safer!

But there is more. While the average U. S. daily wage eighty years ago was a dollar or two for a ten-hour day, the current wage scale hovers around five or six dollars an hour for "common" labor. Result: American hand labor is no longer cheap. Indeed, it's expensive damned expensive! And is clearly in oversupply in the American market, as witness the growing inability of workmen (and women) to find gainful employment within the limitations of their skills and, thus are reduced to depending on social programs, charitable inputs, etc., for their daily support.

"Consumerism" was the basic economic orthodoxy in the United States for 150 years. The growing number of families to house and mouths to feed provided an ever-larger propensity to consume, use and "disappear" the full range of fungible resources the nation had to offer. Even though the then-level of individual consumption was very modest by today's contemporary standards, a steadily growing national family was able to maintain a symbiotically positive balance between production and consumption in the general economy - with two or three brief, if uncomfortable periods of recession over a span of almost two centuries.

In the present frame of reference, however, private consumption at modest levels no longer fits the socio-economic paradigm. It is not enough that a household merely earn its monthly stipend - and consume it - in near-parallel time functions. This is the age - and the society of hyper-consumption.

`It has taken us the equivalent of a human lifetime to do it, but we -as a society - have finally institutionalized the excesses that economist Thorstein B. Veblen named "conspicuous consumption" in his 1899 "Theory of the Leisure Class" publication. We have obviously not just adopted the practice, we have endorsed it and claimed it as our own by right of earned entitlement. We are a nation of excessive consumers!

The exemplary economic citizen no longer contents him/herself with mere meals, housing, clothes and a school for the kids. The much-celebrated American consumer, who is the paradigm for the entire world, "needs" a boggling array of equipment, personal indulgences, luxury items, entertainment and social amenities. In addition to consuming the lion's share of the world's energy output, we do most of the world's traveling, consume most of its medical resources, occupy most of its schoolrooms and publish/read most of its books! We find ourselves "needing" two or three cars, multiple houses and psycho-somatic "comforts" almost too numerous - and too functionally ostentatious to comfortably enumerate.

The essential thrust of this litany is for the purpose of underscoring the obvious fact that lots more unskilled, uneducated, ill-adapted immigrants no longer constitutes a benefit to the world's most sophisticated society and only global super-power. The playing field has changed and dramatically so. The useful roles that these 'imports' once filled has been preempted by new machines, new systems, "smart" electronics and technological "bridging" in the production processes. The generic term that applies is "progressive obsolescence". And not just to a work classification, to an entire labor stratum.

Now the word must go out that before you undertake to 
"Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, " that they are going to have to be educated, trained, conditioned and outfitted to take their places in productive functions within the most advanced industrial complex the world has even known up to now.

Subsistence functions no longer suffice. In fact the under-trained "lift-and-carry" types constitute a debilitating handicap on the dynamic economic body. This is the unarguable reality. The evidence is clear that the U. K., China, Japan, Taiwan, Canada, and some selected nations in the European Union - and elsewhere - already understand this new paradigm for international motility. The others will simply have to learn it. In the meantime, the immigration fences will prove to be ever more difficult to breach for the ill-equipped.

This is a harsh message that now falls on the largely unskilled and unschooled world, but it constitutes the new socio-economic imperative. Yet it has one cardinal quality to commend it: It squares absolutely with the settled thinking of the pragmatic world that exists - for good or evil - in the wake of September 11, 2001.

A new, infinitely more demanding reality arrived in the ghostly clouds of debris that became the vestigial remains of the World Trade Towers:
That single infamous act created of this disparate world, a comprehensive, inclusive, coherent totality. Insularism and national segregation can no longer exist, either as a geopolitical dogma or as sovereign practice. The global competitive confrontation stands eyeball-to-eyeball across the full scope of our planet, across a chasm defined by economic stratification, religions, sociology, ethnology and existential strictures. For better or worse, the Western world now enjoys an obviously significant - if tenuous - tactical/technological advantage. 

This "edge" will not - must not - be surrendered easily or for small reasons.  To lose our "edge" risks losing everything!

Prudence and self-interest must demand that this advantage be protected and augmented to whatever extent potentials permit. There is no room for compromise with this verity.

Survival, being the first law of nature, this writer sees no glimmer of opportunity for a different decision than the one(s) that favor our survival; egocentric and self-serving as they may appear to the view of those presently outside the charmed circle.

Bravo, bravo, bravo to our new President

Dear HTW:

I was overjoyed to read our new President is taking concrete steps to wipe out crime in this beautiful country. With tourism being one of Honduras' main sources of income, it is imperative that we assure our visitors safety from local thugs as well as the vultures in office or uniform. I have seen numbers of tourists over the year's leave in disgust because they got ripped of by corrupt officials, robbed or worse. That must stop! The revolting part of the extreme lukewarm and complacent reaction of our so-called officials and local population in general. I come from Austria, a country known for its cleanliness and hospitality and big tourist industry.

Have traveled all over the Mediterranean and later the U.S. and Canada as a ski pro, I have never experienced conditions like here. If Honduras wants to prosper in tourism it really needs to clean up its act in every aspect! We need to learn to listen and cater to our guests if we want to prosper in tourism.

We badly need a special trained tourist police on the Islands and other tourist designations. Also tourist information offices, more competition among the airlines, prices are too high. Hotel and restaurant staffs need to be trained better. Service is still poor in a lot of areas. The general population needs to get involved in the zero crime tolerance programs as well as the garbage problem. One man can't do it all! Everybody must do their share in making Honduras the tourist destination it could be and should be!

I can see tremendous potential for everybody who wants to better themselves. Instead of everybody wanting to go to the U.S., lets make Honduras a better place where our visitors are safe and happy. May God bless the President.

Gunter Kordovsky
Utila

   

The right to strike, an unlimited right 

Our country suffers from demagogical benefits that are harmful to our reality. One of them: strikes, which are nothing but destructive behavior that leads nowhere. 

While the world faces a violent crisis and the Church is falling apart, Hondurans remain indifferent to the latest happenings.

Honduras lives in a war economy, but we never take the precaution to build up reserves, and any existing is already compromised, and is therefore not really a reserve at all.
The evolution of the world's events is not history any more, and there are no signs of improvement for developing countries. If we speak of petroleum, the State is the largest beneficiary, as the price goes up for the rest of us.

Honduran businessmen have a heavy tax load. We haven't heard of any real, current and detailed study regarding the direct and indirect tax system. This load is the real reason of fiscal evasion in Honduras.The State is not ashamed of making businessmen pay more than once for the same product. 

When a basic right such as strikes, becomes an intolerable load for the country; it is imperative to find a way to adapt this right to THE necessity of survival in a highly competitive world.

We should be able to provide macro-economic solutions to solve specific solutions that reach intolerable levels. One example: The current situation with teachers who are losing prestige by failing to show any real interest in improving the national education system. Although it has never been considered a suspension of the Ministry if Education because of its inability to meet demands would be a valid alternative, not that it has ever been considered. 

A suspension would provide adequate conditions for having teachers voluntarily submit themselves to serious training sessions, and during which many of them would surely reveal their poor professional background.

A right is then sustainable, as long as national security is not in danger, as this is a non-negotiable matter.

There is an array of strikes that are about to burst and make the country shake. We are talking about teachers, coffee producers, the transportation sector, the Social Security Institute, small producers, unemployed members of the National Party, the agricultural sector, all of these, with their right to strike attain power.

The situation hasn't been well stated; benefits must emerge from a profile or a job description. Currently benefits evolve from labor woes, which are used as tools in each new contract or negotiation, without taking into account a healthy, economic balance between the two parts. 

As long as the boss is fine, the personnel can be fine; otherwise, both parts should cooperate.

We are tired of seeing so many enterprises go out of business, unable to cope with the labor and tax loads. There has got to be a way to provide relief to growing businesses. We need our private and public sectors to become stronger to face competitively much effectively. 

The government is not spontaneous. It's power is derived from the people and it is financed by the private sector. Therefore, the government has the obligation to offer optimum results. That is undeniable.

Violent strikes, road blocks, marches and what are known as "informative assemblies" during normal working hours and deliberately disrupting activities at the work place are actions that should implicate criminal, material and moral responsibilities.

In Honduras, labor rights were claimed in the year of 1954 during the historic banana strike that led to the creation of an unfair labor code for the parts involved. Forty-eight years after that strike took place; we are called to put the code on the national security table, in order to find practical ways we can all eat from.

It is nasty to see how the political parties are manipulating these labor vindications. Meanwhile, the country's future is to be analyzed within the world's macroeconomic context.

President Ricardo Maduro must work with a team of advisers willing to analyze the country's present and future under a real competitive and marketing oriented perspective; searching for the way to optimize our efforts and use national resources to the fullest. We must avoid submergence in miserable circumstances that will make us unnecessarily exhausted.
Honduras has limitations we are all obliged to respect. Economic crisis do not exclusively belong to businessmen, they belong to the country's working class as well.

Monday, April 22,  2002 Online Edition 14

HONDUTEL, into the frying pan

Various attempts have been made to privatize HONDUTEL, the national telephone company. It is reported that this company is the second most profitable in Central America. HONDUTEL employees have the most scandalous salaries in public administration. The cost of calling Honduras is almost twice that of any other Central American country. HONDUTEL is a pot of money financed through the sacrifice of the Honduran private sector. In years gone by the company benefited the military, today it is the state financing company.

HONDUTEL is the company politicians most desire to manage; there is no doubt that just the advertising expenditure is a gold mine. Politicians work there with the sole purpose of emptying the coffers. 

Until now, private enterprise has been unable to lower the costs imposed by HONDUTEL. There is no justification for this monopoly other than the accumulation of money. These prices also include paying the political debt of certain companies that are charged lower prices through favoritism.

HONDUTEL has almost 40 sources of income, most of which are paid for by the Honduran private sector. A few examples of these: the basic service charge for a business is Lps.100.00, when in many countries this fee is free; the cost of blocking calls to cell phones is Lps. 5.00 a month, we ask ourselves, "Who gave Hondutel the right to charge for this service? And "Why should we have to pay for this service every month, isn't one single payment enough?"; HONDUTEL is now charging interest payments, since when did it become a banking institution; the cost of blocking international calls is Lps. 10.00 a month; Changing the name of the owner of telephone number costs Lps. 200.00, however HONDUTEL can change your number with no warning for no cost or payment for damages; the cost of blocking conference calls is Lps. 5.00 a month; reconnection costs Lps. 10.00; every extension costs Lps. 25.00; telephone plants pay Lps. 50.00 a month; if you want private number, the cost is Lps. 15.00; reinstallation of telephone service is Lps. 200.00.

The state, by using HONDUTEL capital, deprives the company of the opportunity of reinvesting these funds to improve services rendered. "Has the office of price and monopoly control been founded yet?"

Thanks to the inefficiency of HONDUTEl, CELTEL, the cell phone company, has profited enormously and now covers it´s high demand by sacrificing quality. Both companies have accommodated each other like finger rings.

The price structure imposed by HONDUTEL is aimed a reducing the production capacity of our private enterprise, this sector pays for the broken plates without having eaten from them. In other countries, the same services are designed to promote as much traffic as possible. In Honduras, the design differs.

Strangely enough, the telephone company is shrouded in protectionism and sacrificed to pay the political debt. What politicians forget is that the political debt is not paid by HONDUTEL, but rather by the private sector each month.
The function of HONDUTEL is intimately related to the needs of private enterprise and the general public to communicate efficiently at a competitive price not subject to monopolies and favoring economic growth. 

The prices currently being charged by HONDUTEL are designed to stunt economic growth. When this company is sold, its buyers will include these juicy tariffs and more in their future profits.

EXHORBITANT COST OF TELEPHONE SERVICE

Dear HTW:

This was an excellent analysis and well thought out piece. Those of us who love the "good" Honduras always keep up the fight for the future and always hope for the best.

Although living in the States now, I spent considerable time and invested heavily in Honduras, opening a service business in SPS. Always faced with the myriad requirements under the law, I did my best to follow all laws and obligations as a business owner. That competitors of mine were able to circumvent the same requirements was only a small matter of discomfort. 

Today I received an ad in the mail for a long distance telephone service in Spanish. They splashed their low rates in the ad and a sampling is very interesting.

These are some of the cost per minute charges: Costa Rica .22; El Salvador .32; Guatemala .29; Columbia .16; Venezuela .28; and of course, since I am most interested in Honduras, the price? 42 cents. The highest in the list of 13 countries offered. Now, this may seem like a small amount of a difference but the cost to call Honduras is over 40% higher than El Salvador, almost 50% higher than to Guatemala, and almost 100% more expensive than Costa Rica.

Why? I called the company and they explained that their rates to every country is the same, it is the surcharge that the local country charges them for the use of the lines that makes for the difference in prices. So the road leads back to Hondutel, one of the most successful companies in all of Central America. If the profits they generated somehow went into the economy of Honduras (excluding the workers who fight for these political jobs) then perhaps there could be justification for these rates. But the sad truth is that the profits of Hondutel are generated by the people who can least afford the service, and benefit very very little for the high prices.

Is this 'new' news? No, from my days in SPS when it was told to me that if I wanted phone lines for my business I would have to 'see' someone for Lps. 1000 per line to the situation of paying for calls to Tunisia that showed up on my invoice and being told 'we will investigate and if we find they are not your calls we will reimburse you, however you must pay for them or we cut your service", some things don't change. Maduro is a fine man, he needs the courage to speak freely about the old abuses, and speak directly to the people for changes. In Honduras, the word "change" is equivalent to "revolution" and that word brings fear. Evolution has not worked; it is time for the President to be the bold leader that everyone hoped for,

Sincerely,
James Lakes
Via Internet

   

Letter from Honduras: Images of dogs and death

By NIGEL POTTER

(Last of two parts)

In Honduras unless it is the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral or Machete Showdown, it is not the custom to confront people over any problem, big or small, to talk things over. Neither is it in the culture to admit you are wrong or to say you are sorry - except when there is nothing to apologize for. Endless strategies are devised to avoid unpleasantness, to get round any difficulty, any thing but having to bring it out into the open and trying to find a solution.

Should I, I wondered, go to my neighbors and say calmly and diplomatically that their dog had killed our puppy and while that was a shame, what really worried me was she would get loose again and tear into a child and so they must get rid of her. Or should I say nothing and one fine night creep out of the house and fling the bitch a lump of juicy and poisoned meat? I was resolved on one of two things: she had to go or she had to die. I couldn't live with a mad dog so close to home and the children.

Some time later they and their mother joined me. They told me the puppy and disappeared but they had found him in some undergrowth where he had crawled to die. They carried his still warm body (eyes open; I was spared none of the graphic details) and laid out on the verandah. Cocky, his mother, who had left me and returned, had licked him all over and whined piteously and all the children, grown-ups too, had wept inconsolably. They had dug a grave and strewn flowers on it. Altogether it sounded a most un-Honduran scene, indeed, something more like straight out of Britain.

My wife and I pondered what to do. She favored my more civilized approach but was sure our neighbors would react aggressively and argue that our dog had bitten people. This is in fact, true but I said right now the problem was not our dog but theirs. I did not mean to justify Range but a couple of misplaced nips (for which we had made immediate reparations and taken measures to prevent from happening again) were nothing to an all-out murderous attack like Killer's. Indeed, I said, if I thought there was a possibility of my dog killing or seriously injuring a child I would the first to get rid of him. I hoped we could solve this amicably as I didn't fancy the idea of killing the brute. 

I did kill one of my dogs once but I took her faraway to do the dirty deed and this time I would have no such chance. Poisoned meat seemed the cleanest method and is certainly popular but there is always the possibility that the intended victim won't take the bait and someone else will. Shooting means you can keep a decent distance and do the job efficiently but make such a racket it could bring the owner out blazing away and you end up with a shoot-out there on the street. Machete-chopping and bludgeoning with a club have their advocates as methods though personally I would rather have a missile and not see the mess I had made. In the event, maybe I have nothing to worry about. When we spoke to the owner, he was, far from being aggressive, actually amenable and apologetic, agreeing to get rid of the dog. But then again, it maybe just another common strategy: agree with every word your opponent says, promise to take immediate action and then go on exactly as before and do absolutely nothing.

We shall see. Meanwhile, life goes on. A year or two ago young Felipe "embarrassed" a lassie (this delicate but routine way of describing making a woman pregnant in Spanish). She was underage, he just over. Her mother, furious, tried to haul him before the local judge so he fled to the big city. An order for his arrest went out but he has kept his head down doing odd jobs, occasionally creeping back to see his mum who has forked out the equivalent of three months pay to some shyster lawyer to get him off without so far any result (He's a reasonable man, he rips her off by installments). Still, her son has found his own solution. He has joined the police and not just your ordinary, regular, common police but the Cobras, the police elite. He has been training for the last few months and proudly invited us to his graduation in three weeks time before sneaking off into the night to visit mum. 

And my son prepares to live or die. I am going to get a gun, he ways, and shoot you. Bang, bang, you're dead (he's three). I was not amused. Where did he get this from? I remember when I was child, my brother and I desperately wanted toy guns but our mother refused to buy until a friend advised her to go ahead telling her if she didn't we'd just grow up and become obsessive and collect them. So we got our cap pistols and spent a lot of time shooting each other, dramatically clutching our chests and falling down dead. We here brought up on cowboys and Indians and cops and robbers, but guns had no reality. I never actually saw a real firearm until I went abroad for the first time as a student. (This, of course, has it dangers - I remember many years ago, a man, charged with capital murder shooting somebody who challenged him during a robbery, bewailing the fact that after he fired and his victim fell he was shocked he hadn't got up again as expected). However, here my wee son sees no telly or any westerns and has never seen a firearm in this house. The trouble is that here, of course, all the cowboys and some of the Indians and all the cops and robbers and quite a few others besides do have them and he see them everywhere all the time: revolvers, automatics, sub-machine guns, automatic rifles, shotguns, on buses, in the back of pick-ups, on the street. He obviously realizes they are not for decoration and no doubt their exact purpose has been carefully explained to him by his older brother (their sister, 5, shows no interest whatsoever). Please God he doesn't grow up and shoot anyone or get shot - or get by a dog.

George Harrison, Don Anselmo, Rupert. All Things Must Pass*. Hear Me Lord*. Rest in Peace.
*Titles from George Harrison's double album.

Nigel Potter is a U.K. expatriate living in Marcala, La Paz.

Monday, April 15,  2002 Online Edition 13

Steel veterans, a tin Congress

Julio Visquerra in a corner of his attractive home in La Ceiba.

Honduran history cannot be ignored. The years 1957 and 1969 were marked by huge confrontations with our neighbors, Nicaragua and El Salvador respectively, for different motives and with doubtful winners. The intervention of the Organization of American States was notorious; hostilities ceased. 

They headed the army that responded to the aggression, they did not think twice, but rather complied with their duty, they guided the rows of Hondurans patriots who willing defended the only freedom we have. The soldiers who actually abided from their trenches weren't many, seven thousand at the most. Approximately three thousand died in the line of duty. Many are registered in the lists; others became anonymous. Today, 2000 of these veteran soldiers are still alive. Most of them succumbed to the war of life, disenchanted. For these vets, returning to a normal life was a hard step to take. A person exposed to so much death finds serious obstacles in readapting, especially within a society that does not provide enough spirit to overcome the consequent deterioration of war. 

It is obvious that in countries where loving their children forms part of the culture, opportunities for veterans are many, to name a few: advanced studies; bonuses; pensions; medical, dental, and life insurance. They are even the preferred candidates for President.
In Honduras, the veterans of the 1957 and the 1969 conflicts submitted a bill to congress that would assign them a pension fund. This request was made 15 years ago, but has yet to be answered. Could it be congress is investigating which party, red or blue, these vets pertain to, or are they are just waiting for a few more of them to die?

Our former fighters did receive legal status from ex-president Rafael Leonardo Callejas. Decree number 20-91 ordained it, and was accompanied by a million Lempiras to cover the cost. However, this money was spent to purchase land for housing, and was not enough.

In El Salvador, vets were given approximately three thousand colons plus a piece of land and other benefits. Could it be Salvadoran soldiers are more valuable than ours?

A recount provided by a vet leader indicated that almost 122 were discharged last year. Today, there are even less veterans. Most veterans are over 50. The medal they carry for their service to the nation is symbolic, not metallic.

Today, the therapy employed by these men is personal recovery. Their job has always been related to social outreach, and includes: anti-smoking and alcoholism campaigns, aid to schools, basic products donations and others.

In other words, while the Honduran government left these men unprotected, they have found something productive to do in society, and they have defended and are still defending the country's modern enemies. 

We simply don't understand why have we turned our back on these good citizens? Why are they still abandoned? The Armed Forces are impotent in the face of such injustice. How are we going to request our youth to defend us if we do not give recognition to those who sacrificed their lives for us previously?

In Imperial Rome, they used to say: "Ave Cesar, those who will die greet you..." 

BRUCE HARRIS: TIRELESS CHAMPION OF CHILDREN'S RIGHTS 

Dear HTW:

Brian Tatarka's scurrilous, ad hominem attack on Bruce Harris and Casa Alianza cannot go unchallenged. I have known Mr. Harris and reported on the children's rights organization he represents since 1991. I have found both to be tireless champions of homeless children, both in New York, where Covenant House is headquartered, and in Central America and Mexico, where Casa Alianza shelters, rehabilitates and defends the legal rights of thousands of street children. 

Some facts are in order. Father Bruce Ritter, the former head of Covenant House was indeed involved in a scandal. That was many years ago. He has long since been replaced by Sister Mary, a woman of vision and high principles. To condemn an entire organization by association with its past is as base as it is disingenuous. 

Mr. Tatarka obscures other facts by conveniently omitting them. While he protests Bruce Harris' Costa Rica residence, he fails to mention that Mr. Harris first lived in Mexico then in Guatemala where he and his family became the target of countless death threats. He has since helped put away dozens of pedophiles, members of the national police and other state agents implicated in the assassination of street children. He has been at the forefront of an Isthmus-wide campaign to put out of business illegal adoption brokers and their attorneys. His undiluted activism and persistence in the fight for children's rights continue to earn him enemies. 

Another reason for taking residence in San Jose was, at the time, purely geo-strategic. Casa Alianza was also operating a shelter in Panama, now defunct. Costa Rica was deemed to be more or less equidistant from other operations in Nicaragua,Honduras and Guatemala. 

While taking issue with Casa Alianza's direct disbursements, Mr. Tatarka fails to mention that Unicef contributes less than 10 cents for every dollar it collects and that other organizations this writer has investigated, namely Save The Children and Christian Children's Fund, while contributing about as much as Unicef, have both been cited in widely publicized scandals for misappropriation of funds, mercenary executive salaries and other deceptions of public trust. 

Last, Bruce Harris, the recipient of several international humanitarian awards, clocks hundreds of thousands of air miles per year shuttling from shelter to shelter and attending world forums where he energetically lobbies on behalf of children. I would venture to guess that he can be found more often at 30,000 feet above sea level than at home in San Jose. 

W. E. Gutman 

Editor's note: W. E. Gutman is a veteran investigative reporter frequently on assignment in Central America. A former contributor to HTW, he currently lives in southern California.

EDITOR'S NOTE: A March 30 edition of HTW did not come out. Number 682 was published on March 23 and number 683 on April 6.

   

Letter from Honduras: Images of dogs and death

By NIGEL POTTER
Special to Honduras This Week

News came over the radio today that Jaws 'Arreeson, el famoso Beetle, had died. Nearer home the soul of Don Anselmo was set free and Rupert he puppy was savaged to death by an Alsation.

Just over a week ago Don Anselmo came home drunk and was about to collapse on the bed to sleep it off when his wife told him to take his dirty boots off first. He did so, lay back on the bed gave a gasp and died. The next day we buried him. However though we may have laid his body in the earth quite quickly his soul is not so easily dismissed. It has hung around the house and his old haunts for the last week. People are afraid to venture out alone into the dark in case they meet him though he is quite welcome at home which remains decorated with the flowers and wreaths that didn't depart with the coffin, and where a glass of water is always left for him in case his wanderings make him thirsty.

At 3 a.m. Ana, having returned at 11 from keeping the bereaved family company to snatch some sleep, is up again and comes into our room to wake up her sister. They got off to the house leaving me snug in bed with the kids. More prayers at his house and then a procession to the grave carrying the flowers that have remained at home. Another short ceremony is held in the dark at the cemetery so that hopefully Don Anselmo's soul, with such support from family and friends, now feels free and ready to walk the straight road to his new life.
And yesterday I set out well loaded, rucksack and two shopping bags with supplies for the wee house down in Limon. 

The dogs obviously felt the need for exercise and followed me: Ranger, large and rusty colored, whose father was an Alsation and whose mather must have been something like a Labrador, and given to me as a form of payment, Yakira, same color, quite large but short, stumpy legs, a pleasant bitch, and then Cocky, runty and rat-faced and her son Rupert, an increasingly handsome, perky fast-growing puppy, so fat she as to run half sideways to lessen wind resistance and so named after the famous British bear. 

Suddenly my heart gives a leap because out of the corner of my eye I see Killer (real name) an Alsation who I only have seen chained up now running loose.

You never see pure bred dogs here. Occasionally in the big city you might catch sight of an Alsation or Doberman guarding some rich family's house and once I came across three Springer Spaniels with two policemen on the north coast, waiting for a boat, that were trained drug-sniffers, courtesy of the British Embassy. So they are pretty rare and if you possess one, especially in a small village like the one where I live, you have obviously made it socially. 

Along with iron grille bars on your windows and wearing spectacles, pure bred dogs are a great symbol of prestige. It is not that may be unnecessary because, on the contrary, the maybe all badly needed to sharpen up one's eyesight and to protect house and home, it's practically no has them and so if you do you are announcing to the world you have arrived. Yet for all the prestige she may bring to her owners Killer doesn't have much of a life. She is permanently chained up. She barks furiously at every one who passes by and when Ranger trots by she goes berserk and rushes at him until suddenly yanked back and half-choked by a chain.

So when I saw Killer on the loose I got a fright. Still, I thought, if these two dogs are going to come to blows they owe each other a scrap and I was fairly confident mine could hold his own. But the Alsation hardly gave him a second look but suddenly with a savage ferocity that took my breath away, pounced on the puppy, knocked him over, took a couple of vicious bites at his stomach and tossed him in the air. 

I stood there transfixed, heavy bags in hand; it was all over so quickly, there was nothing I could do. And then whether Ranger came back to protect his wee pal or Killer launched herself on him I don't know, but suddenly the two were at it, no holds barred, nasty and vicious. Scenting blood, all the dogs on the block came running and placing their bets on Killer as being the victor or else helping a damsel bitch in distress fell on ranger. He went under them in a flurry of fur and snarling. Jesus, I thought, he'll never get out of this alive. Bags still in hand, I stood there helpless. Is there anything I can do, I wondered, which won't end in getting myself ripped to shreds? And if I drop my load and draw my machete and wade into the swirling, writhing frenzy is there any guarantee I won't end up chopping my own dog? No to both questions and so I kept on walking. He somehow got free, bounded after me, with the pack headed by Killer hot on his trail. 

He turned and went straight for her and again there was a blur of twisting bodies in a cloud of dust and then, just as suddenly, it was all over and Ranger trotted on, unconcerned, as if nothing had happened, followed by Cocky and Yakira, though no sign of Rupert. Rather than turn back and face that all over again, I plodded on away from the battleground. I met a young friend and scribbled a hasty note for him to take up to the house asking them to keep the kids off the street while Killer was running free and to bring the puppy, if still alive, down for treatment. 

I then discovered Ranger had a couple of nasty gashes, one of which she could lick and take care of himself and one by an eye out of his reach which I attended to. I was amazed there was nothing more but I was shaken by having been in the midst of a tornado of such furious aggression and angered and disturbed by the idea of "What if.." -What if that puppy had been my small son, or any child? Normally even fierce dogs recognize the very young of any species. Ranger, for instance, would just about tolerate the puppy helping himself to some of his food though quick to bare his fangs at any other of the dogs in the house who came near, and let him sleep on top of him. I reflected on what we should do.
(to be continued...)

Nigel Potter is a U.K. expatriate living in Marcala, La Paz.

Monday, April 8,  2002 Online Edition 12

Monterrey comes up short - Serendipity strikes again

By LORENZO DEE BELVEAL
Special to Honduras This Week

In reviewing the plethora of comments from attendees at the United Nations Conference for Financing Development, the lack of enthusiasm for results accomplished seems to have been contagious. Or to mix an ancient metaphor, "the mountain (Monterrey) labored mightily and brought forth a mouse."

Even Kofi Annan, who very raison d'etre is spelled OPTIMISM, was hard put to place a truly satisfied face on the five-day conclave that hosted a mix of 171 world leaders ostensibly bent on cutting dire poverty in half by the year 2015. (172 national leaders if we count Fidel Castro, who returned home to Cuba, on Thursday, citing political pressure to keep him out of George W. Bush's face.) Bush arrived on Friday, March 22.

The proceedings were clearly on 'hold' pending the arrival of the President of the United States. The other attendees were obviously waiting for the head of the world's only super-power to set a sterling example of sovereign beneficence, but Mr. Bush disappointed badly. While announcing a ten-billion-dollar increase in U. S. funds earmarked for global alms-giving, he quickly qualified this offer with the requirement that, to share in any part of the increased funds, potential beneficiaries would have to pre-qualify for it by opening trade channels, eradicating official corruption and installing fail-safe transparency arrangements. For many of the Conference attendees, the Bush offering turned out to be a classic "now you see it, now you don't" exercise.

Hence, the general feeling of disappointment among the alms-seekers in the throng.
But however far the get-together might have fallen short of its hopefully stated purpose, this reporter nonetheless found a good deal of interest in the week-long promenade.
For openers, the Monterrey meeting provided a showcase opportunity for George W. Bush to introduce the preeminent western hemispheric alignment of Canada, Mexico and the United States. The smiling faces of Prime Minister Jean Chre'tien, Presidente Vicente Fox and President George W. Bush, in the almost endless blaze of strobe lights, carried its own subliminal message to anyone who was paying attention. To-wit: This is the dominant western hemispheric alignment. We three, the U. S. A., Canada and Mexico run the store. We are the Board of hemispheric directors - and you shouldn't forget it.

But the demonstration didn't end there. On leaving Monterrey, the Presidential plane flew directly to Lima, Peru, where he reprised his Tex-Mex amity in a special showing for President Alejandro Toledo. He lavished praise on Sr. Toledo as an emblematic patriot, reformer and a new ray of hope for much-abused Peru at the hands of Alberto Fujimori, now languishing in self-imposed exile in Japan, while Peru seeks to extradite him and bring him to book.

It is worth noting that Mr. Bush gave Argentine pleas for some financial aid, only a few months ago, a distinctly cold shoulder. His careful selection of Peru, out of such a bouquet of choices seems to carry distinct messages - both positive and negative to our southern hemispheric neighbors.

First, I see this as an unmistakable sign that President Bush, The Younger, has decided to adopt a pro-active foreign policy. In the past, American presidents have largely been content to let historic inheritance determine their significant international alliances. In the past, major U.S. arrangements in South America have included Venezuela, Chile, Brazil and Argentina. The international ties were fashioned from oil and trade.
This is the first time Peru has been privileged to occupy such a heady position. It represents a distinctive break with former practice. 

Internationalists may well ponder what this change signals.

There is more.
On departing his jubilantly successful visit in Peru, Air Force One overflew much of South America and all of Central America, to put down in El Salvador. That was the briefest stop on the presidential itinerary - a mere six-hours. But, again this was not an afterthought. In the very short time available, Bush elevated President Francisco Flores to the apex of the Central American hierarchy. Again, this is a distinction that El Salvador has never previously enjoyed and - once more - it represents pro-active international politics. The offset it reflects carries an unmistakable degree of disadvantage for both Honduras and Costa Rica, the historic darlings of Washington politicians.

The word around Washington, D. C. this week, especially in the wake of the President's Latin America sojourn, recognizes a sea-change in United States geopolitical alliances. The September 11 event and its sequelae taught Americans and their political leadership a hard lesson. 

In the past, it has become the established practice to "win friends and influence people" with financial support at strategic points in time. Some critics of that tactic brazenly referred to the practice as "dollar diplomacy". Galling, even if accurate.

With the chips down, in the face of the September 11 attacks, it quickly became apparent that money no longer buys friends. Perhaps this was true long before, but reality hit home when the Bush administration set about to organize the coalition. 

Mr. Bush has now determined to take this hard lesson to heart and to alter the game-plan accordingly.

Now, as President Bush so clearly pointed out in Monterrey, supplicants for American aid dollars will have to come with some qualifying characteristics. Before getting the money, they are going to have to answer the question, "why are they entitled to this consideration?" In the eyes of this reporter and countless other observers of the international charity scene, the question is long overdue.

Perhaps, as has been suggested since Monterrey, this new pragmatism is sure to cost America some friends. Maybe so. Maybe no. The hard fact is that, at best, the "friends" lost will be fair-weather friends. They are the kind of short-term, quid-pro-quo friends that are more likely to get their benefactors into trouble in the clutch, rather than contribute to mutual strength and shared solutions.

This is a personal and very private view of the worth and accomplishments of the Monterrey Conference. Large considerations hinge on the decisions that were taken there, as well as those to come during succeeding days and weeks.

Only time will assign a reliable value to the meeting. But that it was valuable is beyond any glimmer of doubt.

Mr. Bruce Harris and Casa Alianza

Dear HTW: 

I am writing to you because I just read an article about 18 children and youths who died in Honduras last month in your on-line paper. Horribly sad and I understand that Honduras has a gang problem nowadays? Anyway I have some comments about Mr. Bruce Harris and Casa Alianza. 

I just think that you need to be careful with that individual. I have some problems with Mr. Harris and his organization Covenant House of New York City. You might find it interesting that Covenant House only spends some 60% of its donated funds on actual programs. If you go to the website www.give.org and you click on Covenant House you will see this information. You will also see that, in essence, the head of Covenant House, receives a salary of some $230,000 a year. It says it goes to her order of nuns but still $230,000 and 40% does not go directly to street children? 

You might also like to know that the founder of Covenant House was defrocked in the early 90's over a sexual abuse homosexual scandal. There were also problems with Casa/Alianza in Guatemala although this was pre-Bruce Harris. The Tegucigalpa home was partially built with a grant from U.S. Tobacco and I know this because I knew the first directors of the Tegucigalpa shelter. 

I also would invite you to visit the Casa Alianza website if you have not already done so? I read on that site a few months ago that Guatemala's government was ordered to pay some $175,000 or so to the families of some kids who were killed in Guatemala City.
Checking the website yesterday, Casa Alianza says it is now $500,000? How did the figure get inflated? 

As a "not for profit" organization, I have asked Mr. Harris to disclose his Covenant House salary? He says that that information is "between himself and his employer'! I find this interesting that he will not disclose his salary yet he seems to always be on a crusade of attack and criticism of government officials in Central America? 

Finally, if you wish to help street children in Central America, why do you live in Costa Rica? Mr. Harris was attacking Costa Rican officials a while back about teenage prostitution in San Jose yet Casa Alianza has no shelter or programs for these victims in San Jose or Costa Rica from what I can see? So why does Bruce Harris and Covenant House operate out of Costa Rica while there is so much more poverty and homelessness in Honduras, Nicaragua, and El Salvador? Doesn't make much sense to me other than the fact that the Inter American court is there in San Jose and hey, it is a lot nicer to live in Costa Rica than any other Central American nation? 

Please try and read a book called "Broken Covenant" written by one Charles M. Sennot. Interesting reading about the founder of Covenant House/Casa Alianza. 

Brian Tatarka
Via Internet

   

Honduran private enterprise - let's place trust in our own

The heaviest load imposed on Honduran businesses comes from the State. Private enterprise in our country has good intentions, these, unfortunately, do not generate sufficient earnings to support themselves and progress.

One of the concepts of State is the redistribution of the wealth of a country. Only poverty is distributed in Honduras. Private enterprise needs to be freed from an outdated economic scheme in which is the only enterprise is the slow destruction of the only home we have. We need to change that attitude today and confide in ourselves more than ever.

Recent events in Argentina, a Latin American economy that can be simply explained: there is no tradition of production. Latin America is not the leader of any market. There is no teamwork. Everyone wants to be leaders and Presidents of Latin America. Resources in Latin America are seriously compromised. Transnational companies by means of neo-liberal politics market economies and economic globalization recovered franchises. We were never rich. Services are getting scarce and have never been replaced. We live off debt, and solutions not signed by Harvard are not considered valid.

We in Latin American work as if we are in Liliput, the country of dwarfs, where projects executed get smaller every day.

While Europeans built their roads over two thousand years ago, we, on the other hand, first seek foreign aid, then begin to clear the path through the mountain.

The fact is, Argentina fell because the country did not believe in its own production. To explain this phenomenon, we have only to quote famous economists, "Why should we support internal production, we can get a better quality product at half the price from China." With the resurgence of this idea, Argentina's cash flow began its decline.

No successful economies rise from poverty. If you call Mexico a developed country, it is because you do not know Mexico on the inside. Mexico has a glass roof, but the surprising factor is discipline, a country where everyone bends over backwards to work. 

Economic events in Latin America can be compared to the experience of a soldier, whom only covers his head with a helmet, leaving the rest of his body exposed; although it is an atomic bomb that always falls.

Mass production of third world countries is derived simply from a reign of greed that provides solutions that benefit but a few.

The depressed economy in which we live has a few modest solutions: export retentions, increased exports; stimulus of small and medium sized business; a permanent search for new markets, use of surpluses as a method of maintaining production levels; reduction of passive labor costs; strengthening of the Social Security Institute; creation and increase of the gold reserve; double efforts towards use and ownership of water sources; intensify forest conservation; reorientation of the national education system towards improving the quality of life and the future of the country; restructuring of the tourism industry and lowering the cost of this sector; adequate education of future government representatives; provision of technological information to all sectors; organization and management of surpluses; and the creation of leagues and associations that tend to group production sectors and stimulate each one.

Despite all of the above, a Mexican slogan catches our attention the most: trust. This message should work in our country as well. We have to be alert to our production and demand better quality continuously. In this manner we will benefit our foreign clients and ourselves as well. The fastest road to success is support of our own.

Monday, March 18,  2002 Online Edition 10

Hello : Who's calling?

Many of us are familiar with this line when speaking with a secretary or phone operator of a local business or government institution. Upon presenting one’s name these operators behave as though we are making a personal call but we are in fact calling a business where they should identify themselves. This is fundamental.

But this matter runs much deeper. It may well be that a personal business will deteriorate from these little white lies. This is to say that considering that the executive has asked the employee to provide less than the truth there can be no doubt that this mentality will spread to the rest of personnel. 

Briefly, I'm sure we have all encountered various distasteful situations within public and private business and to cite these acts I will mention the following:

With whom am I speaking, and may I ask the reason for your call? This is the most clear and distinct matter of stating the question.
He/she would like to know the reason for the call. This position, according to W. Gutman, is a position made only by socialist countries, which is not valid for Honduras.

He/she is in a meeting. This expression comes from a conniving person whose either recently arrived to the scene or finds themselves confused.

At this moment he/she is busy, can they call you tomorrow? This expression is often used when the secretaries find themselves running thin of excuses.

Please call back later, he/she is on a very important phone call. This excuse is most difficult to swallow. Without a doubt you've called in order to finalize matters and at that moment there should be no phone call more important than yours.
Let me check and see if they are in. This is the excuse used by the blind secretary who did not see the boss pass in front of her although they greeted one another with a hug and a kiss.

He/she is with someone at the moment. This is another abhorrent technique that means that you are not important enough to interrupt the meeting.

He/she is with the Head Manager. This statement also indicates the absolute refusal to attend to your needs.

If one is curious one will immediately notice that all executives seem to have a circle of friends in high places. Because when you call they always seem to be busy with the President himself or his cabinet members.

The President has called on him/her. This statement may well be true as the individual whom you are calling has been trying to meet with him for days and they won't, coincidentally, take his calls.

He/she is attending to an international call. At this moment is when you begin to realize the astronomical profits that HONDUTEL enjoys.

At this moment they cannot take your call. This statement is the most sincere of them all and in effect one must appreciate the honesty.

And in general, in all of these situations the secretary has asked to take your phone number because , you are told, they will promptly return your call, which is a rare occurrence. Additionally, there is little consideration taken in regards to the cost of each call made.
In this case we have a Honduran who does not think of the future and who is stubborn and hostile in the work environment and makes those around him lie on his/her behalf.

But, why else does this particular executive choose to dodge phone calls? For one of the following reasons: This individual is not capable of making decision and applies this tactic of avoidance to bide time. They believe that they are being asked to hand out money to a child born by another man. They are speaking with their wife who did not sleep at home last night. They are falling asleep. They are in love with the secretary. They think it is a bill- collector calling. They have a hangover. They are afraid to answer the call. The boss is detaining them for being inefficient and irresponsible. A beautiful saleswoman distracts them. They are reading the paper or working on the crossword puzzle. Exceptions might include: A best-case scenario where they are busy with clients and cannot honestly attend to your call. Or they find themselves too busy to take the call. 

Without a doubt, only this kind of person could ignore the damages which they inflicting on the business's image. 

Some of these occurrences have given this country the reputation of corruption. In moments such as these, international functionaries have good reason to believe that those whom they are calling are hiding and attempting to avoid responsibility.

The situation is not an easy one. But if we consider the future of this country we must act or it will surely worsen. A Mexican merchant in Guatemala City recently expressed that, " the markets are ripe at this moment". 

Do not teach your personnel to lie on anyone's behalf and particularly for yours. It is clear that we must act and correct these mistakes now keeping in mind that if the boss lies the business carries that image. There are no white lies.
In order to improve the state of this country we must exact precision and purity in what we say. This is one way to combat delinquency. This also forms part of the plan for " Zero Tolerance".

Optimism is a better choice

Dear HTW:

I sympathize with the views of W. E. Gutman and A. Wilson in response to Lorenzo Dee Belveal's article, "Seeking Favors With Empty Hands (HTW, March 2, 2002). I too am tired and frustrated at seeing Honduras in the seemingly never-ending role of beggar nation. It is one of my greatest hopes that I will live long enough to see my native country transformed... strong, confident, and self-reliant. We have a long way to go, but I believe we have to remain optimistic and keep trying. We have no choice, really. 

It is easy to criticize Honduras and focus constantly on the negative. There is a tendency for Hondurans to do this themselves, so it is no wonder that North Americans occasionally opt to join the party. Perhaps it's just human nature to be negative... you know, "seeing the glass half empty, rather than half full". Unfortunately, Honduras does not have the luxury of adhering to this limited human trait. The country is too poor and too many people are suffering. We have to begin to think, talk, and act more creatively and more positively than that to which we are accustomed. If not, I fear Honduras will be in the same situation 20, 40, 100 years from now... an endless cycle of bad times and less bad times. We know what the problems are. That's old news. Let's get to work.

Specifically, with respect to A. Wilson's view that the Bush Administration should not do Honduras any favors by continuing to host undocumented Hondurans in the US, again I say that I sympathize. Why indeed should Hondurans who have crossed into the US illegally be rewarded? Why should the US be so generous, particularly in light of all the money it has selflessly given to Honduras?
The answer is simply... "It is not a matter of generosity, kindness, or even pity. It's just sensible policy."

Anyone can see that it is too impractical and expensive for the US Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) to round up and deport every single undocumented Honduran in the US. The INS has the capability to send dozens of Honduran nationals back to Honduras every month. I doubt seriously that the agency has the resources to deport tens of thousands of Hondurans, especially now that it is concentrating so much on rooting out potential terrorists from the Middle East and Central Asia. Nor do mass deportations make sense from the standpoint of foreign policy. It does not serve US interests in Central America to have a Honduras destabilized by having to integrate roughly 100,000 people back into its society. Whether it's right or wrong, the fact is that the US is infinitely better able to absorb these individuals than is Honduras. Oh yes and by the way, those 100,000 returning Hondurans would also no longer be sending money to their families in Honduras. That would eliminate a huge chunk of the estimated $700 million in cash and checks that is pumped into the Honduran economy annually by Honduran communities in cities like New York, Miami, New Orleans, Houston, Los Angeles, and Washington, DC. Note that this is now Honduras' biggest industry. Revenue generated by Honduras' maquiladora, tourism, coffee, banana, shrimp, lumber, or cigar industries pale in comparison.

I submit to everyone who is tired of seeing foreign aid to Honduras mismanaged that the best kind of assistance the US can provide is to accommodate Honduran immigrants as much as possible. Legal arguments aside, these people are putting funds directly into the hands of Hondurans who need it the most--Hondurans who otherwise would never realize any benefit from the hundreds of millions of dollars in assistance the US doles out.

Marco Caceres
Vía Internet

   

Accidental place of birth, Honduras

By JORGE AGURCIA FASQUELLE
Special to Honduras This Week

In Mr. Marco Caceres' column, Honduran Lobbyist 101, I once read an article about a gentleman that was being nominated by President George W. Bush to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. 

The man's name is Miguel Estrada. He has the distinction of having graduated Magna Cum Laude from Harvard's Law School, and the peculiarity of having been born in Honduras. The article also mentioned Dr. Salvador Moncada, a scientist, also born in Honduras.
Lately our journalists and opinion leaders have begun celebrating early -- by pointing to these great men. Such lack of austerity is nothing new hereabouts, and is far from surprising.

Admissibly, Mr. Estrada and Dr. Moncada's achievements are world class. It is not hard to admire these men, but I would still be most careful about classifying them under the heading of "Hondurans." I don't mean to detract from Mr. Cáceres' excellent essay or from these men's triumphs: high achievers can be born in Honduras, and there is no harm in deriving a little hope from that... in the absence of anything more substantial. 

Ironically, Mr. Cáceres also mentions Jack Kennedy in his article. Therefore, I suppose that at some point he must have also read words to the effect of: "Ask not what your country can do for you..." 

So let's not mince words. I would prefer to think of such a time when brilliant souls like Messrs. Estrada and Moncada, and others like them, will feel more compelled to apply their skills towards cultivating a modicum of patriotism in their country, in the hope of someday harvesting a real and lasting sense of pride; as it stands, their prominence merely enables so many balmy journalists, who would have us all believe that this is something more than a mere accident regarding place of birth. 

Monday, March 11,  2002 Online Edition 9

Three independent powers

Despite separate ballots cast during elections and the Honduran Constitution, the three powers of the State are being adjusted to fit one standard. 

The current government is trying to take steps towards unifying these three powers under one person. A regime of mistrust is being installed that instead of fomenting democratic growth, demonstrates that the party in power is trying to claim the Honduran State as its own.

Contrarily, the former government conducted by Carlos Flores, allowed the autonomy of the three State powers to flourish. Unifying such powers is dangerous, and can lead to a tyrannous, despotic government system. 

In order to talk about this issue, we must point out our neutral position in terms of national politics.

We know of many people who rejoice over their party’s victory. In all consciousness, we would be extremely concerned about a gigantic work load, tight finances and abundant illiteracy.

Nationalist politicians did not win much, on the contrary, they have gained a tremendous responsibility. This in not a football game, this is the entire national and international social organization of the individual, collective and national interests.

National interests are totally parallel to party interests. Powers must be respected in an horizontal line and their technical teams must be in permanent communication.

We know of the administrative school where most of the country’s current directors come from. We know of their democratic drive. However, just a few days after they have taken office, we must remind them that they have to coexist with those Hondurans who did not win the elections. Peace and zero conflicts with the other Honduras can make a great difference, and it means loving the Catracho family.

Massive government layoffs are always painful for everyone and need to be legally regulated. The private sector can not keep on paying for the politicians’ passion of firing employees out of pure revenge. Private enterprise shouldn’t have to absorb the cost of government severance payments. This habit must stopped immediately. If there is so much need for so-called “trusted personnel,” let the political parties make the severance payments, then they can hire anybody they want.

Honduras has taken tremendous steps towards acquiring self-esteem and embracing democracy. The political parties must fight for keeping the peace won after so many years, and we all should rejoice over that. 

Tagore used to say: If you cry because you see sun come down, tears won’t let you see the stars...

The independence of the three powers must be a strict issue. But, maybe, it is too premature to point out all of the above, and we are only expressing our thoughts out loud...let’s hope that’s the case. 

   

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THE EMPTY HANDS OF BEGGARY 

Dear HTW:

Lorenzo Dee Belveal (“Seeking Favors With Empty Hands”) articulates with clarity and grace a concern that others, including myself, view with less indulgence — namely the debtor nations’ obligation to account for millions of dollars in foreign aid, disaster relief and debt forgiveness. Instead, they continue to extend the hand of beggary with a frivolity that borders on insolence. 

Razed to the ground during WWII, Germany picked itself up and rebuilt a nation that ultimately became Europe’s economic powerhouse. U.S. aid was wisely put to use but it was German intellect, ingenuity, muscle and sheer will that made the difference. 
Evidently, some countries have none of these essential virtues. Many suffer from acute fiscal ineptitude, a colossal lack of integrity — or both. 

It is therefore not surprising that groups throughout the U.S. are now lobbying their elected representatives in Washington to draft legislation prohibiting the disbursement of a single additional penny in aid to nations that cannot or will not offer a transparent, itemized tabulation of the alms they receive. 

Chances that such laws will be enacted at this time are remote but I for one am tired of seeing even a fraction of my taxes go to fat-cat oligarchs and special interest groups while infrastructures continue to crumble, large tracts of tropical forest are surrendered to Japanese lumber speculators, indigenous peoples suffer persecution and increasingly larger groups of children go hungry. 

W. E. Gutman 
Lancaster, CA


HONDURAN JUSTICE SYSTEM A FARCE

Dear HTW:

Regarding the article in the March 4, 2002 issue of HTW, by Mr. Dee Belveal, I am in complete agreement with him.

Why should we harbor illegal Hondurans who contribute next to nothing in the way of any skills other than ordinary laborers? Would Honduras allow any of us, U.S. citizens and other foreigners, to remain in Honduras illegally? I should think not even if we were skilled professionals.

What happened to all the millions of “Yanqui dollars” given to Honduras as aid? How much of this went to the needs of “El Pueblo”? By what I have seen personally, not very much. The “fat cats” drive about in their Mercedes-Benz luxury cars while the poor peasants cannot afford an ox cart.

As far as seeking justice in Honduras, this is a farce. I have been trying for more than four years to get the Honduran authorities to bring to justice the murderers of my brother who was ambushed and murdered by terrorists in the Deportment of Olancho where AK-47 armed thugs roam about freely killing innocent victims. I have been stonewalled from the very beginning. I have petitioned my senators and congressmen to look at the monetary aid we have given and are still giving to a corrupt oligarchy and have asked them to go over this with a fine tooth comb. I have also asked them to deny any refuge to those illegal Hondurans. We have been too tolerant too long. Power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely, as one English statesman of old remarked.

A. Wilson
Via Internet

Monday, March 4,  2002 Online Edition 8

Seeking favors with empty hands

By LORENZO DEE BELVEAL
Special to HTW

A front-page story in the February 22 issue of the Honduran Spanish-language daily La Prensa carried a forlorn notice that, yet again, Honduras would petition The United States to extend the terms of the Temporary Protection Statute that has been affording sanctuary for a minimum of 600,000 illegal Hondurans since 1998.

The justification, as we have come to expect, will once more reach back in the files to resurrect Hurricane "Mitch" and, yet again, remind anyone who might have forgotten that that storm reportedly left 24,000 dead, injured and missing, along with two million homeless. Tragic as these numbers are, it's old news, as we say in the business. An even more pressing question that begs an answer, is what Honduras has accomplished in the intervening three year period, toward repairing the storm damage and restoring the nation to some semblance of reasonable function.

Even more crucial to the case for sustaining charitable inclinations toward Honduras, and its ongoing search for international largesse with which to cope with an apparently perennial need, where are the figures to explain what happened to the millions and millions of dollars, emergency food, medicine etc., etc., etc., that streamed into Honduras in the wake of "Mitch"? While it might be considered less than generous for donors to demand such accounting this long after the fact, it can surely not be considered too much to expect from the supposedly grateful beneficiaries to provide it.

There is more which needs to be considered in the general area of international reciprocity and plain good-neighborliness.

While Presidente Ricardo Maduro follows in the footsteps of a long line of his predecessors, in making his own inaugural pilgrimage to Washington in search of this particular indulgence, Honduras continues to turn a deaf ear to its northern neighbor's efforts to lay legal hands on international criminals who have long-outstanding scores to be settled. It might be reasonably asked, by what mental contortion does Honduras consider itself entitled to seek to impose on the charitable inclinations of the United States, while it continues to refuse to deliver indicted criminals in flight to U. S. jurisdiction - and this an established practice. To such an extent that Honduras has gained a well-deserved reputation as a safe-haven for criminals-in-flight from more law-abiding jurisdictions throughout the western hemisphere.

A different area of Honduran sovereign irresponsibility that deserves specific mention has to do with the judiciary. The United States gave Honduras several million dollars a few years ago, that was specifically earmarked for renovation of the corruption-riddled court system. This gift was received with effusive thanks and fulsome promises of the wondrous works the money would accomplish. An expectant populace still awaits the long overdue results. Except for having enlarged the Corte Suprema de Justicia to fifteen members, nothing else of note has been noticed. The question remains as to whether more justices is better.

A recent announcement from the newly-installed Maduro regime seems to hold out a promise of judicial reforms that involve such things as verbal trials (rather than the interminable "written" versions), accelerated court hearings and prompt disposition of petit infractions, among other things. Certainly these changes are long overdue and will be enthusiastically received by a long-suffering populace.

But prudence counsels a grain of salt to go along with the official assurances. Talk of procedural reformation has been a prominent feature of successive political administrations for as long as memory runs. A repeatedly disappointed citizenry is surely entitled to a large dollop of skepticism.

Promises for the future are, of course, laudable. But what of the judicially Disgraceful past? This reporter has seen no word concerning even the merest attempt to correct notorious miscarriages of justice sponsored and created by corrupt judges and venally conspiring lawyers. Judicial tradition consistently holds that the corpus of a nation's court system is the ultimate guardian of its own institutional honor. This obligation for self-monitoring imposes an inescapable obligation for ongoing oversight and prompt redress of judicial wrongs. The Honduras judiciary is blatantly remiss in this area.

In conformity with long-established practice, errant inferior court judges are occasionally removed for cause, when their judicial transgressions happen to attract too much public attention. But this is as far as it ever goes. Getting rid of a crooked judge is a step in the right direction, but this is a Pyrrhic gesture unless his improper rulings are reviewed and corrected. The Corte Suprema de Justicia seems firmly opposed to carrying institutional rectitude this far.

Old errors and miscarriages of justice are merely ignored. This cavalier procedure is a major contributor to the legal mare's nest that surrounds court records with respect to performance contracts and property documentation, especially.

Perhaps those distinguished barristers feel that seeking to rectify the judicial crimes that are the shameful bequest of generations of corrupt judges is beyond the newly seated incumbents' poor power to add or subtract. But until this quagmire of misfeasance is properly addressed, any conversation about "court reform" is an administrative snare and a public delusion. Until these legal absurdities are straightened, talk about attracting foreign investment and installing Title Insurance as ironclad tenancy protection is no more than wishful thinking.

These are some of the considerations that will interlace conversations along the Potomac, when the latest Honduras request is under consideration. In the civilized world of international relations, it is said, "To have a friend, you must be a friend". Honduras politicos seem to have forgotten this homily if, indeed, they ever knew it.

Bottom line: We should not be surprised if Washington's handling of the illegal Hondurans question falls far short of Don Ricardo's expectations - and farther still from the nation's understandably earnest hopes.

Yet Another Elephant

The Villeda Morales and Lopez Arellano administration authorized the establishment of the building known as the Hospital Escuela y Materno Infantil. 

Many have called it The White Elephant because of its overall cost and because of its operational cost. I prefer to call it the Blessed Elephant. This institution has prepared generations of medical personnel and it has been the birthplace of many outstanding Honduran citizens.

Guided by gallants, in the days when more was known about medicine than about financial affairs and many medications were made in the pharmacists' mortar, this venerable building is home to some of this country's most well respected medics. Medics who take on the responsibility of preparing the medics of the future and who do this with a highly limited educational system.

Located in the hillsides known as Juan A. Lainez, the city's natural lungs, this building has offered its structure and all of its capacities to its inhabitants. The buildings very existence now hangs by a thread. Meanwhile the need and demand for its use grows worrisome.

Its foundation is made of rubble instead of cement, which is to say that it is not designed to survive an earthquake of even the slightest magnitude. Overall, the building exhibits its signs of wear and exhaustion without relief.

The noisy and narrow streets of Tegucigalpa besiege the hospital. These days these same streets are adorned with cheap food vendors where smoke emanates from cramped kitchens whose principle clientele include patients and personnel of the imposing hospital.

These sidewalk jobs are filled with terror and tend to put the health of its clientele at great risk. Those that drive cars often choose to invade the sidewalks while the ambulances compete with the vendors for space. 

But we should make note that the hospital complex includes some very well designed spaces. For example, its emergency unit is the best in the entire country. This was a concept that was left by the formidable Dr. Laura Fox who collaborated and brought this concept to its fruition.

In relation to the equipment and resources available, it is not at all poor. However the maintenance, which this equipment requires, is lacking. 

Without a doubt, a few of its civil servants have passed through its hallways. Unfortunately, the intentions have not been sufficient and it has succumbed to clumsy and inefficient handiwork, as usual. 

The situation then is that the location of the hospital urgently needs to be reviewed. It is now necessary to plan a new building that will accommodate a new wing of the hospital specializing in tropical medicine.

The hospital is half-sealed and hardly seems sanitary though many argue that it never was. Constant nearby traffic and local industries produce immense quantities of carbon monoxide fumes and other noxious gases, which obviously pose high health risks to both patients and personnel.


A personal tribute to Mike Midence

I didn't learn of Mike Midence's death until February 14th when I walked into Metro Media and asked one of his employees where he was. But even before I asked, I sensed his absence, it was in the air somehow, and my question, "Is Mikey around?" had been answered internally even before I spoke. My heart and my deepest condolences go out to his family and close friends. He was, without question, one of the most inspirational, heroic, and admirable people I've know-a rare and special human being; a man whose keen intelligence, humor, spontaneity and good cheer were of epic dimension. 

His loss is, and will long be, enormous. 
Yet, having know Mikey, even as a friend, is a gift I carry with me with the utmost gratitude.

William Lewis
(Guillermo Yusacarán)