OPINIONS & EDITORIAL

Monday, February 25,  2002 Online Edition 7

Recipe for Elephant Soup

We’ve read much about the educational system in Honduras. In particular, concerning the failure of the current educational system. In response, I would like to give the following advice in recipe form.

We should strive to create an educational path whereby the most critical factor to consider is the individual. This is not at all simple. A successful educational system should involve a bit of induction of maternal methodology as well as science. 

But this is not to say that education should be based entirely on the previous. Every country and every small village has its own method, as it should be. 

There are Spanish language schools that have had success with the Spanish tongue because it grabs the students’ attention through cursing! 

At the university level the mode of expression and the method of educating is everyday a bit less didactic and more research based. 

But science is not cultivated by following a step-by-step methodology. The scientist becomes such through the thought process and this implies that there is no precise method of instruction for the future scientist. A scientist is created solely through comradery among other scientists. A great part of becoming a scientist requires sharing the world of science and bouncing ideas, theories and concepts from one inquiring mind to the other. 

In general terms, a scientist is a person that works with technology or science. This is to say it is not a part of those that emerge and ask the questions. Instead it involves those that provide answers and those that make abstract concepts available to the general public. 

To be intelligent is not to necessarily induct or deduce using the method of Descartes and others. To be intelligent resides in resolving the most difficult of problems in the least amount of time possible. These problem solvers are statistically successful in applying their formulas. 

As previously stated, the concept of the lab in our educational system is on the one hand maternal and on the other scientific. The matter at hand is methodological: to find a formula where the lab of the Honduran educational system functions and where it gives as a result variables that can be examined. We would hope that the products of our educational system satisfy, in part, the individual and in part, the society and its demand for labor. 

Our educational system needs goals and has reached its limitations. Its structure is erroneous, as it has neither head nor tail. The system itself is a chain in a series of errors. 

There is certainly the need to revise the system with science and patience. Education is one of the most dynamic entities that exist. Its connectedness is permanent and its dynamics are constant. 

The actual amount of time spent daily in school is short-lived. 

In the past when we went to school we went twice a day and Saturdays where included as part of the school’s curriculum.

It is not that we want to fill our country with executives because at the same time excellent technicians and craftsman are needed and appreciated. In reality one would like that we as Hondurans, easily and without conflict, recognize our appropriate paths where we are best suited to work. 

Here, then, is where the recipe for elephant soup lies. First step: Obtain a nice elephant. This recipe demonstrates that one must know how to follow directions; this is the most important point. 

One is free only when one is educated; in contrast, we are slaves to our own ignorance. 

Enron’s proposed windmill project for Honduras

By MARCO CACERES

Special to Honduras This Week

With all the talk about Texas-based Enron Corp. these days and the advent of Congressional hearings in Washington, DC, regarding the collapse of the company, I am reminded that the first time I ever heard of the name “Enron” was in an article about a business venture to establish a system of windmills in Honduras.

In early-1999, a subsidiary of Enron called Enron Wind Development Corp. came up with the wonderfully creative idea to help solve Honduras’ energy problem by building some 80 windmills in the mountains just south of Tegucigalpa.  When completed, the project would have had the capacity to generate a total of 2,148,390 kilowatts of electricity per hour.

Now, I’m not sure whether the stated capacity is a lot or a little relative to Honduras’ power requirements, but the important thing was the pure gutsiness and originality of the concept. For once, I thought, “here’s a sustainable and environmentally-friendly energy generation program that takes advantage of the fact that Honduras is 80% mountainous.”

What an aesthetically-pleasing site having windmills dot the Honduran countryside, kind of like our own little Holland in Central America. 

It may have even become a tourist draw.  Imagine having people come from all over the world to see the windmills of Honduras?  The marketing opportunities would be a tourism developer’s dream.

The price tag for the project was estimated at $70 million, which frankly appears a small investment given the potential diversity of benefits... ie, power, environmental, tourism.

I have repeatedly sought to find out more information about Enron’s plans for windmills in Honduras, but to no avail.  Everyone I’ve called or e-mailed at Enron has been clueless.  Whether or not this was a serious project to begin with or something related to Enron’s questionable accounting schemes, who knows. 

The deal is probably dead now, which is a shame.  The idea seems sound, even its primary backer is not.

   

Zero tolerance and the biological corridor

Dear HTW:

During a recent trip to the Patuca National Park, in the southeast of Olancho, I came across several locals with the same concern. It was something that neither they nor I were able to resolve. At the same time it seemed to me worthy of further investigation.

The question is this: If the new national government plans on applying the same “zero tolerance” towards crimes committed against the forest and jungle in which they live, as to those infractions that concern private property and personal safety? And whether or not they plan to augment social programs aimed at the empowerment of the countries poorest sector with the same intensity with which they are attempting to eradicate low crimes and misdemeanors? This is the point at which a catchy political slogan is forced to face the scrutiny of reality. 

Let there be no mistake, I am well aware that many of people that live within the national park boundaries share in the blame for the abused state that the park finds itself in. However, there is currently an incredibly strong force to empower these same people with the responsibility and capacity to protect these same forests. Many indigenous and ladinos alike have accepted and are trying to assimilate the simple fact that those areas are precious on a global scale and must be maintained in tact.

What they would like is for the new government to empower and facilitate the myriad governmental and non-governmental groups that have for many years fought to defend the integrity of Patuca National Park, Tawahka Asangni Biosphere Reserve, and the Rio Platano Reserve of Man Biosphere. 

Any input as to what the government’s plan is regarding this biological corridor would be appreciated.

G. Craig Keller
Via Internet



Crime editorial rings true

Dear HTW,

I agree with one statement in your Editorial: Honduras is bigger than crime!

President Maduro must now rise above that grievous personal loss, the death of his son, and pursue the war on crime with the aim of securing a peaceful life for all Hondurans of humble and “noble” origins.

As we Honduras say “las apariencias enganan” which loosely translates to “looks might deceive you”. It would be a shame to see that President Maduro’s underlings, ministers, police commissioners, or generals interpret the capture of those responsible for slaying the President’s son as the end of the war on Crime.

To close nothing more perfect than HTW quote on Jack Kennedy...”If a free society cannot help it’s many poor people, neither will it save a few rich people.” 

Eduardo A Sanchez
Via Internet

Monday, February 18,  2002 Online Edition 6

Safety, a hard reality we will achieve 

Ever since President Ricardo Maduro took office, he has taken great pains to establish a new security program throughout the country. His objective will relieve at least one of the burdens the Honduran people carry on their shoulders, an intolerable level of criminality. 

Crime has always formed part of the history of human beings. Easy ambitions have formed part of the nature of the soul since the beginning of time. But, as always, there is no perfect crime. 

In our country we have witnessed rates of delinquency rise without recourse. Shady lawyers have disgraced us by disturbing our peace and tranquility. A legal group capable of freeing the devil himself has manipulated a protectionist judicial system. 

Ricardo Maduro is not the first person to invest all his interest in national security. In the past, after witnessing policemen perish at the hands of criminals; other people have also lost their patience. We have, together with friends residing in other countries, in an attempt to raise the moral of the disheartened security force, obtained the donation of much needed equipment. Four years ago, we were able to acquire nearly seven million lempiras in police equipment for Honduras. 

Ricardo Maduro knows that the formula to attract venture capital is by offering investment as well as personal safety; after which comes the juridical security of investments, which we anticipate will be the new president's second big battle. Victory on these two fronts will produce a positive chain reaction. Security will attract investment. Investment will generate jobs. Jobs will create economic stability. 

For now, nothing can be assured, however offering the population some respect is quite a bit, and a good start. We do not think that President Maduro, with his knowledge and experience, is going to spend his term of office waging war on gang members and petty thieves. Maduro knows that Honduras´ fight is larger than crime. In general, Honduras wishes it's children no longer seek their fortunes elsewhere and a good Sunday dinner. Maduro´s security program has created goodwill. Even the opposition has granted him the benefit of the doubt. 

John F. Kennedy wisely stated, "If a free society cannot help it's many poor people, neither will it save a few rich people." 

We are society and we are all equal under the law. 
The delinquent has no right to break the law; and should be treated without consideration. The cost of delinquency to society is high, incarcerating criminals is not cheap, and therefore re-incidence should be avoided. 
Maduro must assure his program is long-term.



   

FTAA will bring prosperity

Dear HTW: 

The World Social Forum in Brazil was an important event, and those that protest WTO, IMF and World Economic Forum meetings often have important contributions to make. It's a shame that the press seems to focus on the violence or the rants of the misinformed. 

Peter Brewington criticizes globalization, free trade and NAFTA without being specific. Just how badly has NAFTA adversely affected the US economy? The low unemployment rates achieved and the high rate of growth of the Gross Domestic Product in the USA during the post-NAFTA years haven't been seen since the 60's. 

But what's important on the pages of Honduras This Week is the effect a free trade agreement would have on Honduras. According to the World Bank, Mexico's average annual GDP growth rate has increased since NAFTA and the unemployment rate has steadily decreased every year since the peso crisis as has the country's debt to GDP ratio. Honduras has its own problems of corruption, bureaucracy and crime that retard prosperity. Without addressing its internal problems, FTAA will probably have little or no benefit. Free trade is only one of the many spokes in a wheel that could take a country to prosperity.

Ralph Nelson
Via Internet 

EDITOR'S NOTE: Peter Brewington asked to respond to Mr. Nelson's note: Mr. Nelson's response points out the importance of carefully reviewing economic data, and checking the source of such information. He notes that Mexico's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has increased since the North American Free Trade Agreement. He might also point out that Mexico's exports to the USA more than doubled from 1994-2000. However, according to Mexican government statistics the real value of the minimum wage has dropped 18% and the salaries in the manufacturing sector have dropped over twenty percent. This at a time when productivity in the manufacturing sector increased 47%, suggesting that a rising tide of trade and productivity does not in fact lift all boats. The percentage of Mexican citizens living under the poverty line, according to the World Bank, increased from 50.98% to 58.40% from 1994-1998. These numbers are important for Honduras since of the three participants in NAFTA; the USA, Canada, and Mexico, the experience of Mexico will more likely reflect what Honduras can expect from participation in a similar trade agreement such as the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). Honduras clearly must address its problems with crime, corruption and excessive bureaucracy to improve the lives of Hondurans. But whether free trade, as represented in the FTAA, will propel Honduras to prosperity, this seems doubtful based on the experience of Mexico under NAFTA. All people interested in Honduras should read more about these issues, an informed citizenry is the best hope for a strong Honduras. These issues are too important to leave just to trade lawyers, lobbyists, politicians and businesspeople.

Monday, February 11,  2002 Online Edition 5

Press versus the Honduran justice system

The Inter-American Press Society's (SIP) Annual Report for 2001 reveals the participation of the Honduran justice system in affairs that pertain only to the Honduran people and their universal right of freedom of speech. The Honduran justice system, instead of administering justice, has taken seriously the task of running over the press, in any way possible to achieve a desired result. Twisting information or omitting information is not considered an offense; however, publishing inopportune information is punitive.

Of all the attributes human beings possess, the one I admire most is the freedom to attempt to use the most natural form of communication, speech, as an expression of any or all of their manifestations. In this context, we must cite Mariano Jose de Larra, who says: "No people are truly free if freedom does not form part of their customs and is identified with these customs." Exalting liberty as an ideal system of human coexistence.

Therefore, it seems to me that the Honduran justice system has a date with the national media. In our country, it is common that initial denouncements appear first in the media. Isn't this a source of information that enriches court cases? For the judge, counting on the media for information should not be the norm. We know this, however, news articles are a free source of background or reference material. Why then are judges so arrogant? What is the reason the justice system prefers silence to information? Arthur Miller asseverates, "A good newspaper is a nation talking to itself." With this phrase he credits the media with being able to fulfill it's function of interaction between a nation and it's social organizations.

It would appear that Honduran reporters are not respected. We have only to remember the words of an opportunist and politician "reporters should either be hit or paid (a los periodistas se les pega o se les paga)." This historical remark is engraved on the minds of Honduran intellectuals, members of the press, forever. The denouncement made against Honduras by the SIP, can be largely attributed to the Honduran justice system's obvious prejudice towards the national press. Examples of this intolerance can be appreciated by: a) judicial processes against journalists and the media have become routine, b) the justice system holds the law in it's hands, as in the case of National University employees attacking Radio America, c) Government representatives conspiring together to jail reporters, as in the case of reporter Modesto Acosta in Ocotepeque, after he accused state officials of corruption.

SIP denounces the incarceration of newsman Arnulfo Aguilar for revealing corruption within the justice system in the city of San Pedro Sula. He was indicted on allegations of wrongfully accusing someone of a criminal act. Aguilar's report involved drug traffickers; members of the "Atlantic Cartel" whom he alleges bribed judges on the San Pedro Court of Appeals, and walked free.

Without doubt, relations between these sectors are tense. The press is the only entity capable of denouncing serious occurrences, the expressions and the will of a nation. The value of the press has been depreciated, there is a real competition between publicity and the information provided by the press, this worries us. Journalists should never give up their information in favor of advertising revenue.


Letter from Honduras: A trip to Tegucigalpa

By NIGEL POTTER
Special to Honduras This Week

It was a long and frustrating journey back from Tegucigalpa. It is a city I generally try to avoid. It is the most polluted city in Central if not all Latin America with more than its fair share of violence. Only a change of diet, maybe a film and, very rarely, a concert and chance to stare at he hordes of beautiful and beautifully turned - out women make it bearable. But the occasional visit is inevitable. This time I had had to go to renew my residential status, a yearly chore, and renew my driving license as well as my "permiso" to carry a gun.

My wife was with me as she had to go to continue her endless battle with Honduran bureaucracy to claim the salary owed to her by the Ministry of Education. We use such visits to stock up too: some cheap Chilean plonk that tastes like the blood of Christ to us, a bit of fancy cheese, a gallon each of distilled water and pure alcohol, 10 lbs. of Vaseline and a couple hundred of small bottles to make medicine and flowers. It is one of life's strange little ironies that my wife who is a keen gardener can obtain flowers for planting much more cheaply in the smoky city than in the countryside where we live (equally Smokey at the moment as forest fires rage away without control).

The bus broke down. We got as far as La Paz and then spend three hours by the roadside trying to get a lift. The trouble was a lot of other passengers were stranded too and every time a pick-up stopped they had leapt in while we staggered after it burdened down with our loads. Lifts in Honduras are usually strictly business: you will rarely if ever be allowed inside the cabin but confined to the pick-up outside exposed to the suffocating dust of summer or the drenching rains of winter, paying for the privilege to help the driver with the petrol. So we were stranded until we took a taxi, piling our loads in once again (I can't count the times we loaded and unloaded those bloody cargos of ours) to go the half-mile to a small hotel. Nothing fancy, at least it had a bed with clean sheets, cold beer, and a water-tap and bog outside.

I was thankful to sink back on to the bed with a beer while my wife flicked through the Spanish versions of "Lord Jim," "Jane Eyre," and "The Call of the Wild." What I call great literature. Translations of "great literature" are hard to come by but the second-rate: Dickens, "The Old Man and the Sea," Jules Verne, and "Uncle Tom's Cabin" are much more accessible - is it easier to translate this stuff? (You can get Shakespeare but no Trollope, Thackeray or George Eliot, just sloppy, sentimental old Dickens). Perhaps that is the product of an ex-imperial power speaking. How easy is it even in the U.K. to obtain Marti, Neruda, Guillen, Lorca, Marquez and Cervantes? Certainly obtainable but not that easily and, as far as I know, Honduras' great novelist, Ramon Amaya Amador, is not available in English. So how strange it was to find the Beatles film, "A Hard Days Night," playing in Tegucigalpa. We had gone to see "Traffic," the American film on drug running. I had bought the tickets when my wife pointed out the poster for cinema number two. I looked hard at it uncomprehending and then it slowly dawned on me it translated as "A Hard Days Night." "A Hard Days Night" here in Tegucigalpa? Not possible, but it was. I was for a moment stunned. Memories of many years ago rushed over me - I saw the film when it first came out nearly 40 years ago, and then my wife tugged at my sleeve: "Let's change the tickets and go and see this, we can get a video of Traffic any time" - not quite true. so we saw the Beatles, before they "serious," at the height of their "Beatlemania" fame, their first, and by far their best film. It stands the test of time remarkably well, the music of course, the pace and the energy, the wit of the screenplay. My wife said she enjoyed it but I wondered what these black and white images of another world, another time, really meant to her, a Lenca Indian from Honduras.

Time is strange enough anyway anywhere. It is always said in Britain that a sign of getting older is when the policemen on the beat start seeming so young. I can't say that I noticed but when I went to my bank on this visit to Tegucigalpa I was suddenly struck by how young everyone working there was. Is this new policy? The bank has recently been taken over by another. All the ancient, graybeards have gone. As I looked at these youthful, unlined faces, even those of the supervisors, called to punch in a code or sort out a problem, none could have over 25. Even the heavily armed guards looked like schoolboys. Aging Europe, youthful Central America where half the population is under 15.

In Tegucigalpa, as elsewhere in Honduras, if you go into any shop you will more than likely be confronted by a bored, sulky, resentful, inwardly - raging shop girl. "What yer lookin' for then?" as she looks up from painting/manicuring her finger nails, irritation and anger written all over her pretty made-up and perfectly formed face. "Sorry and all that, please excuse my troubling you" or "Wipe that sulkily look off your face and get off your arse" might be two completely understandable reactions until you realize this beautiful and young lassie is totally at the mercy of Shylock in the corner by the till who pays her a slave wage. He or she barks out orders to fetch this'n' that, is there to collect the money and make sure said wee lassie doesn't pinch anything, rip off the customer or rather, him or herself. "Shylock" is both apt and unfortunate. The greaser at the till, heavy, fat and sweating, peering over glasses, counting out the money, conforms to the racist image of the Jew, but is nearly always Arab, usually of Lebanese descent. So how refreshing to find a young person serving me friendly and enthusiastic. The lad who fetches me my Vaseline, pure alcohol and distilled water and asks what kind of little empty bottles I am looking for couldn't be more helpful.

And when I go to renew my driving license a young policewoman whose beauty takes my breath away asks in a friendly way that I can bear to live in such an awful country like Honduras. I say that for all its faults, I quite like it. "Ah, it stinks" she says, "It really sucks." Well maybe," I reply, "I don't deny the problems but it's not heave on earth over there either. "And when I go to renew my "permiso" to carry a gun I am a worried man. It's such an unbelievable hassle to conform to all the endless red tape. Presumably this is to discourage people from carrying weapons but all it does is to encourage people to carry them illegally and they do in the thousands. I am worried because my renewal is months overdue. The ministry responsible for such renewals had in fact suspended them some months ago while it reorganized itself but then I was advised the suspension had ended and I should seek my new license.

The process seemed so complicated that I balked and put it off and off until I realized I would have to get rid of the weapon or get the license to stay legal. So I went to the police barracks in Tegucigalpa, ready to pay a fine (bribe or whatever to get over the mess and get done with the thing as quickly as possible). So it was a surprise and a pleasure to be confronted by a charming young policewoman who told me not to worry my pretty little head over such matters. No point in getting my knickers in such twist, she smiled at me, your information is incorrect. No such renewal of permission is being given still. The suspension is still in place, things are still being reorganized at the top. Just hang on to your original documents. I could have hugged her. So even standing, overloaded by the roadside for a lift that never came, or cooped up in a small, scruffy hotel, with these images before my eyes, and "A Hard Day's Night" pounding in my ears I don't let the frustration get to me but remained in fact quite happy.


   

Personal Experience: The Inauguration

By EVA BROOKS
Special Contribution to HTW

This experience - deeply moving, life affirming , awakening and reinforcing hope, possibilities, and realistic expectations touched each and every man, women and child - the thousands who attended. They came from every strata of society: the rich and poor; the highly educated and those barely so. They came to participate in these joyful proceedings of Ricardo Maduro Joest's inauguration as president of Honduras. A new era has begun for this country.

I felt this deeply as I sat way up on the benches of the huge oval, National Stadium (Estadio National) among friends from Roatan, who gently helped me climb up those formidable stone steps. While we sat watching the proceedings - and hoping it wouldn't rain eating candy, chips and crackers - a spirit of companionship evolved. We all clapped, cheered and waved our flags as groups from many nations marched to the sound of their national anthems towards the podium.

It seemed as though representatives of the entire world from Africa to the Caribbean - especially Cuba - from Europe and Asia and, of course, each of Honduras' neighbors from Central America .

Cheers from the audience reverberated to a crescendo as the huge Honduran flag surrounded by twelve people was carried not on a flag -pole but horizontally, around the long oval stretch. And - then Maduro entered protected by his friends and plain cloths men, the press rushed and pushed to reach and touch and photograph, but everything proceeded smoothly. The crowd went wild! Everyone stood, waved, applauded and tried to show their love over this long distance. I saw tears in people's eyes shyly wiped away. The Honduran National Anthem rang out as fighter jets crossed the arena and guns heralded in this new era. While Maduro addressed this huge audience a deadly silence hung over the thousands who listened. During this quiet interval I reflected, what brought me an elderly American - a Residente Pasionado - to this moment?

A little over a year ago, Nov 18/25, to be exact, I read Blanca Maduro's two-part interview with the then not even registered presidential candidate in Honduras This Week and instantly recognized Maduro's wisdom and strength. I felt that this candidate had not only diagnosed the vexing problems that beset this nation, but also offered realistic, workable solutions. I became a Maduro fan. Surely I wasn't the only one as this international and national audience gathering attested by their presence, celebrating his election today. Maduro spelled out his priorities. He, like many saw his first obligation and his remarks made this clear too. Vamos a luchar frontalmente y sin descanso para derrotar al delincuente que ahora se sienta impune. Loosely translated it means: We are going to fight up front and without rest to defeat and wipe out criminal offenders, and none who break the law shall go unpunished. He means it! It is his priority!

Just think! Over time this country will be cleansed of the terrible and deeply ingrained malignancy.

It is this new president's first concern. He has vouched to rid this country of crime, corruption, self-serving shady deals, and illegal actions, actions that fly into the ace of reasonable laws. Clearly, in those cases where the laws are no longer reasonable or serve the purpose intended - those laws should be amended. This will of course involve the National Congress and also a participating citizenship and the courts. These and many other thoughts were in my mind as I tried to get the snatches of Maduro's Spanish speech. Some time ago, I had a brief talk with him and he mentioned the plight of the campesinos. They can't write and barely read. Thus they are not capable of understanding and filling out forms that might help them acquire titles to their lands or avail themselves of available funds to start their own business! As a former teacher, this brought my thoughts and hopefully Maduro's to the second priority: Education! What a huge project! To tap the potential of all of Honduran's "underprivileged," "underserved," and "undereducated" - a formidable task! Yet, unless Honduras creates a participating and aware society its future may not be secure.

My hopes are high. Maduro is fully aware of these challenges: he, and many others know what to do and this new president will find ways how to do it. His vast administrative experience in a great variety of fields, his sincere motivation, his leadership qualities will put in motion procedures that will make the dream of a FUTORO SEGURO a reality for all citizens.
As Maduro's speech concluded, the audience rose and he was rewarded with an enthusiastic burst of applause. His speech had not been idle rhetoric. Maduro did not indulge in abstractions It was clear, we had not heard a list of good intentions, but realistic plans - an outline of ideas that will, over time serve to make Honduras a recovered nation and eventually a great nation.

The ceremony ended; people's facial expression showed a new confidence, a new resolve, and a new sureness or so it seemed to me. I am extremely grateful to those who made my attendance of this joyful occasion possible. I feel honored to have been a witness. I am reinforced in my hopes and aspirations for the realization of Honduras' great potential.

Monday, February 4,  2002 Online Edition 4

In Cuba's beard

Honduras was the next to the last country in America to re-establish diplomatic relations with Cuba.

The Inter-American Council of Defense had the opportunity to invade Cuba.

Cuba intended to invade the American continent, not with Cuban music, but with powerful weapons obtained from the soviet block.

The utopian, socialist Cuba in the hands of a schizophrenic.

There is not much we can add to Cuba's contribution. That nation's example as a country that instated foreign violence as a source of power was historic. No one has fought more against continental America than Fidel; and no one in the world has been as economically isolated as rich Fidel Castro. His personal fortune is rumored to surpass US$1,400 million.

A walk on the streets of Havana is an agreeable experience; one that brings a malicious smile to the face of the worldly gentlemen. The country's faltering economy together with rampant sex tourism merit an apology. Rue for every meter of sand of a tired Cuba, and for Cuban citizens, the permanent victims of the treason of their liberty.

The tyrant, unmarried Fidel, representative of the Island's white minority, is the main attraction in a land where his ears control dreams.

The Cuban resistance is useless. On certain streets in Miami, low voices murmur of meetings held by combatant Cubans who dream of returning home-without doubt, they are as controlled as Fidel.

During the 1980's, a few, bored members of the California jet set participated in a "seduce Fidel for money" attempt. However we find most moving the way some Washington, D.C. circles say "Fidel must not be overthrown, but rather kept in power."

It has been many a year since the island as witnessed any change. Economic studies carried out by a University in Texas disclosed fears that the return of Cuban immigrants and their U.S. descendents to their homeland would cause the United States serious problems; crediting immigration for its unprecedented success in maintaining economic ties throughout Latin America.

Free Cubans, as well as captive Cubans, are a valuable Latin American caste.

For the new Cuban incursion, from the island, the methodology and the exercise have changed. New elements have been added: medicine, tourism and money sent home by those exiled.

In our opinion, as the next to the last country to re-establish relations with Cuba, the situation has not been completed evaluated. We should point out the rejection thrown in Fidel´s face by El Salvador, when that nation denounced his meddling in the country's internal affairs.

It is important we remember how Honduras formed part of Fidel's unachieved, bad intentions when his tentacles and money slithered through the country with the purpose of destabilization. Added to the atrocious and constant psychological warfare we were submitted to; we have only to remember Radio Habana Cuba and the way the cast spoke against our country.

After a new era of peace, the crazed Cuban magnate still has not had the consideration to ask forgiveness for his continued trampling of the American continent.

Re-establishing relations with Cuba is an illegitimate and doubtful act. We Hondurans should be granted a plebiscite for such matters that demand a broader consensus.





   

DEAR HTW:

I appreciated the article "Women and Education in the Developing World." I hope to see more from Rosibel Pacheco de Gutierrez in the future. Investing in women is already believed to be a poverty reduction strategy. World Bank and other development bank strategies for poverty reduction always recognize that investing in the education, training and health care of women is an important way to increase the income of poor families. Many studies confirm that the higher the education level of women, the greater the education and nutrition level of the children. Educated women tend to make sure that their children are well prepared to earn a good living in the job market. Hence, investing in the education of women is believed to be a way of breaking the tragic intergenerational transmission of poverty.

That sounds good on paper, but what about in real life? Take my mother, Elsa Aguilar, for example. My mother was poor. For several years we lived in a house made from sticks and mud. As a girl, Elsa made and sold tortillas, washed clothes, and later held jobs at Tela Railroad Company. On a hill not far from the Ulua River, Elsa and her mother eventually built a one room home consisting of a concrete floor, four cinder block walls and a tin roof. Very talented with her manual sewing machine, Elsa made almost all our clothing.

Although Elsa only acquired a rudimentary ability to read and write, she knew that a quality education was the only way out of poverty for her children so we were all enrolled in public schools. Somehow she managed to encourage my brothers to study rather than play soccer. Somehow she instilled dreams in them. My older brother is now a dean at the Universidad Tecnologica de Honduras and chief of personal banking at Banco del Pais. My younger brother is a cashier at BAMER, and I am attending college in the U.S. My little sister never has to go to bed hungry, and she always has shoes to wear to school.

My mother is a living example of how a woman, in the words of Rosibel Pacheco de Gutierrez, can be "an ideal agent of change." Yet she may never make the ProjectHonduras.Com Who's Who in Honduras or the buen gusto society pages.

Karen Mills
Via Internet