OPINIONS & EDITORIAL

Monday, July 29,  2002 Online Edition 29

Zamorano, the seed bank of the future

The leafy Zamorano valley of Western of Honduras provides the perfect backdrop for the renowned Zamorano School of Agriculture. This is a school for those with academic aptitude and talent, thus proven by the many Ministers of Agriculture, even Presidents of Latin America that have graced it’s lofty corridors.

We are talking about an educational institution with global appeal, one which draws it’s students from all over the world as a result of it’s efficient, practical working methods and it’s scientifically advanced studies.

This school, mainly due to the skill and ability of it’s science department, can be rated as having one of the best agricultural courses in all of America.

More than 59 years of hard work has gone into improving global agriculture here. Its professors are well known in the agricultural field and this school is associated with all the big named agricultural colleges throughout the world.

What an achievement for Honduras together with the FHIA to be able to boast of such an institution.

More than 4800 students have graduated from the Zamorano School and in turn have returned to their own countries to become leaders in agricultural production. In actual fact more than 31 Ministers of Agriculture have graduated from this very school.

Practical application is one of their main beliefs. However the student will leave having learnt much more. In a bilingual environment they will develop their own values, attitudes, perceptions and indeed leadership qualities which is also part of their grooming.

The course also covers areas as diverse as the handling of technology, to the coping with the menace of pestilence, to the management of crops in different climates. In addition, the curriculum is developed in such a way as to provide a helping hand to the neighborhood of Zamorano, by sharing ideas on the sustainability of dams and the prevention of deforestation.

Zamorano activities include the active participation with productive sectors in the region in which at least 10,000 people participate.

Today, the school is widening its reach and trying to support new productive sectors by seeking financial resources for women’s and indigenous groups, for new equipment and training courses to improve production methods, thus contributing to the economic, social and environmental well being of these people. These experiences also provide their students with experience that will allow them to become agents of change in the future.

Zamorano is a non-profit organization and Honduras plays an important role in its environment. A fact to be proud of.

Dengue Prevention

DEAR HTW:

While I can understand everyone’s frustration at the growing dengue epidemic the solution being proposed will not go very far to eliminate dengue. Preventing and stopping a dengue epidemic is a social mobilization issue.

People must systematically get rid of the standing “domestic” water that provides an ideal environment for the larvae. That means the laundry basins, (pilas, etc.) can’t have water in them for days on end. Old tires, batteries, and flowerpots, etc. have to be emptied, turned over, etc. Plants like philodendrons that live in water have to be planted in the ground or the water need to be changed frequently. I found a whole list of things on a page on the Internet (see below).

One of the reasons that Dengue has become a problem again is that the systematic fumigation that went on to eradicate yellow fever (same mosquito) and keep the incidence of malaria down doesn’t go on any more. We have found that the DDT that was used is both harmful to people and the environment, not to speak of the funds that would be invested in this. The Ministry of Health, COPECO and NGOs might want to consider more innovative ways to get rid of dengue. The Emergency should be used to mobilize people, perhaps through COPECO to do the necessary community hygiene to get rid of the larvae and stop the breeding.

The aedes is a “domestic” mosquito, which means that it breeds in the standing water around houses and doesn’t fly very far Some years ago I worked with a dengue project and it was quite frustrating to find that people, having the solution in their hands so easily, were not willing to organize to get rid of the breeding grounds for the mosquito.

This page, from the Philippines, has some interesting information on dengue and what can be done about it and none of it mentions spraying. *http://bagumbayan.upm.edu.ph/aug96/dengue.html.

Where does the dengue mosquito breed?

Dengue mosquitoes breed in any water-catching or storage containers in shaded or sunny places. Favored breeding places are: barrels, drums, jars, pots, buckets, flower vases, plant saucers, tanks, cisterns, bottles, tins, tires, pans, and roof gutters, refrigerator drip pans, catch basins, drains, soak-away pits, cement blocks, cemetery urns, plant leaf axils, bamboo stumps, tree cavities and a lot more places where rainwater collects or is stored.

"How is dengue spread?

Dengue is spread by the bite of an infected female Aedes aegypti mosquito, which has got the dengue virus by taking a blood meal on a person who is ill with dengue. The infected mosquito then transmits the disease through its bite to other people who in turn becomes ill, and the chain continues.

There is no way to tell if a mosquito is carrying the dengue virus, therefore people must protect themselves from all mosquito bites, which will also protect against malaria and other mosquito-borne diseases.

How can dengue be prevented?

As there is no drug to cure dengue or vaccine to prevent it, there are two key measures that can be applied to prevent the spread of dengue.

1. Elimination of mosquito breeding places

Cover water containers. Tight covers on water storage containers will prevent the mosquitoes laying their eggs there. If the cover is loose, mosquitoes can go in and out.

Septic tanks and soak-away pits. Cover and seal these so that dengue mosquito cannot breed there.

Removal of rubbish. Garbage articles and other rubbish found around houses can collect rainwater. They should be removed or smashed and buried in the ground or burned where this is permissible.

IMPORTANT

Biological control. Small larva-eating fish, such as guppies can control Mosquito wigglers. These fish can be found in streams or ponds or obtained through pet shops. Bacterial pesticides will also kill mosquito wigglers.

IMPORTANT

Chemical control. Safe and easily used larvicides such as temephos sand core granules can be placed in water containers to kill developing wigglers.

2. People can protect themselves from mosquito bites by using any of the following:

Mosquito coils and electric vapor mats. Slow burning mosquito coils or electric vapor mats are effective in the rainy season, just after sunrise and/or in the afternoon hours before sunset, when dengue mosquitoes bite.


Mosquito nets. Nets placed over sleeping places can protect small children and others who may rest during the day. The effectiveness of such nets can be improved by treating them with permethrinn (a pyrethroid insecticide). (NOTE: this is an increasingly popular NGO intervention in Africa where it is used against malaria). Curtains (cloth or bamboo) can also be treated with insecticide and hung at windows or doorways to repel or kill mosquitoes.

Repellents. Mosquito repellents can be applied to exposed parts of the body where mosquitoes bite. Care should be taken in using repellents on small children and the elderly.

Screens. Screens on windows and doorways are effective protection against the entry of mosquitoes in homes.

Protection of people sick with dengue. Mosquitoes become infected when they bite people who are sick with dengue. Mosquito nets and mosquito coils will effectively prevent mosquitoes from biting sick people and help stop the spread of dengue. “

*Culled from a World Health Organization reading material”

As you can see from this, there are things that can be done by individuals and groups and would help improve the health and sanitation conditions of all of our neighborhoods and towns. Perhaps some of the international NGOs that support Honduras could work in the communities that are being most severely affected and help mobilize the people to get rid of the breeding grounds. These types of protections are much more important and enduring than insecticide, which is now, going to be too little, too late.

The new municipalization decentralization of services, the existence of COPECO, which should be organizing communities for all types of emergencies, assisted by the NGOs, should be the strategies that we should be using.

Judy Canahuati
Via Internet

Monday, July 22,  2002 Online Edition 27

Nicaragua is at war, while Honduras harvests coconuts

ACAN-EFE, last July 12, transmitted “Petroleum exists in exportable quantities confirms Nicaragua.” After reading the article, we find certain topics that seem difficult to read due to their obscure pretensions.

Before anything else, it is important to remember that Honduras proceeded to set it’s boundaries with extra regional countries in virtue of the fact that Nicaragua had at hand it’s own package of boundaries with Cuba and Puerto Rico who it would generously benefit. But, being that Nicaragua found an echo of it’s hard feelings towards Honduras with Guatemala and El Salvador, it was able to triangulate it’s benefits, and today, we Hondurans possess the epithet of “treasonous” to the Central American Union for undertaking the initiative on the marine boundaries.

To put this quarrel into perspective, we should remember that the first nation to mark marine boundaries was Guatemala, whose former Minister of Foreign Affair, Dr. Molina, achieved this goal during the first few years of the Central American independence.

It is also important to remember there is another document in which the new alliances with powerful Central American families are denounced, in which management of the Central American customs is decided. At this “banquet” a 35% war tax took effect over Honduras on behalf of a corrupted Nicaragua started by then President Arnoldo Aleman, today under psychiatric treatment for a deadly ailment.

It is necessary to recall these remnants of history to know how poor our current government’s response is to this crisis. This is now a sociological war, in which Nicaraguan battalions are preparing themselves together with allies from the North and Cuba already involved in the wicked-play.

Honduras, a country where corrupt characters have the power to “trash” the image of any President, at this time needs to control these characters while the government is allowed to make serious and competitive decisions.
There are now many volunteers in Honduras. During Hurricane Mitch, aid from a Northern country arrived, it was said it extracted the “blueprints” of HONDUTEL, the national telephone company to later mend it’s bid for purchase of said enterprise. A President that takes care of his country should measure these moments with great caution. You should have asked, “Why are so many foreigners coming to take care of Dengue (break-bone fever) epidemic that we know our own people can mitigate? Or are they here to ‘keep-an-eye’ on the Honduran battalions?

Meanwhile, the Honduran Chancellery, under President Maduro’s leadership, has declared through his advisors that, there is no problem Nicaragua bid. Evidently, the Chancellery was careless about this matter and now, when it is too late, has begun denouncing the bids of which we informed them nearly two months ago. Why this negligence?

The article expresses that, one of the areas is located at the 17th parallel where it considers lies the Honduras country-border. However, Honduras sustains that border is on the 15th parallel. The newspaper El Heraldo of the July 13th: The Nicaraguan official pointed out that area is Nicaraguan territory, and would not refrain from exploiting it, besides he noted: First, the zone is Nicaraguan. Second, we’ll proceed to exploit it, and third, (at the end) we’ll see how we share the benefit. Violent Usurpation of someone else’s property, “Isn’t this a declaration of war?”

Though sadly we held the historical responsibility of denouncing the previous in this newspaper, it is also true that the implications of the present conflict were in clear view and the present government responds with fear tactics, after a two month delay. 

While the Chancellery relocates after firing 85% of it’s personnel, and leaves the office in the hands of a couple of mistresses of current government officials, it will be very prudent to warn them with great seriousness of their negligence. Besides the fact that if we lose this trail, the National Party will pay for it with its existence, and many a soul will seek asylum in Nicaragua.

As part of the Honduran response, President Maduro, if he really wants to improve our society, should appoint a committee that dictates an emergency policy of in several aspects, and we point out some:

A study of all Central America relations; The 35% tax imposed by Nicaragua; Recuperation and familiarization of all the petroleum studies of the country; Initiate petroleum exploitation contracts up to the 15th parallel; Terminate the crime plan, and reorient those funds to more pertinent aspects at this moment; This committee of notable and legitimate Hondurans also will have the powers to decide all the implications necessary, managing also the voice of the defense corps of the country. Regroup the studious of the commissions of limits and frontiers; Restore the intelligence corps within these work teams and broaden their latitudes; Immediately reconvene efforts of relationships based on mutual trust, common goals, and underestimate and isolate any neighbor with expansionists intentions; Immediately initiate all security measures that the country requires, including restoring military service for all of country’s youth. Restore the image of President Maduro, one that has been manipulated by cheap and mediocre publicists. What are you waiting for? 

Dear HTW:

I would like to respond to your editorial dated July 13, 2002. Thank you for mentioning the IHCI and its many years of service to the community of Tegucigalpa and Comayaguela. I have a bone to pick about the lack of native speakers in our school. I am proud to have worked with the IHCI these past two years. It has been an honor to work with the dynamic and dedicated team of Catrachos who have made teaching not only their career, but also their passion. I have seen many shiftless losers looking for jobs within our walls. These wanderers’ only skill was that they speak English. I am happy to say that the teachers at the IHCI are better than native speakers. They are professional and caring teachers. The ability to teach effectively and to have empathy to reach people is a much more important skill than speaking a language his or her entire life. 

Speaking of language, maybe Hondurans should focus on Spanish first. The Universidad Pedagogica Nacional Francisco Morazan published a report in 2000 that mentioned that only 13% of Hondurans have attended high school, not graduated, just attended. This says to me that the citizens of this great country do not have the skills to read and think critically about what is written in the newspapers in Spanish. I think it would be a greater service to our democratic process to teach everyone to read and write effectively in Spanish first. All my students tell me they are taking English to improve their futures. I feel that they could improve their lives today by questioning what is being written in the newspapers, what the people are saying in power, and demanding answers from all.
Thank you,

Stephina M Brewer
English Teaching Fellow
Tegucigalpa, Honduras
Via Internet

HTW newest contributor

Dear HTW: 

I am pleased and honored to join HTW as a contributor. Ever since I became a Residente Pensionado in this country, I have been reading and sometimes responding to some of your articles. I appreciate HTW’s work. 

HTW provides a forum for the English speaking public to get information about various situations - some good, some not so - in Central America and particularly Honduras. It enables many to react, respond, perhaps advise, and thereby hopefully become at least partially instrumental towards Honduran’ human and economic growth. 

HTW is part of what is often referred to in the U.S. press as the MEDIA. As such, it does and should play a vital role to point out problems that severely affect the welfare, education and development of the Honduran people. As part of the MEDIA, all of us who write should try to pin-point and specifically describe in detail - as I tried to attempt in my recent reports regarding the problems of Roatan’s municipal and National-Preventive police departments. The Media is often referred to as the watchdog of society. As such, it is the role of the media to alert various governmental agencies or organizations to what is happening in the various governmental services, such as schools, from pre-school to universities, health-care institutions, and such social services as, for example, unemployment insurance, welfare, and yes adequate and effective and consistent police protection. 

Honduras’ 6,400,052 people (New York Times Almanac, 2002) are a very diversified people. 
There are, as we all know, many poor people in Honduras’ 18 departments and also, as everyone knows too, many enormously wealthy folks. Somehow the government, over time, probably many years, must find ways through tax policies, and whatever economic measures possible to help the poor, the unemployed, the underemployed, etc to achieve a better standard of living. 

Many, including President Maduro are making sincere and consistent efforts toward this goal. Tourism is being promoted, the Maquila (clothing manufacturers) sector is struggling to contribute, Honduran’s from abroad send back remesas familiares (money orders) - a boost to the economy - the traditional exports, which include Seafood, Bananas, Coffee and much more are being strengthened through Free Trade, and so on. We also should not forget the many private organizations - the churches, the missionaries, the Peace Corps, NGOs and Educational Institutions, such as Zamorano near Tegucigalpa, all work toward this long range goal to at least minimize poverty over time. Much difficult work needs to be done! 

Honduras This Week will and is doing its part in the ongoing struggle. I appreciate and am learning from its many contributors and am delighted to work for HTW.

Eva L. Brooks 
Via Internet

Monday, July 15,  2002 Online Edition 26

The case for judicial reform - or - if the shoe fits, wear it!

By LORENZO DEE BELVEAL

Special to Honduras This Week

The injured protests of Presidenta Vilma Morales, of the Honduras Corte Suprema, carried in today’s (7-5-02) La Prensa, anent the remarks of Carlos Bakota, spokesman for the United States Embassy, about the possible cancellation of financial aid earmarked for the improvement of Honduran justice strikes this reporter as being vastly overdone. Put another way, to borrow the immortal words of Shakespeare, “Methinks the lady protesteth too much”.  Or, translated into even more homely argot, “If the shoe fits, wear it, Madam Presidenta”.

A bit of history may be in order.

The first grant to the Honduras judiciary from the United States, for a long overdue fumigation of that totally politicized and shamefully corrupted court system took place some three years ago, and was greeted by effusive promises of great leaps forward in terms of both more even-handedly professional and more expedited administration of justice.

Those with a vested interest in such things waited on visible results with bated breath. During the intervening period, two events have transpired that might have proven to be seminal: Sra. Morales’ predecessor at the head of the Court was killed in a helicopter accident a few miles off Roatan, and the Supreme Court bench was increased to fifteen members.

Both of these transformations in format appear to have been accommodated without noticeable effect on either the tenor or the internal functioning of the august institution involved. Business as usual seems to have been the ongoing order of the day. A continuing and escalating mystery remains: To what promised judicial improvements have the donated

U.S. millions been pointed? Where is the long-anticipated “bang” for the pile of donated “bucks”?

This is obviously the question being parenthetically asked by the United States Embassy, via its implied threat to withdraw the grant previously authorized to revamp the Honduras Court.

If the distinguished panel of Honduras law-givers are out of ideas concerning where to start with their judicial housecleaning, this interested observer might suggest that an energetic series of Judicial Reviews would have much to commend it. Suborned judges, colluding lawyers and near-total absence of judicial oversight by the High Court have added up to high crimes and unconscionable abuse of the juridical functions over decades of such overt perversions and ongoing administrative neglect. The Corte Suprema is the monitor and guardian of its own work. Its primary obligation is to protect and preserve its own judicial respectability. It is precisely in this area of function that it has been most glaringly remiss.

As a long and purposeful step toward regaining a modicum of its squandered public confidence, the Court might establish a panel to sit in Judicial Review of the blatant, criminal, disgraceful miscarriages of both law and logic, presided over by duly appointed judges, operating under their almost bullet-proof mandates issued by an equally perverse Corte Suprema. The best imaginable foundation for a more circumspect judicial future has to be the forthright and long overdue admission, nullification and correction of egregious judicial sins of the past.  Indeed, it is hard to imagine any kind of meaningful judicial reformation-taking place atop the sorry history of previous Honduras court abuses.

A clean break must be made with the shameful record. Judicial Review and correction of the old mistakes must be identified, voided and re-adjudicated. Only with this done, will a properly skeptical public have reason to begin revising its opinion of a court system it has held in total contempt for as long as memories run.

As for the first candidate for this kind of high-level judicial scrutiny, this reporter would like to nominate the Roatan Court of Letters. In a national court system totally shot through by bribery, incompetence, favoritism and collusion, the Roatan court stand out as a shameful example of all the imaginable shortcomings and excesses. And this regrettable distinction is not of recent date. The Roatan Court of Letters has exemplified all that ails Honduras jurisprudence for decades on end. This guilty knowledge is almost as widely shared in legal circles in Tegucigalpa, as it is on the island of Roatan itself.

The reasons are, or should be, altogether too obvious. First, its remote location leaves it far from the supposedly watchful eyes of its superiors. Roatan judges have operated as laws unto themselves for as long as the court has existed.

The practice has long been one of appointing a judge and leaving him to his own devices until such time as the volume of local outrage reaches decibels demanding his removal that could no longer be ignored. Then the erring judge would be removed “for cause”, another appointment made, and the entire shameful scenario would be repeated again. Time after time, ad infinitum. This continuing chain of judicial malfeasance and institutional disgrace must be broken before anyone who is familiar with the history will be willing to place an iota of confidence in the promises for change. Only the Corte Suprema de Justicia has the authority to undertake this renovation – and certify its results.

Much hopeful conversation continues to be generated around the topic of Roatan’s potentials for serious tourism development. The same insurmountable obstacle to this happening is present in 2002, as existed in 1970. Namely, a mare’s nest of illegal, patently fraudulent, quasi-legal and endlessly contested land claims.  Whether Crown Grants, Titulos, Titulos Superlatorio, Dominos Pleno, Dominos Util or Documentos Privada, the Roatan Court of Letters, de facto, must stand as the guarantor of each and every one of them. As a result of endless years of mis- and malfeasance, it is no longer possible to bring documentary order out of such a continuum of unbridled chaos. It can only follow that serious, substantial investments are out of the question, until such time as the investors can be unquestioningly assured of the unassailability of their land holdings.

Accomplishing this depends on two fundamental considerations.

The first is a reliable court system. This problem has already been addressed in sufficient comprehensibility in the foregoing remarks. The second imperative for land investment is Title Insurance. A prudent developer will not touch a project until Title Insurance is in place and guaranteed by an underwriter of unquestioned reliability and capitalization. In turn, such an underwriting venture will never be undertaken until such time as the Title Insurance Company is able to place total confidence in the judicial system that must stand as the fundamental guarantor of the commitments the title insurer must necessarily make.

Viewed in this light, it should be apparent that, if Honduras ever expects to see Roatan progress beyond the overpopulated, rustic, underdeveloped tropic slum that it presently offers to the visitor’s eye, a reliable local Court of Letters is priority #1. Everything else depends on - and will follow - in the wake of that first imperative.

It will be a tragedy if the United States terminates the grant it has given Honduras to renovate its court system. Should this happen, it will be a long time before a similar opportunity presents itself.

But should it happen, it will be the fault of the Honduras Corte Suprema and its nominal leadership. It now has the funds available. It surely has the need for renovation, demonstrated on an almost daily basis, for more years than much-abused litigants can count.

So what are you waiting for, Sra. Presidenta Morales?  The Embassy is looking for results from the grant made for judicial renovation.  Complaints about injured pride and lame justifications for further delay will not fill the bill.

The ball is squarely in your Court.  

RE ZERO TOLERANCE

Dear HTW:

Public officials as well as citizens should be held accountable for crimes against humanity. In Honduras, the latest figures show approximately 27,000 violent crimes committed since 1994, of which, only 5% have been convicted. The number speaks for itself, there is a serious crime problem here and this puts every Honduran citizen or resident at risk. 

Whining and running away to another country does not help but neither does being hypocritical and doing or saying nothing. People should and must denounce the slaughter of human life that is occurring in Honduras, saying or doing nothing about it makes us just as bad as the criminals who commit these crimes, and keeping silent is away of tolerate and accepting it, which is probably one of the biggest problem in Honduras. 

Jenny Hernandez
Puerto Cortes
Via Internet



MIXING APPLES AND ORANGES CAUSES CONFUSION

Dear HTW:

Mr. Dee Belveal, your "right to voice your point of view" or "object" was never questioned. I do question the disproportionate amount of time given to your writing on this publication, especially when no attempt is made of your part to balance your lengthy writings with facts. In all fairness to you however, that is an editor's job. 

Mixing apples and oranges causes confusion, especially when the topic is immigration. The immigration policies of European nations and those of the United States have, historically, been completely different. You seem to trumpet the problem as a new development, and seem to single out or establish links to TPS as the root cause of anything and everything from overcrowded schools, to welfare abuse. TPS is a unique one-time act of kindness and of mercy, shrewd foreign relations, and good neighbor policy all combined in one. I submit that it would have been presumptuous and naïve of the international community to expect the Honduran and other affected Central 

American economies to rebound in one single year after such cataclysm taking place in 1998. Incidentally, I do not condone those seeking the TPS status to abuse it after the fact; US immigration law is clear on that regard and it should be enforced. In fact, recent events have resulted in a renew effort on dealing with INS' immigration policies and regulations. 
"Illegal immigrants" as you put it, have no hope of replying to your writing, much less in this medium. Your right to object does not equate with indiscriminate and bombastic outright attacks, at will on that community, however well written the attack may be. Emphasizing the obvious, that time is running out for TPS beneficiaries, and then making generalizations is simply put, misleading propaganda. Have you researched the numbers of Hondurans that go on welfare roles? Is that information public domain? I assure you, were you to do research it will be a rude awakening. The enterprising nature and economic contributions they make would temper your writing (perhaps!)

Regarding the cost of schools in California you again generalize. The very same schools that you claim are overcrowded have been for a long time. You neglect to mention that they are and have historically been the schools that Hispanics, African -American, and other poor minorities (some Southeast Asians) attend. The city of East Palo, CA is one step away from Palo Alto, CA yet the misery of the first is in sharp contrast with the affluence of the other, this in the midst of Silicon Valley. Why? Because of pre-existing socio-economic conditions (i.e. inequalities) inherent to the domestic (US) arena. They are not due to the 1998 hurricane season in the Caribbean. Further, the cost of educating a pupil in California may be high, but wouldn't you consider the possibility that the state educational system itself is inefficient? Especially, in a state where teacher's salaries are kept artificially low ($35,000 for a master degreed teacher fresh from Harvard, living in the Bay Area real estate market that charges upwards of $1200 for a one-bedroom apartment!). What does that say about priorities? Contrast that with school districts in some New England states where sign up bonuses of as high as $25,000 are given for teachers that relocate to that region. California State and citizenry were also victims of the energy crisis, shortly followed by the Enron debacle. Shall we say lax oversight? Today, a $23 billion state deficit, and $9+ billion of long term purchase contracts of overpriced energy pose a far more credible treat to the state and its residents than do the TPS beneficiaries. Similar conditions (deficit in state budgets) exist in the other 49 states of the union. Most of the deficits, caused by the meltdown of the high tech sector, and compounded by 9/11 attacks in NYC and DC. This industries employ a larger number of highly educated "foreigners" (including a few Hondurans!) which curiously enough are criticized and abused just the same, TPS or not. This time the excuse is the H1 visa.

You write well Mr. Dee Belveal, and so did Rudyard Kipling, a Nobel Laureate of late XIX, early XX century. However, his eloquent writing did not disguise the biased and limited nature of his judgment, when it came to other peoples and societies of the world of his time. Mr. Kipling's poems "White Man's Burden" written over 100 years ago, echoes themes that you may find interesting, particularly the then accepted notion (especially across the Atlantic, in Europe) of colonization and economic and moral superiority over other "native" nations prevailing in those days. 

In short I do think that in your writings you are being upfront but selectively unfair to the Honduran community that benefits from the TPS. Additionally, by singling out the Honduran case you perhaps fail to recognize that TPS is perhaps the only instance in the last three decades where amnesty has been granted to a colony of foreign residents purely on humanitarian reasons and worked! Cubans, Salvadoran, Nicaraguan (twice already), Haitian, Vietnamese, a number of Eastern Europeans have at one time or another benefited from being granted refugee or Asylum status. There were even riots associated with some of those groups seeking such status in the US. All of them, with the exception of Haiti, were granted asylum or refugee status for mainly political reasons. Contrary to your opinion, TPS legalizes the status of people that are making a contribution to the rebuilding effort in Honduras; while at the same time recognizes the dynamic nature of that colony in the US. I assure you, no Honduran riots will ensue.

Interestingly no single refugee camp full of Hondurans exists inside the United States of America or in any other nation in the world! Hondurans are for the most part, fully contributing citizens in this great nation, and believe or not in their own country too. Those Hondurans that do not respect the law in the US will and have faced deportation whether for criminal or immigration violations; All you need to do is read the papers tally in Honduras. By contrast, Honduras along with Costa Rica housed thousands of 
Nicaraguan, Guatemalan, and Salvadoran refugees during the civil wars of the 1980's. The number of Hondurans in the US is a rather small percentage when compared to the total of Hispanics in the US and the total percent of the population of Honduras itself. This is after a disaster of "biblical proportions" as described by the international media. The mass exodus you seem to portray laying siege to the US is non-existent, or it has relatively very few Hondurans. 

Interestingly enough Americas, the OAS magazine had a wonderful article on the Palestinian colony in Honduras. After Honduras welcomed them, they have become energetic entrepreneurs driving the economic engine of the nation. 

You should see TPS for what it is a gift to a struggling but striving people of character (astonishingly, the poem IF also by Rudyard Kipling makes a fitting description of the Honduran spirit!). TPS is not Armageddon or the end of the US civilization (see recessional, same writer); such views are dated and should be at the very least put on evidence. 

So far that evidence indicates you exaggerate Mr. Dee Belveal.

Eduardo Sanchez
Via Internet

IHCI - 37 years of hard work!

Back in 1939 this "Institute" was founded to cover the needs of the English language that, up until then, was not included in any scholastic program of the country. This option became a reality through the support of the very same United States of America Embassy for many years to come, thus the success of this "Institution".

As part of their activities: culture, and the teaching of the English language, simple commitments were carried out with exactitude.

The common denominator of its officials is to reach their goals, and to contribute with the cultural legacy of Honduras.

For several years, this "Institute" has been directed diligently by Alberto Galeano, an engineer. Since it was founded, many are the generations that have sat in its classrooms. The cultural conversion has had an effect!

As it is not easy to educate one's self at low cost, we have to point out the institution's low tuition is within reach of everyone's pocket.

Maybe there is a bit of lack of technology, and of teachers who speak English as their native language, but, we also know these are great obstacles under study for a new transformation.

To talk about the IHCI, is a privilege to anyone that knows or is familiar with, the educational value of such an "Institution". In San Pedro Sula, Honduras, it's mirror image is the Cultural Center of San Pedro Sula" that also has an enviable team of workers that are very active within the community.

Outstanding and notorious is the extraordinary collection of Honduran writers. It is our understanding that few institutions have as complete a selection of Honduran authors as the IHCI does.

We only wish this "Institution" will be, or is, an example for new programs, and as in many areas as possible, because it is an example that really works!

Monday, July 8,  2002 Online Edition 25

Airport Tampering 

Under World Bank pressures, Honduras proceeded to privatize several national entities: among these, the national airports.
Rich companies have been granted access to invest at ridiculous amounts in Third World countries like ours. The bottom line is to stall the internal functions of the countries amongst other things, thus weakening them even further.

InterAirports was granted the concession of the national airports after winning the bid with no money, but a lot of ambition. Since day one it raised all fares and rates, monopolizing importation fees and the flow of people. 

After the initial pitch in of US$125 million destined to improve the category of Honduras’ airports, we now face matters that have not been accomplished by InterAirports. All this contractual jargon is a mystery to us. Vital information concerning guarantees to the Government of Honduras are totally obscure. “How obscene! Don’t you think so?” 

No one seems to be responsible on how the basis of this bid came about. Nor is there a reason to have granted InterAirport the concession over a Canadian company, whose bid, some say was lower. This company who still holds the grant to carry on remodeling and making improvements, simply blames the Government of Honduras, using this as excuse to not complete the dismantling of the hangars of the extinct Honduran airline TAN SAHSA, a task we do not consider of such great magnitude.

The worst part of this: “Dealing with the Devil” as it was said of the banana companies in the past, is: all codes of national and international security, and of internal affaires have been violated, exposing us nationally and internationally. The only difference between InterAirports and the previous customs service is that the floors are swept more often and there are more workers to carry cargo. Bureaucracy within the company grew thanks to gargantuan profits. But, of course, the best move this company made was to increase by 1700% the cost of handling cargo, not to mention other import/export duties.

ANDI (National Association of Industries) has complained several times about this company that has not only increased prices for the different industries that require its services, but also hinders their operations. Many countries that have experienced “privatization” are now slowing starting to recover their own concessions, after having endangered their own security and not stimulated national investors. Parallel to these “privatization’s” the concept of “globalization” comes into play dragging the currency into a spiral due to low production, such as in Argentina. The formula to make things work and provide a national benefit is hard to work out. Maybe combining national partnerships, and slowing granting administrative control after the companies have proved themselves is a better idea.

The InterAirport case is a delicate one as it has several overlapping roofs. This concession should be submitted to the National Congress once again, with it’s only mission being the search for emerging regulations. For example: in case of war, invasion, national calamity, or any other emergency, it’s control over customs, traffic, migration etc., should be dismantled. If we analyze the magnitude of the control that this company exerts, we would quickly learn that, not only personnel, and explosive material flow but that also migration is restricted and regulated by InterAirport.

Nothing more obscure is happening in our country than this matter. This is time to ask the questions such as: “Who on Earth gave away the “doors” to our country?” “Is there an evaluation on what has been carried out by this company?” “Does the government have to wait 20 years to not renew the ‘income’ of this company who has become wealthy in just a few months, and or, can we examine what has not been accomplished at this time, and penalize them?”

It would seem there is always a knife at our throat, “Why are we so incompetent in Honduras?”



Letter from Honduras: On owls, sheep and tennis

By NIGEL POTTER

It almost felt like what I used to call Home: I heard an owl calling, a sheep bleating outside my door and a couple of lassies came to the house to ask me about tennis.

Tennis! Here in Honduras! I don’t think I have seen a court in 10 years. Still they aim to ask me about the game for some weird school project. You might as well as try describing it to a Martian as to two school girls who knew absolutely nothing about the sport at all, barely even having heard I of it. I did my best, explaining the basic idea but lost then on the scoring. It’s not like football, I said, nothing like one-nil, one all, two-one, etc. rather more complicated. The first point is worth 15, the second 30, and the third 40 unless the other player equalizes, then it’s deuce until one of the players gains an “advantage.” And if you score nothing at least you have got love. But in tennis that’s not worth much because if love is all you got, you got nothing. The girls gave me that withering look that only teenage girls can do so well, thanked me politely for my time and trouble and went away leaving a trail of crazy but harmless bubbles behind them.

The owls were something else. Their haunting cries at night in the woods behind my home in Scotland always moved my deeply occasionally at dusk one would fly in front or past me, or I would see one perched on the post of a farm fence. I have never understood how their mystic hooting has anything to do with the twit - twit - two of children’s story books which is far too cozy, a million miles away from that desolate and lonesome cry across the dark woods so I missed the owls until the other night. They are called buhos in Spanish and that is exactly how they sound in Honduras. “Listen” my wife suddenly, said to me, “there’s an owl!” I didn’t believe it at first, it sounded almost like a dove cooing, but it was unmistakable, there was no doubt about it, the call was different but the voice and tone was pure owl: Bu - ho. I have heard it several times since and even once, the old Scottish hooting I know and love so well. They are sacred animals to me, somehow kindred spirits. And if I want really lonesome cries there are always the howls of the coyotes that I am sure will soon be investigating our sheep.

I bought one of the half - dozen sheep that exist in Honduras (I exaggerate, there must be at least ten) to eat because after ten years I suddenly had a craving for roast lamb and mint sauce. He looks rather more like a goat than a white woolly British sheep, not black - faced nor white but a reddish, rusty color and a loud bleat to go with it a not to mention the over-powering strong urine. He reminds me more of the sheep one sees everywhere in Morocco on the eve of the great Muslim festival when every family slaughters a sheep to celebrate Isaac’s sacrifice of one instead of his son: slung across Bikes, on the back of motor-scooters, on the tops of Buses, munching their last supper of grass on a thousand roofs. My older boy torments my youngest about our own forthcoming sacrifice. He just can’t wait to see the blood spilt and get his hands on a good lump of roast. The little one weeps bitterly, No kill sheep, he cries. I can’t say I am looking forward to the execution myself but if we don’t eat him the coyotes once they discover this large, strange animal is easy game, will. And I too do so much want my roast lamb.

Still for all the hooting owls and bleating sheep, I couldn’t be fooled for long but I was long a way from my old home when the other evening shots rang out. Two young men got drunk, got their revolver and went looking for another against whom they had some grudge over a bike. They found him and fired several shots all of which missed they were so drunk. They went on their merry way and were crossing local football field when they came across another young man on his way back to his house. “Boasting bastard!” They jeered, “Swanky Frankie” all of which perfectly summed up their victim though it hardly justified what they did next - they embraced him, pinion his arms, pressed the barrel of the gun in the stomach and pulled the trigger - click - gun empty. Swanky Frankie, when he realized to utter astonishment he was still alive, being a hefty lad, grabbed the fun off them and kicked them all the way down to the local nick.

And then suddenly it was back to Scotland. A friend brought me some venison, which we roasted over our wood fire. God, it tasted good - succulent and tender much better than any cow meat you can buy in the market. I hadn’t tasted deer in ten years and never have I seen a live one here yet they were common enough in the “owl woods behind my house back home.” Sad in a way that when one does see a rare animal like a deer here it is immediately killed. There is practically no game now. People are poor and hungry and long ago slaughtered anything that moves and can be eaten. You’ll see more rabbits in the Scottish countryside in ten minutes than you’ll see here in ten years. People here do occasionally eat rabbit but they are specially bred. I ate wild rabbit all the time in Scotland. The meat was tasty and was free and I felt I was striking a blow in defense of my vegetable patch against these marauders. I have never done so here. Eating rabbit is one thing, killing and eating a bunny is quite another.

HONDURAS, OUR ALLY

DEAR HTW:

In reference to the article by Eduardo Sanchez in the June 24 issue of HTW, in which he states Honduras is a firm ally of the United States. If this is so, then why has not the Honduran government made a maximum effort to bring to justice the murderers of 35 U.S. citizens slain since 1995 by thugs who roam about freely plying their murderous rampage on innocent human beings?

As to amnesty for illegal aliens, this is against the immigration laws of our country, such as they are. These illegals would do much better by staying in their respective countries of origin and trying to improve their lot and those of their fellow citizens by eliminating corruption and taking an active role in seeking a better way of life. Moreover, illegal aliens do not pay U.S. income tax and thus deprive our treasury of billions of dollars. Paying income taxes would uncover their illegal status and make them subject to deportation. It is estimated that there are more than ten million illegal aliens in the United States and among them were the terrorists who destroyed thousands of lives and the World Trade Towers and severely damaged the Pentagon also taking a sizeable toll in human lives.

As for foreign aid, well and good, but, how much of this aid gets to the people and not to the pockets of corrupt officials? Charity begins at home and there are many of our citizens who live on the edge of poverty. Aid should be given in the form of services such as the Peace Corps. John F. Kennedy stated that one cannot put a tractor in a Swiss bank and backed this up by initiating the Peace Corps in lieu of handing over cash. Foreign aid should be given only in the case of natural disasters as Hurricane Mitch and the like and then closely monitored to see it is properly distributed. We cannot be the world’s bankers forever. The bank will break eventually.

Mr. Dee Belveal has every right to express his opinion as do Mr. Sanchez, and I. We also have the right to disagree. HTW is a free press and does an admirable job of allowing freedom of expression.

A. Wilson
Via Internet

ZERO TOLERANCE

Dear HTW:

Re “Zero Tolerance,” Democracy does not end with mere elections. The fruits & obligations continue, as the populace has to hold its elected officials accountable for their promises & actions. 

The Honduran press does a courageous job, for the most part, in providing information to the public, but the public must respond. Whining about misfortunes or running off to another country where others have made their system work does nothing to benefit Honduras. Saying “but I am only one” is cowardliness, laziness: Human history is replete with solitary individuals who, for better or worse, changed the course of history single-handedly.

Ultimately, the people end up with the government they deserve.
Sincerely,
Ed Elsner
Via Internet


CONGRATULATIONS HTW

Dear HTW, 

I wish to congratulate you on your Online edition of “Honduras This Week.” It keeps me abreast of the goings-on in Honduras. For me, this is important because I plan on relocating to Honduras within the next 30 to 60 days. Although I am retired, I will not follow the seemingly standard trail of retirees. This translates to a yen for mountain scenery, cool air, rivers, waterfalls, caves and simple living arrangements. After much consideration, I have chosen the department of Lempira. 

Because I plan on living in a so-called remote area, I wish to express my thanks to Nigel Potter for his writings concerning other-than-tourist areas. I also give thanks to Harold Rosenzweig for his articles about Copan and Honduras’ tourism in general. And, of course, I thank “Honduras This Week” (Online Edition) for publishing these articles so that I can read them in my home in California. Please keep up the good work, referring, not exclusively, to Mr. Potter, Mr. Rosenzweig and HTW. 

Sincerely, 
Jack Simpson, Jr. 
Prather, California
Via Internet

IT’S ABOUT TIME

DEAR HTW:

I was very glad to hear the great news about the new Honduran airline SOL AIR, is about time somebody created some competition in the area this is needed to promote tourism in the area. With the actual price other airlines are charging which is about over $600.00 for a round trip to Honduras you can get a vacation package including hotel and meals to many destinations in Mexico or U. S. , I hope the best for SOL AIR and I’m ready to support their effort please let us know what cities they will be serving in the U.S. and any web page or phone number we can call to make reservations.

Luis Rosales
Houston, Texas
Via Internet

A preliminary report on Roatan’s National and Preventive Police Force

By EVA BROOKS
Special to Honduras This Week

ROATAN — Any visitor to Roatan would be impressed with the yellow painted, just about one-year-old police station on top of a hill between Sandy Bay and Coxen Hole. Sitting in from of the station you can experience a gentle breeze, can look down on the busy main road and let your eyes sweep over Roatan’s famous verdant, rich and peaceful green hills. It is a charming view.

The police station is sparkling clean, furnished with huge desks, one electric typewriter, a nice reception room with one phone, beautiful wooden chairs and a long bench. There are also three prison cages each usually occupied by several prisoners, sleeping quarters for staff, kitchen facilities and a beautifully appointed office for the Commissioner or Comisario Abraham Figueroa. The comisario also has a computer and a phone.

A volunteer at the mayor’s office at the municipals in Coxen Hole, Vivian Kivett de Tugliani had kindly made an appointment for me with the Comisario for 10.00 am on Thursday, June 27th. When I arrived on the dot with my bi-lingual, and very smart housekeeper, Arfa Conners, the Comisario was not there. Nevertheless my interview commenced with Lieutenant Maradiaga. He spoke some English, but found it easier to speak Spanish with Arfa, who translated for me. Maradiaga eagerly answered all of my questions and was most cooperative. He asked who I was, what newspaper I wrote for and generally understood the importance of getting facts to the public and consequently to the powers that be - the government - or anyone who could and would hopefully correct situations detrimental to Roatan’s citizen’s welfare and safety.

During our interview several police officers - all dressed in excellent, well-fitted and good looking uniforms, each carrying a gun, looked over our shoulders, sometimes offered opinions, and for the most part just stood around. They seemed to have a lot time to talk to me, they are on duty 24 hours for 14 days. They get time off to see their families every 15 days. They get three meals each day at the station. Behind the main building is a sort of recreation room with a Ping-Pong table and so on. Clearly this is not a bad life for these men. There seems to be camaraderie among the men and some women and everyone looked happy. Their salary is now Lempira 4,000.00 - over last year’s pay of L 3,000-. The minimum educational requirement is the completion of sixth grade. Each of the man had three months of training, and “practice with guns every day.” 

When a “call” comes in -a report of a murder, a robbery or theft, a rape or a wife-beating, a serious quarrel, which may include the use of weapons, etc.- and if there is a vehicle available, (there are three vehicles attached to this station, the man will try to get to the place from which the call originated. If there is no vehicle several officers walk down the hill, hail a cab, which is paid for by the policeman. I hope I got this information correctly, but I did ask twice, there is no petty cash! Of course not too many calls actually come in. 

Islanders, based on bad past experiences have very little or no confidence in the police’s effectiveness, efficiency and cooperation. I asked how many calls within a twenty-four hour period on the average would come in, but did not get a clear answer. I asked about maps that would help officers to locate the place from where the call announcing a crime was made. Sometimes the caller is able to give directions, but most often not. Sometimes the cabdriver is able to help to find the place, frequently not. This bought up the subject of maps. There are several maps tacked on the wall donated by The Bay island Conservation Association (BICA) and others, but neither was specific enough to find the often hidden locations. This is partly due to Roatan’s intricate geography, which includes bays, bites, keys, deep forests, lagoons and so on. 

However there are excellent and very detailed maps with satellite photographs which gives specific information of each section of the island. These maps are at the municipal office in Coxen Hole. According to Lieutenant Maradiaga these were not made available to the National Police. “They wanted us to pay for the cost of the rather complicated processes involved in the duplication of such maps. And he said, in English so I would get it, “We don’t have that kind of money.” This situation seemed to be a personal affront to this lieutenant! 

I then asked point blank, “What other complaints would you like to share with us?” I got a list from Lieutenant Maradiaga: No paper, no pens, no pencils, paperclips, flashlights, rain-ponchos, first aid kits, and most important of all communication systems. Two phones and one radio and intercom, I guess, is inadequate. And, he said in English, “We need English speaking officers, beside myself.”

Fighting crime, or as President Maduro’s slogan goes Zero Tolerance, is a complicated, expensive, enterprise and involves careful planning, monitoring and detailed instructions. It appears here from the partial evidence that there is a serious disconnect between what the police should and could do, given proper direction, adequate training, and generous support, which does include communication systems, vehicles and paper and pencil for record keeping. 

There is much the police could do on this island that would be at least a partial deterrent. Policemen stationed here are not constructively engaged in the important process of deterrence, that is preventing crime, or in the pursuance of criminals. The process of catching a criminal offender is further complicated because witnesses must be produced who are willing to corroborate the crime committed. Clearly this is not always possible, since break-ins, etc take most often place at night or in the dark. 

Clearly officers “waiting for a call” are not instructed to police neighborhoods, by car, motorcycle, bicycle, horse or donkey. Of course, most members of the National Police are not intimately acquainted with Roatan’s various neighborhoods and its many hidden places. Wouldn’t it be a great idea to assign small groups, who alternately do some “sight seeing”, learn about the island, talk to people, in short make their presence known. Might that develop trust and confidence in the police and consequently in the government generally. I live in Sandy Bay, spend much of my time on my porch, and so do almost all m y neighbors. None of us have ever seen a policeman! 

There is another procedure for reporting a crime. That is, after it happened you go to the district attorney’s office located in the Cooper Building Nr.2 and record the event. You tell your story as specific as possible, adding date, hour, the number of perpetrators, nature and severity of the crime, including items stolen, a list of jewelry, small appliances, money, watches etc. This is recorded in Spanish; you need a translator, with great specificity and detail. 

It has been a mystery to many others and me what happens to these reports. I made such a report some time ago, when my house was broken into. The ways and means of the break in was minutely recorded, list of stolen items carefully spelled out, date and time registered, number and looks of perpetrators noted, etc. So far nothing has happened. Of course, it is only four months ago, I am still hoping. 

The above is an interim report. I am still hoping to meet with Comisario Abraham Figuerea. I am interested to find out if there is a process for fingerprinting offenders, what kind of record keeping is used, what happens to a criminal while he is in prison, what can be done to connect his men with the various neighborhoods, be a visible presence and so on. 

Further can the “waiting for a call” police officers, continue their own education, reading appropriate books, see relevant educational videos, sharpen their wit with computer games, play chess, etc. Times, a very precious commodity, should be used creatively and productively. Am I asking for the moon?

Monday, July 1,  2002 Online Edition 24

Reply to Eduardo A. Sanchez:

Dear HTW:

Your vociferous complaint concerning my remarks on the topic of the Temporary Protection statute calls for a reply.

The basis of my question related to the fact that Hurricane "Mitch" took place in 1998. This is 2002, and the "Temporary" Protection Statute has somehow metamorphosed from temporary to "Permanent" stateside domicile for those illegal Honduras immigrants who seized on "Mitch" as their compelling reason to head north. I am familiar with the urgent representations that were made in Washington, by Honduras spokesmen, in support of the TPS enactment. The "emergency" was steadfastly presented as a "temporary" situation, and one that would promptly pass. That view seems to have disappeared almost as soon as the initial TPS enactment was signed.

This is now 2002. TPS has been extended three times, and now the effort has changed to finding arcane ways to transform the "temporary" situation into a matter of statutory permanence. It strikes me that my questioning of this procedure is valid and more than somewhat overdue. If four years is not sufficient time in which to handle the "Mitch" residuals and repatriate the victims thereof, what sort of time frame do you suggest?
Even more to the point, why has there been no efforts to formally transform TPS into some other - more extended - sort of arrangement? Rather than just seeking to finesse individual TPS beneficiaries into permanent U. S. residents, under the guise of "temporary" haven from the seemingly permanent ravages of Hurricane "Mitch"? This question is actually more one of forthrightness, than end result.

As a US citizen and tax payer, I have also given tacit permission to the US government to allocate funds and spend a share of my taxes "on aid packages to third world nations in Latin America, Africa, and Asia", as you put it.

What I have not authorized - and do not condone - is the official toleration of a veritable tidal wave of illegal immigrants, overcrowding our public classrooms, presenting housing and health problems, language problems for teachers, and vastly inflating the demands for public welfare support in areas of illegal immigrant concentrations all over America.

California school administrators are the source of the information that annual costs for a single student in their system total ten thousand dollars per year. ($10,000.00 per student!) Consider this and the illusory argument that illegal immigration is a "victimless crime" falls flat. This is an onerous and totally unfair burden to load onto the shoulders of American taxpayers. At the risk of being deemed a tightwad, I dislike having to pay school taxes to educate illegal students who have, per se, invaded our school systems.

I can accept the fact that you - perhaps many - disagree with my views on this issue. But please do not question my entitlement to voice them.

The United States of America is not an open sesame for the excess and unwanted populations of the Western Hemisphere. Politicians with a modest facility with Spanish - and this includes George W. Bush - see opportunities for making points with Hispanic voters, via doing favors for their illegal countrymen. This kind of manipulative opportunism must and will stop. Immigration is too important to be used as a mere political device.

The European Union is presently engaged in similar problems on the Continent. Immigration is a privilege. It is a process defined by law and long-established customs. Those who violate those laws and customs are law-breakers, and deserve to be treated as such. 
The receiving country has a sovereign right and duty to define the protocols under which immigrants will be accepted. Law-abiding nations and individuals are duty-bound to respect those immigration regulations. Failure to do so deserves firm sanctions.

To "legalize" illegal immigrants after the fact, under any kind of quasi-legal contrivance is an outrage against both law and the inherent rights of the legal citizens of said nation. It unfairly adds to the tax burdens - and adds stress to the available public service facilities in whatever city or village the illegal arrivals choose to settle.

The recent upsurge of immigration problems, especially in the North American continent and in Europe is the best possible indication of how urgently the world is viewing the situation. And how crucial it is to develop and install safeguards before the problem gets even worse.

Lorenzo Dee Belveal
Via Internet

Corruption does not escape the law

With the new denial of a visa to the U.S. policy, the U.S. government has put an end to persons seriously involved in delinquent acts in Latin-American countries. Most likely this measure has been implemented the World over, but for us it was not until last March that it took effect.

The message is clear: "Those whom have stolen the daily bread of their own countries, will not go to USA to enjoy their dirty money, nor visit Disneyland, nor seek medical treatment. We don't want to see their faces here!" These evil forces will not contaminate North American waters. We recall what was once written in a Madrid newspaper: "Man, if delinquents could fly, they would cover the Sun"

The truth is, the United States had become a frequent destiny for some prominent mob figures and other corrupted Latin American thugs and their fabulous credit cards, sometimes it would seem only Fidel Castro is missing.
Honduran people also have their own Honduran dream including their own work, democracy, happiness right to a proper education, peace and more. 

All in all, it is an authentic, self-defense measure, and above all: "sovereign". We find it at the highest of levels for our present times. For example: "Wouldn't it be great if Bin Laden was expelled from all the countries around the World?"

Crime in USA is non-negotiable. If someone in the Virgin Islands thought that, American justice forgives, let me remind you, the message is clear, American justice does not forgives, although it does help those who help themselves. Allow me to remind you that Honduras is also sovereign country and also has the right to expel gringos that violate their own laws.

The American dream is a measure of "liberty" that all of its inhabitants fight for daily. This was the dream of all that came from Europe searching for a new dawn, a land that would free them from the torment suffered in their countries of origin.

The struggle for such "liberty" was not unique to any nationality as within their history we find a well represented being in each and every corner of the planet.

The pursuit of liberty of the inhabitants of our eldest brother, America, has never been doubted, the morality adopted by its inhabitants depends on it, they have assigned authorities to fight crime and corruption from every angle.

Thus for, the American dream is not to "make money", it is to make all of it's inhabitants agree with all social mandates, this is why they constantly support each other, and hold the right to: not be visited by the corrupted of the World.

The 4th of July in United States is a celebration of the American struggle and a love of liberty.

To all the citizens of that country our best wishes on "Independence Day!" A special salute for those living in Honduras or those who are visiting us.