OPINIONS & EDITORIAL

Monday, June 24,  2002 Online Edition 23

Law Files

Being conscious of the fact that Honduras is signatory of agreements made during the time of the Central American Federation, and that a batch of national laws made during that time are still valid although not applicable, we feel it is necessary the government revises these laws and annul them.

We understand that it is the responsibility of the National Congress to possess a documentation center of this nature. The vicinity with the National Congress enables the legislative body to carry out research of this kind and hence avoid duplicity of the law, competition amongst them in time, and space, and the jurisdiction.

One of the greatest burdens that our country carries is the lack of information, we have to acknowledge we lack the culture to compile with the necessary reverence the historical information available. This mis-information, and the general lack of culture makes us neglect our obligations.

Just a few days ago the government proclaimed that we are now in the evidence presentation stage of the case concerning our border differences with Nicaragua. These are the times when serious analysis of historically important documentation is required.

Documentation in this country has not been managed scientifically. To date, we have just two institutions that manage national documentation, the national archives, and the national library, both severely under-funded. Politicians have made the job of running these entities a safe heaven of their partiality. More than 20 years ago we met one of the directors of the National Library of San Jose, Costa Rica, he still has the same job. In the same amount of years, in Honduras, all the personnel have been changed at least twice.

It is important to point out the quality of work done as it is vital for our future, and for our history to count on reliable information and thus avoid such conflicts as the current situation as with Nicaragua.

Thus for, it is urgent at this time and age when technical assistance is less expensive, to organize at least one national institution, that will consistently study the aspects of "politician proof," and achieve permanent validity.

TPS, TIME IS RUNNING OUT

Dear HTW:

I would like to ask what is so special to Mr. Dee Belveal writing that warrants so much attention of your publication? 

No other than the President of the United States has graciously granted a TPS extension to our compatriots in the US. Proof of the solidarity the American People have demonstrated through decades of political turmoil and natural disasters in Honduras.

As a US citizen and tax payer, I give permission to the US government to allocate funds and spend the share of my taxes on aid packages to third world nations in Latin America, Africa, and Asia, which includes Afghanistan by the way. There are many more like me here in the US.

Enough of rambunctious writings that beat around the bush with veiled implications and poorly worded analogies of the plight of illegal Hondurans and the worldwide war on terror; Time is running out for TPS beneficiaries, and they should get organized to solve their situation. They should be warned of this, not scape-goated for recent world events like Mr. Dee Belveal seems to imply. 

Honduras and its people are a firm ally of the US, ask Mr. Colin Powell in the State Department.

Eduardo A Sanchez
Via Internet

HOSPITAL OR PRISION?

Dear HTW:

I am an evangelist, working here in Honduras since 1997 and living here since February of this year. Today the pastor of our church and myself had one of our members in the Hospital Escuela here in Tegucigalpa. She had received major surgery that lasted 20 hours last Friday and Saturday. 

To make a very long story short, we were denied access to the hospital and could not get past the front gate. To almost anyone with knowledge, the medical facilities in this country look like a joke and when the administration of a hospital charged with teaching doctors has no regards for basic patient rights to spiritual counsel, then those ideas are confirmed. As a result of this, a whole generation of incompetent doctors with no regard for spiritual counsel is graduated and finds their way into the doctor's offices of this country. It is completely unconceivable that the administration of a hospital would neglect the spiritual welfare of their patients. 

Honduras will arise out of this total mess when they begin to respect the rights of the people. Today the rights of the people are not respected at all, neither in the Hospital Escuela nor in the recent actions to allow Police to enter people's homes without search warrants. I for one don't trust the police, I personally witnessed a whole truck load of police officers run over a man on Ave. La Paz just a month ago. They hit this man, a pedestrian, with their truck, knocked him about 15 or 20 feet, backed up their truck and drove around him and left. They did not check to see if he was alright, they did not seek medical attention for this man. They are criminals, without any sense of right or wrong, and I don't want them to have the right to enter my house. Should a person feel safe in Honduras? Absolutely not.. 

Thanks, 
Timotheo Posey
Via Internet

Monday, June 17,  2002 Online Edition 22

On granting open police access into every home in Honduras

By LORENZO DEE BELVEAL

According to a June 9 dispatch from Associated Press, Honduras has authorized its police and army units to enter and search private homes without the almost universal need for first obtaining search warrants.

“The measure is being taken because the state of law, a fundamental pillar of democracy in Honduras, is threatened by common and organized crime,” Interior Minister Jorge Hernandez stated in a news conference”.

Certainly the incidence of violent crime in Honduras is a proper cause for both universal concern and Herculean efforts to control it, but any reasonable individual must harbor great reservations about the propriety of granting police and army units open access to private property without first obtaining legal authority to do so. A plethora of sad and recurrent experience is the best indicator that present and former police and army members tend to be most conspicuous among the well-recognized list of prominent and persistent Honduras criminals.

Giving these known and potential miscreants open access to private homes, whenever they choose, and without needing to show any legal justification for their invasion of private domains, is tantamount to giving the fox a pass to the chicken house. The logical expectation from this kind of unrestricted authoritarian license is for more crimes against people and property, rather than less. To the mind of anyone familiar with the criminal involvements of present and former police and army members, the mere idea of granting them free access to private homes is worse than inane - it is utterly senseless! It is an open invitation to lawless abuse.

Without claiming any exhaustive body of evidence to support the case, this reporter is of the opinion that there is no other civilized nation on the planet that grants its law enforcers such open access to the private homes of its citizens. Both statutory and common law are in firm agreement that “a man’s home is his castle” and can not be invaded by authorities of any kind, except by judicial authority granted on a prima facie howing of probable criminal activity. Moreover, this authority can only be granted by a competent judge. It is not an option within the operational prerogatives of a uniformed cop.

Presidente Ricardo Maduro deserves high marks for his earnest attempt to bring Honduras crime under control. There can be little disagreement with his objective among decent citizens everywhere. However, to seek to control law-breaking through the voiding of the citizen’s principal protection against official excess is to saddle Hondurans with a “cure” that is much worse than the problem it seeks to address. His noble objective is lost to a wrongheaded methodology.

If, as Interior Minister Jorge Hernandez put it in announcing the new authority, “the state of law, a fundamental pillar of democracy in Honduras, is threatened by common and organized crime,” then with the imposition of this new rule, the state of law, a fundamental pillar of democracy everywhere, is being directly threatened by the Government of Honduras, itself!

Greater respect for law is not engendered by the blanket abrogation of the fundamental rules of conduct defining the way the enforcers of said laws must interact with the civil population. A policeman in a civilized society does not exist as a law unto himself. Or, if he does, he is no longer a “peace keeper”, but a loose-canon in the streets of the city.

This high-handed, ill-advised imposition on the Honduras population smacks of desperation and a police-state mentality. These are not the characteristics that candidate Don Ricardo Maduro carefully sought to show the voters during his canvassing for votes. He did his best to come across as a reasonable and reasoning man, who combined the strength and judgment to lead Honduras to a better future than their past had provided.

This new-found storm-trooper mentality is at great odds with the man who said he wanted to be “a new kind of Honduras leader”. To now impose this kind of rough-shod procedure on a largely defenseless citizenry is as morally wrong as it is legally reprehensible.
If Honduras is, indeed, a Democracy, then this kind of authoritarian license has no place in its civil law-enforcement activities.

If, on the other hand, law-enforcement requires open access to every home in the land - on the independent motion of the uniformed, armed, man standing at the threshold, then Honduras is no longer a Democracy, it is a military dictatorship.

Do not take this desperate step, Don Ricardo. Honduras deserves better treatment at your hands. Do not burn down the national house, in the interests of getting rid of an infestation of cockroaches. 

What war on crime?

DEAR HTW:

The so called zero tolerance that is in effect in Honduras is the biggest joke in the history of Honduras . The only person who has benefited from this so-called zero tolerance is President Maduro himself, this was the sales pitch that got him elected. The reality is there is no zero tolerance, in matter a fact there is 100 percent tolerance to crime in Honduras now. Just take a look at two sad and unfortunate recent events 1) the kidnapping of a seven year old boy, and the President himself begging and pleading with the kidnappers to return the boy unharmed. 2) The kidnapping and murder of former Diputado Panting, whose dead body was found on the streets of San Pedro. As a matter of fact there is probably more crime now then before the zero tolerance. It is very sad to see the president himself, whose own son was kidnapped and murdered, begging and pleading with kidnappers. If they were able kidnap and murder Panting after the family paid the ransom and get away with it, imagine what can happen to the average Honduran citizen. 

The sad reality is that Honduras is a free for all in crime, crime in Honduras does pay. This is a country that without an official civil war declared, its people are killing each other with out a political motive but instead with corruption and greed. It is sad to say, but Honduras has fallen to the greatest corrupter known to mankind, the greed for money and power. 

Life in Honduras is cheap, it has no value in this country, and everybody in Honduras knows this. President Maduro and the Honduran people should be sad and ashamed that the so called zero tolerance and war against crime is being lost. The only ones at fault are the good people of Honduras and the government of Honduras that continues to tolerate and allow these crimes to occur. Honduras must adopt and ask for help to fight crime from other countries that have been able to control crime. 

I recently visited Honduras and when I arrived at the San Pedro Sula airport, I immediately noticed the lack of security at a international airport. Any fool knows that most passengers going or coming into the country carry large amounts of cash not to mention high profile people which in a country where daily kidnapping occurs is important There is no real security there when you arrive or departing from the airport, not to mention the lack of security in the road from the airport via San Pedro. This is the worst I have seen of any other country I have visited in the past. 

Zero tolerance means no tolerance at all. There must be swift and hard punishment to the offenders, War against crime means war and in war death is inevitable. People must die and suffer that means to all who commit crimes in Honduras swift and hard punishment awaits you and death and suffering is inevitable. And until the people and the government of Honduras do not face this reality and get together and practice this, only misery and pity awaits Honduras. 

Doc L.C.H. 
Miami, Florida and Puerto Cortes, Honduras
Via Internet

Politics and spoken deals

It is not difficult to establish, by means of a small formula that, each time I can, I forgive you and that currently the nationalists and liberals are striking arrangements well outside known legal parameters. Neither is it difficult to establish that these agreements are illegal and corrupt.

The phenomena of forgiveness amongst the parties happens at the exact moment in which the adversaries have won the elections, and within the first five months of the administration, shortly before firing the employees of the opposite party. This is the moment of greatest affection between both “buddies”. In this historical encounter they mix hugs and papers.

But this is a rule we don’t know about nor can we find it in any logbook of political arrangements. But, the method is successful because thanks to this system public thieves are not jailed, and slowly but surely files are modified and adjusted to fit the politicians best interests.

Forgiveness is not the right of any party. The law in our country forgives those whom under sentence have been condemned; pardon is possible, but only the corresponding judge may grant it.

We find it reasonable that sin occurs when the State is at stake, or as a matter of duty. But crimes committed for personal benefit are atrocious, as this mocks the inherent reason of Honduras.

For example we could say that the project: “Ciudad Mateo” won’t do any ecological harm to the Laureles reservoir. However, it is clear damage will be so great that, as soon as this housing compound is inhabited, the beneficiaries of these waters, will have to migrate or look for solutions to overcome the filth. On this matter we can not even dream that, the manager of SANAA will stand up in favor of the affected Tegucigalpans.

This scenario is just the tip of the iceberg of the heavy load carried by the Honduran. Still the corrupted say they are persecuted... Start combing the monkey.

Ignorance has won ground in Honduras. Politicians with banker’s apparel, one should see them with their new ties, and a permanent sign on their shoulders that reads: “slimy and corrupted always at the service of Honduras”.

They have betrayed our country, they have spit on it’s face, they have sold it for 30 coins, they have ill spoken of it, they have injected drugs into it, they have robbed the banks, and they are still at the palace waiting for us to fall asleep again. Even the newer parties have aligned themselves with the traditional parties for a price.

At times we think off the benefits of having Bin Laden in a cave in Honduras would bring. 

Monday, June 10,  2002 Online Edition 21

Delinquency: Out of Honduras!

Quite accurately, President Maduro, has expressed that, the war against delinquency is not just the job of some, but of us all living in Honduras.

The struggle has been less severe in the past. Perhaps because the population was more disposed to fight crime. In 1849, the executive branch found it fit to have all towns frequently patrolled by crime judges that would stop and persecute all delinquents, clause 4 of such decree reads: "punishment will be two to 300 beatings by the stick according to the fault.

In modern times, the origin of delinquency in Honduras could be credited to the times of the Cold War and Hurricane Mitch, but with the added burdens of unemployment, and out of control demographic growth. The most difficult task to undertake from the previous is, that, there is no statistics office
to analyze criminal records in order to predict and get to know more about this social evil.

It is obvious that, in the 90s the national army disposed of its military intelligence frames. Making us stand out as the only army in the world without such a capacity.

Part of the immediate past included the method of exerting justice by it's own means without visible action. Today, justice has improved but it is still very expensive.

The loss of control within the administration is the economic factor. Each year the police receive 50 thousand complaints, which are never totally covered. 

Around us we have a weapons market being provided by neighboring countries with astounding figures. It has been said that, one AK47 could cost anything from $20 to $80.

Yes, we have the laws, but we do not have enough people to control them nor to execute them.

Much at fault are those who made us active part of the Cold War, forgetting that, when the house gets dirty it has to be cleaned.

Among the advantages that criminals (the mobs) possess, is the manufacture of their own weapons. Fortunately the mobs are in the process of extinction, a by-product of their natural social re-incorporation.

Several are the proposals brought forward by our society in the attempt to eradicate crime: by means of greater citizens' participation in terms of vigilance, as well as all forms of eradication and the isolation of criminal acts.

The security scheme is large but necessary, we have to protect the life of all honest citizens. In this hard battle, the state's roll should also include civic campaigns to induce its citizens to achieve a healthy social co-existence by showing their children the road to goodness.

We have to work on crime prevention as the best method to fight it. The crime against Reginaldo Panting was atrocious. President Maduro is right in saying: Crimes committed against our society are against all of us, and no one else.

The long road to humanity

By STEVE D. WILSON, Ph.D. 
Special to Honduras This Week

History teaches us that civilizations are built on corpses. It is the same old story; greed still outweighs wisdom in the council of those in power or authority; fear remains to the powerless and savagery is the outcome against those who protest the might of the empowered. 

The record speaks for itself. There exists in Honduras, a tight web of people who are part of the social disorder using terrorist tactics for personal gains and nothing is done to prevent these select few from terrorizing the weak and powerless. Can anyone walk safely in any city or outlying area in Honduras without being assaulted and possibly murdered by these thugs? 

Terrorism, by definition, is an act of violence, by one or more participants against innocent people engaged in normal and legal activities thus depriving these people of their rights to live in peace.

Therefore terrorists are terrorists by any name. Whether they prey upon a single set of individuals (Americans) or against a social order, the degree of the terrorists' mind-set is of a minor distinction (whether as an single individual or as a group) because their premise is to inspire fear and gain control.

What to do? Terrorists are classless and do not obey any laws of any nation and should be treated accordingly. Therefore governments need to make a commitment to take the war on terrorism to the terrorists. The decision must be firm-this is not a war against nations but against organizations and individuals who manipulate the social order of their sponsored sanctuary so as to carry out their senseless slaughter against innocent people. The terrorists need to be captured or killed if they offer resistance. The captured should be treated as terrorists and not as prisoners of war. 

They should face military tribunals for their crimes and not civil courts where a media frenzy may undermine justice. The Geneva Convention is not applicable-nothing justifies terrorism. 

These terrorists, who indiscriminately kill children and civilians, should receive equal treatment and thus governments should selectively assassinate or remove terrorist's leaders and any murderous terrorist; disrupt their cells; arrest their followers and confiscate their bank accounts. Only then will terrorism be brought to a halt. 
When are the people of good conscience going to wake up to this danger from within? That is the point.

IS REFORESTATION POSSIBLE?


Dear HTW: 
I agree with Ixchel Granada's article 100% about Honduras needing this project. I have spent over $10,000.00 of my own money, not counting the time and effort to organize "The ASEARCH Foundation" (see web site at: www.theasearchfoundation.org) in order to assist Honduras. 
In Jan. 2001, I called the Honduran Embassy in Washington, DC, explained what we were doing and asked for a contact person to coordinate with, they forwarded my call to a Mr. Zapata who was not in and I left a message for him to call me. He did not and I then re-contacted the Embassy and got Mr. Zapatas e-mail address, sent him an e-mail and still received no answer. 

On June 25th 2001 I sent a letter to then President Flores explaining our project and asking for a contact person; No answer from anyone in Honduras. In January 2002 I sent a letter to the now President Maduro, along with a copy of the letter I had sent to President Flores, asking for the same contact; To-Date no answer. In May 2002, I contacted the Honduran Consulate in Miami, Florida and talked to a Mr. David Howell, asking for the same contact and information reference labor laws and imports for a nonprofit; to-date, No response. The program was referred to the head of Honduran Natural Resources in April 2002, by a friend of mine in Olancho, asking for a contact and for information to assist us with our import needs, with no response. Now I find that some parts of our Program have been copied and money received from the World Bank by Honduran organizations to do reforestation projects. 

We now see that Honduras has become a violent Country and we could not possibly subject scientists, faculty and students to this environment. The shooting of the ex-U.S. Ambassador's son and the kidnapping and killing of business people, most especially Mr. Panting has convinced us that it is too dangerous and that someone powerful within the Honduran Government does not want us in their country! We will accommodate them. We are now in the process of changing our program and web page to reflect another country that is more educated and understands the importance of environmental issues, ecotoursim and reforestation. 

We had no intentions of coming to Honduras to disrupt the economy, just the opposite, we wanted to work with the Government and help the Country. I will be happy to provide you with copies of the letters sent to Honduras and the Names of those who hand carried them to the Presidents. We hope that one day all of Honduras will realize what they are doing to the environment by destroying the Forests. We just hope it will not be too late, when all the streams have dried up, the land has become a desert and all the people have become illegals in the USA. 

Everett Grundon 
Founder / Project Mgr. 
The ASEARCH Foundation

Monday, June 3,  2002 Online Edition 20

We are all in the same boat

It's been three months since President Ricardo Maduro began a battle against merciless criminals. Despite having a very personal style, his plan is supported not just by a specific sector of the country's society, but rather by all. By those of us who are not criminals but rather the true citizens of Honduras.
The international arm of crime that embraces our country is one of the main obstacles of the eradication process. 

A while back, we noticed that the place of choice for unloading stolen goods, especially antiques, is in the countries north of Honduras. Unfortunately, the Central American police corps have not worked together, except for on a few specific cases, a fact that makes us think it would be wise to increase information exchange and thus improve efficiency. 

Criminals throughout the region know one another. Frequently they convince members of the different police forces to join their ranks or use their influences to get them rotated as frequently as possible, thus escaping detection.

The diversity of criminal acts in our region is leaving serious and unforgivable traces of bitterness and feelings of impotence in our citizens. These feelings explain the position of several sectors that demand more severe punishment for law offenders such as castration and the death penalty, which are totally opposed by the Catholic Church.

In the past and as a response to crime, some societies used to organize "social cleansing" squads. This practice was eventually denounced, and as a consequence, criminality rose. 
Some of our readers have written to us to confirm whether or not Honduran immigrants in the U.S. are imprisoned in that country. Our reaction was surprise, as we know these people have left Honduras for a very different reason, the search for a better life. However, it is true that a small percentage of them have fallen into the claws of crime, and if they come back with those ideas, they will certainly find resistance here as well. 

Although high crime rates are relatively new in Honduras in comparison to other Central American countries, it is also true that police authorities from all five countries have been uncooperative with each other, claiming matters of national security. 

As we mentioned previously, we are under the impression that national authorities are fighting against crime without taking into consideration the permanent supply of international activity. This fact must be analyzed correctly. 

Work against crime has been an arduous task, and serious achievements have been attained. A remarkable one is the creation of the Tourist Police in the city of Tela, news met with joy, as it lead to an automatic decrease in the crime rate, while tourism has begun to re-emerge strongly. A clear sign that honesty also pays.

The people must support our authorities unconditionally. This is not about political parties, it is about surviving and social coexistence. For a long time now, we have been observing a pair of thieves who snatch chains off people's necks on Boulevard Miraflores in Tegucigalpa. Their names are Oscar and Will. We know where they live, their civil status, profession and origins. 

Our attitude to them has been limited to rolling up car's windows and locking the doors while waiting for several years now for our authorities to uncover them and bring them to justice. At the present time, they have been missing for around three months, and we are waiting for a follow up of their story. 

It is imperative to do something now, or soon we will find ourselves submerged in a culture of crime. President Maduro must be aware that all the Honduran society is standing right by him in this battle, and that we all repel crime. The president's task must be everybody's task. We don't want to hear accusations from one person to another every time an innocent life falls... we are all in the same boat.

The United States of America as banker, policeman and sanctuary for excess populations

By LORENZO DEE BELVEAL
Special to Honduras This Week

As had been so truly said, some people are never satisfied. The long line of potential beneficiaries of the world's only remaining super-power are clearly having trouble coming to grips with the fact that even a super-power lives within its limitations.

Example: Mexican Presidente Vicente Fox clearly evidenced his outspoken disappointment recently, with the failure of the United States to legislate permanent status to millions of Mexican illegal immigrants who have opted for life on the north side of the Rio Bravo, rather than domicile in their own native land. This in spite of the fact that establishment of branch plants in Mexico by American companies is said to comprise the fourth or fifth largest source of non-farm income and commercial employment in Mexico.

This economic benevolence, however, does not even come close to meeting Mexican expectations. In addition, Mexico looks to the United States to accept and regularize millions of their illegal 'transplants' into the national territory of their northern neighbor - and make the illegal invasion permanent via some kind of statutory enactment. And to do all of this in the name of "good neighborliness"!

Honduras offers a different case, but with a similar end result. As a proximal result of "Hurricane Mitch", a tidal wave of illegal Hondurans fled north, in search of improved economic opportunities. 

In recognition of the human hardships involved in their native land, the United States enacted a Temporary Protection Statute which had the effect of affording the illegal Hondurans sanctuary, pending the post-hurricane clean-up and restoration that was ostensibly going to be bankrolled by countless millions of dollars in foreign donations, loans, etc.

But Hurricane Mitch arrived in 1998. 

This is 2002. The Temporary Protection Statute has been extended three times, and Honduras still seems no closer to welcoming its fleeing thousands of storm refugees back today than it was a year or two ago. Instead, the present effort increasingly seems directed to wangling statutory arrangement to enable the Honduran illegals to obtain some kind of legal status that will enable them to remain in the U. S. permanently, rather than returning to the land of their birth.

The Temporary Protection Statute, it now seems obvious, is in the throes of being somehow rendered permanent. And the illegal Honduran immigrants who were afforded temporary humanitarian safe haven from the ravages of Hurricane Mitch are now seeking ways of making their temporary arrangement permanent as well. 

At the risk of placing needless emphasis on the perfectly obvious, this turn of events was not contemplated in the original arrangements. The Temporary Protection Statute was foreseen to be a temporary measure, in response to what was presented to be a temporary crisis.

Or is this merely nit-picking, deemed unworthy of a great nation?

Argentina has recently been filled with economic travail borne of an ill-starred decision to "dollarize" its economy; This, on the illusory notion that the fiction of a dollarized economy would somehow free Argentina from the harsh realities of the usual fiscal restraints. 

But in due course Argentina made the disastrous discovery that - whether pesos or dollars - the fundamentals of arithmetic do not change enough to make any noticeable metamorphosis in the bottom line of national bookkeeping. Two-plus-two stubbornly remains four - whether pesos or dollars.

Now Argentina seethes with resentment that when their fiscal folly resulted in a melt-down of both their domestic economy and their banking system, the United States did not promptly ride to their rescue with additional billions of dollars to prop up their flawed and floundering monetary system. 

The implication seems to be that, since Argentina got into its financial mess via the abuse of borrowed dollars and dollar indebtedness, it is somehow the responsibility of the United States to provide the wherewithal to save the Argentine system from the predictable results of its own wrongheaded economic excesses.

These are but three examples in which the performance of the United States has fallen far short of the full expectations of present and potential beneficiaries. Except for inflexible limitations of space, the list could be much longer. 

What it amounts to is that hopeful recipients of super-power largesse recognize no limitations on the potentials of same. They view the charitable parameters - and the implied obligations - of their larger contemporary to be almost - if not entirely - limitless. Hence, failure to fully meet their lofty expectations tends to be chalked up to mean spiritedness and national stinginess, rather than very real strictures based on harsh economics and practical political realities.

The realization has yet to permeate the national awareness of the nations seeking help, that even a super-power faces real limitations on its functional and fiscal generosity. The political and economic demands involved in being the world's policeman, its banker, its protector and its haven for excess population may at times even outstrip the capabilities and resources of a super-power. Beyond this, the American taxpayers - from who all the hoped-for economic blessing must necessarily flow - do not see it as their obligation to serve as a money-tree to a planet full of admittedly needful, if improvident, sovereign charity cases.

Americans are a charitable people, but there must be limitations, even to charity.

So what's wrong with this global equation?

Begin with the fact that global priorities are dictating their own terms. The war on terror has relegated everything else to second or third place as concerns U. S. Congressional, Cabinet and Presidential attention. With United States security hanging in the balance, and the next terrorist strike providing the central theme for an international guessing game, trade agreements and comparable "business as usual" concerns necessarily wind up on the back of the administrative stove. 

With Pakistan and India poised eyeball-to-eyeball across a fragile line of engagement- and nuclear weapons ready to enforce the decisions of their battle-line commanders, relative trivialities like commercial trade arguments, diplomatic flaps and whaling agreements tend to pale in terms of importance. Without doubt these secondary topics of international concern will continue to receive little more than careful neglect until such time as the future of the world as we know it is somewhat more simmered down and reliably assured.
This kind of world-wide interruption in what amounts to international pending business may try the patience of many, and shake the confidence of others, but it is really quite unavoidable. First things first, as we say. Especially when the future of our planet is mortally threatened.

Whether we like it or not, September 11, 2001, changed the way the world works. The old procedures are no longer either adequate or applicable. The objectives of a great nation have ceased to be those of mere optimization, and have become the more basic concerns of survival in a frighteningly dangerous world. Until this menace is met and dealt with, everything else is assigned to a secondary order of importance. This means everything!
How could it possibly be otherwise?

So what will happen to Presidente Fox's wish for regularization of Mexico's millions of illegals now hiding out in the United States of America? What will happen to the Honduras hope for a permanent solution for those "paisanos" presently caught up in the limbo of a TPS that has been tenuously extended for one more year? What does the financial future of Argentina hold, as its banking institutions and, indeed, its basic social institutions tremble in the awful grip of an unprecedented fiscal crisis.

The answer to all of these questions - and more - is "only time will tell". But in the meantime, the future of the planet hangs in a balance between destruction by terrorism and survival via the good offices of the United States of America and a handful of like-minded allies. The issue, to re-use the ancient challenge, "remains very much in doubt".

It doesn't require genius to understand which areas of concern deserve primary attention in these confusing times.

And that will get it.

RESPONSE TO MR. JACK WALKER

Dear HTW:

This letter is in response to Mr. Jack Walker's letter that appeared in the Readers Forum section of Honduras This Week. Swan Island Development, LLC is a Las Vegas, Nevada based development partnership and as such is a U.S. based corporation not a Honduran corporation. Mr. Walker's Swan Island Development Corporation , S.A. is a Honduran corporation not a U.S. corporation, so Mr. Walker is making a non-relevant statement.

Swan Island Development, LLC, has the resources to develop the Swan Islands, Mr. Walker may or may not have the resources to develop even his small project that he has envisioned for the Islands.

The main point however, is that Honduras does not need another small dive or eco-resort located on the Swan Islands. The islands do have a small reef located mainly off the N.W. beach , it is not a significant reef to interest most divers in comparison to the reefs off of the Bay Islands. Building a small resort on the islands would be competing with the other Bay Island resorts and thus, not be helping the economy of Honduras or the Bay Islands.
The proposal for the Swan Islands as we envision it would not compete with the Bay Islands or the Main land hotels and resorts, as we are not targeting the Dive or Eco-tourism markets

The Swan Island Project as we envision it would bring in hundreds of thousands of tourists to Honduras that would not have considered vacationing in Honduras. The project would provide thousands of jobs on the islands and in support jobs on the mainland. The Swan Island Project would give the youth of Honduras a promise of a better future, through our scholarship program for college students wishing to work on the Swan Islands.

Mr. Walker is not taking into consideration what would be best for Honduras and is being selfish in his unwarranted attacks on a project that he could not get accomplished with his efforts.

The statement that Mr. Walker makes about the islands not being able to support the number of residents and tourists, is very small minded. The Principality of Monaco is roughly 75% the size of the main island and supports 35,000 residents and thousands of tourists at any one time. We believe that we do have a environmentally sound proposal for the development, and as Mr. Walker has not seen our proposals does not have any information from which to give his opinion.
Swan Island Development, LLC is giving Honduras the chance to make a statement to the tourism industry and the world, "Honduras is no longer looking to the past, but the FUTURE".

Sincerely,

Kevin E. Morrill
President
Swan Island Development, LLC
A Las Vegas Limited Liability Company
Via Internet

SWAN ISLAND DEVELOPMENT

Dear HTW,

I thought that after seeing the letter from Jack Walker in you readers forum, that you could possibly still be an unbiased and journalistic newspaper. My opinion was changed after reading the biased editorial comment by Mr. Rosenzweig in the Travel and Tourism section. 

Mr. R while he has shown some ability to write, he obviously lacks the mental skills to think. He also lacks the journalistic skills to investigate a story before expressing his opinion. 

The Swan Island Development Company while not succumbing to Mr. R's expertise on the feasibility of investing two billion dollars in the Swan Islands, we feel is better to accept the expertise of Economic Research Associates a world renowned company with the credentials of doing work for Disney, Universal and Sun International, owner of the Atlantis Resort on a small island in the Bahamas. The Atlantis resort and other developments on the small island largely owned by Sun International, will surpass the two billion being proposed to be spent on the Swan Islands which are roughly the same size. 

Mr. R like most other journalist like to write only about the negative side of anything, without looking into any of the positives of any project. While two billion is a major investment for Honduras is approximately the average investment in most of the other developments that our group has been involved with.

I have no knowledge of the other ship project mentioned by Mr. R in his ramblings, and do not see any purpose in it except to cast dispersions on the Swan Island Project.

The Swan Island Project will be good for Honduras and it's people, and the project is proceeding on schedule despite pundits like Mr. R and your biased rag you call a newspaper. Hondurans one day will realize that there are reputable business people that do want to invest in and believe in the future of Honduras. 

The greatest satisfaction I will receive is seeing the smiling faces on the guests and employees, as they arrive by the first cruise ships and commercial jets to the Swan Islands.

I am sure that you will not have the courage to print this reply.


Kevin E. Morrill
President
Swan Island Development, LLC