| Fuel bid process in last minute jeopardy
Alvaro Morales Molina
Honduras This Week
The price of supreme gasoline went down eight lempiras a few weeks ago as a result of changes in the price-setting formula used on the controlled Honduran market. They have however gone up since. The contract for one year’s fuel between Conoco Philips and the government is meant to be signed in the coming week, but it now looks further away than ever. Henry Arevalo, owner and president of DIPPSA, the Honduran oil company that owns the terminals to be used by Conoco Philips, is nowhere to be seen which has delayed the signing of the documents that give the government the right to temporarily overtake the DIPPSA storing facilities. Also, there is rising pressure from the National Industrial Association (ANDI) on the government not to sign the contract. Conoco Philips has agreed on February 23rd as a deadline for the contract to be signed and the supply for derivates of fuel in the year 2007 to be confirmed. If it is not signed by then, they will terminate the deal.
The civil society organization Coalicion Patriotica de Solidaridad (CPS), which until now has been one of Zelaya’s strongest backers, recently issued a press release asking him to take immediate action, and to complete the bidding process. They stress that he should “not let his arm be twisted by the strong external interests of major trans-national oil companies.” The coalition is worried about the legal consequences and damaging affect on the Honduran business climate that not signing the contract could lead to. Sarahi Silva of CPS proposed that “not to sign would be the biggest political mistake of Zelaya’s career.” If the government fail, the CPS threaten them with numerous and large scale strikes.
Zelaya, in response, told the press that he was disappointed with the change in tone from the CPS, arguing that “now, now, at this moment when I need it the most, they left me.” He claimed to be one of the most interested in completing the bidding process.
In addition, Conoco Philips recently added a safeguard clause to the contract, and this has made many legal advisors in the government cautious and stimulated criticism over the process as a whole.
Juliette Handal, an honor witness of the bid and president of the CPS, pointed to the positive aspects of the process, highlighting that Hondurans are forecast to save more than $120 million per year from changing the previous pricing formula. However, she stresses that the country need to go on with the process since she believes that would improve the current market conditions that she describes as a collusion and oligopoly between major oil companies. Handal suggests that Honduras should pass legislation similar to the Chairman Antitrust Act in the U.S., which forbids monopolies and unfair competition.
Handal became particularly interested in fuel prices in 1996, when she was a Minister for Investment for the government. She met an international consultant named Thomas Stigerwold from the World Bank, and he explained to her that Hondurans were paying too much for their fuel.
Through further research, she found that the “government was incapable of knowing how much fuel was being imported, so did not know how much to tax the trans-national companies.” Secondly, she claims that the “reference price used by the trans-nationals since 1992, the Caribbean Price, is invented. It only existed in Honduras and small islands in the Caribbean. According to Handal, it is $0.08 per gallon higher than the oil price from the Gulf. She is also critical of the fact that the “trans-nationals owned completely and vertically the fuel the market.” They owned everything from importation, land transportation, delivery, storage, and insurance to sale.
She argues that “signing the contract will bring more transparency, quality, quantity and income tax into the Honduran fuel market.”
However, large parts of the business sector have opposed the bidding process, since it doesn’t bring Honduras closer to open competition. Fernando Garcia, General Manager at ANDI, believes that the main goal of the bid has been accomplished, since the price setting formula agreed upon between the oil companies and the government was recently modified by Zelaya, resulting in substantially lower prices “The main objective was to lower the price, not to have the bid process,” said Garcia, “and that is already done.”
“There will be no more decreases in price, that is for sure,” said Garcia, “even if we signed the contract with Conoco Philips.” ANDI agrees that the process was favorable for the country, but feels that “we have to concentrate in more important things, like finding new alternatives of energy, like ethanol production or hydroelectric projects.”
Garcia suggests that instead of signing the contract, the government should liberalize the market, which is currently controlled by the government, and that this will generate healthy competition. He points out that there are already governmental organizations that will fight the oligopolies and promote competition and there are laws that should be upheld.
On the question on possible legal or international consequences of not signing the contract with Conoco Philips he answered that the process is changing so fast that he would not like to comment.
Educational reform introducing constructive teaching methods
Louise Wallace
Honduras This Week
Louise Wallace/Honduras This Week
Honduran school children celebrate prospect of better education.
"2007 will be the year of educational reform," promised President Manuel Zelaya. And indeed, the year has begun with perhaps one of the greatest reforms in the Honduran system of education. Using a scheme of modern text books and a new curriculum, the intention of the Ministry of Education is to transform Honduran methods from instructive to constructive methods of teaching.
"We want our children to be able to analyze; to think for themselves; to utilize and share their own knowledge," explained Luis Bustillo, from the ministry's Department of Curriculum Design. "The new curriculum serves to build these skills, rather than simply dictate information."
The new text books, in Spanish and Maths, incorporate interactive exercises, colorful pictures and examples that are relevant and interesting to the children. They encourage the student to think independently, as oppose to simply learn facts - the basis of the traditional system of education. If the reforms are successful, they will be extended to both the Natural and Social Sciences in 2008.
In the Oswaldo Lopez Arellano School, Tegucigalpa, the new curriculum has been used by first grade students since 2006.
"Already we have experienced great success," confirmed Angelica Suyapa Mejia, a member of this institution and one of the first teachers in the country to use the new curriculum. "Previously it wasn't until the end of their first year that the children could write, now you see great improvement in only three and a half months." The children also seem to appreciate the changes. "My pupils are evidently enjoying their new lessons. It is important that children have fun at school, because it stimulates their learning and encourages their own sense of motivation."
Though a total 1.6 million of the country's children commenced or continued their education in the last two weeks, for many families in Honduras the so called ´bread of knowledge´ has to be sacrificed for the more immediate sustenance of rice and corn tortilla. It is therefore no surprise that the areas of Copan, Santa Barbara and Lempira, among the poorest districts in Honduras, are also the worst affected by the national 18% rate of illiteracy. Thus the new reforms also include projects to assist those with no access to formal education.
"At the moment there is only a 62% cover in pre-basic education" confirmed Hector Bardales, Coordinator of Basic Education at the Ministry of Education. "This problem is amplified by the fact that many of the parents whose children aren't attending school are themselves illiterate, and can not support their children educationally."
"Already there are several initiatives, including the radio programs IHER and Educatodos, that provide instruction informally up to the sixth grade." The government intends to expand this system, increasing the number of Community Educational Centers, which provide educational support to those who can't attend school, from 3450 to approximately 4500.
"In order to compete in the modern world, we need to reform our system of education", stated Luis Bustillo, in explanation of 2007's reforms. Yet it is evident that the Ministry will need the support of the teachers. "There aren't enough text books for each child to have, so the teachers will have to use them creatively," continued Hector Bardales.
"Initially, when we began to use the new curriculum, we suffered the typical fear of the unfamiliar," stated Angelica Suyapa Mejia , in explanation of teacher's reactions. "Yet it is satisfying to see the improvement that children have made. Already in second grade they are beginning to compose short stories they never could have achieved had they followed the traditional education."
Not all responses, however, have been this positive. "There are some teachers who feel that they haven't had enough input in the formation of the new curriculum," warned Hector Bardales, when asked whether 2007 will be a year without strikes. "Yet we sincerely hope that unlike last year, Honduran school children will receive 200 days of education in 2007."
"You have to remember this is an extremely large change" reminded Angelica Suyapa Mejia. "And many of the teachers have only had one week's worth of training in preparation for the new system." She concedes there remains a great deal to be done. A severe lack of resources, dissatisfaction among teachers and chronic disorder still plague Honduras' educational system.
"Most of all what we need is a change of attitude - by teachers, parents and educational leaders," continued Angelica Suyapa Mejia, in evaluation of the country's problems. "Honduras is a third world country. We need to be worried about education." Yet this sentiment is shared - by President Zelaya, by Marlon Brevé, the Minister of Education, and by the many international organizations whose assistance has been vital to the development of Honduran education. And though 2007's reforms will not be enough to solve all of the country's problems, they are considered by all a step in the right direction.
Students unite Houston and Honduras against pollution
Louise Wallace
Honduras This Week
Courtesy of Bay2Bay
Students from Puerto Cortes cleaning up the beach on the Cortes bay. In an exercise of international cooperation, St John's Episcopal School in Puerto Cortes and St Francis' Episcopal School in Houston have united in the fight against water pollution. The two institutions, whose shared Christian faith served to facilitate the project, completed investigations into the environmental health of their local ports - Puerto Cortes and Galveston Bay.
"The results from both areas were similar" observed Victoria, vice principal of St John's in Puerto Cortes. Measurements taken by the children in both countries indicated an alkaline pH of 9 in their ports, as oppose to the natural pH of 7. Furthermore, both schools detected the presence of ammonium nitrate and nitrate nitrogen in their waters. "The project served to show us that it doesn't matter where you live, water pollution is a problem that affects us all."
The students from St John's and St Francis' lead the project themselves, giving them a sense of empowerment and community responsibility. "The children are keen to pass on their findings, both to students in local schools and to the local communities who use this contaminated water to drink." Among a list of initiatives the children hope to enact locally, include campaigns to raise awareness of local environmental problems and of the importance of boiling water to avoid contracting disease due to water contamination. Already students from both schools have completed a walkathon and a beach clean up.
Not only did the project serve to increase the student's environmental awareness, it provided technological education, as the children set up podcasts, slideshows and their very own internet site: www.bay2bay.com. Yet from the perspective of Victoria, equally important were the bonds made between the children in Houston and those in Honduras. "Already some of them plan to meet up. We hope to complete future environmental projects with St Francis'. In fact, many of the children ended their correspondence with the invitation: see you in Cancun, Mexico, in 2008."
Police and civil society struggling to solve gang problem
Alex Jones
Honduras This Week
Archive/Honduras This Week
Tattoos, symbols of Central American gang culture. Police officials from Los Angeles and areas in Central America met last week to discuss how to address the ever present problem of organized gang culture across the region. However, according to Melvin Alvarado of Proyecto Victoria, a non governmental organization (NGO) working in Honduras trying to do just that, "working to solve the problem of gangs in Honduras is like trying to stop a boat sinking by bailing water out with a small bucket."
"The gangs are, perhaps, even more powerful than the police," says Alvarado. "It is a very serious problem…they are involved in organized murders, drug and gun trafficking, and are often addicted to drugs themselves." They are also "responsible for a lot of petty violence and vandalism."
In one example, on the 24th of December 2004, just outside Chamelecon, 28 people were killed when a group of people forced a bus to pull over and then sprayed it with bullets from AK-47 rifles. The gunmen left behind a note claiming to represent the Cinchonero People's Liberation Movement and that the massacre was in response to tougher government legislation against gang crime. Since then, one of the two biggest gangs in Honduras, the Salvatrucha 13, or MS 13, has been connected with the ambush.
"As many as 75,000 Honduran men, women and children are involved with a gang across the country," estimates Alvarado. Of these, "most are concentrated in the poorer areas of San Pedro Sula and Tegucigalpa, the two richest cities." However, he admits that no one knows the exact figures, pointing out that, currently "the police are estimating the figure at 70,000 and the media at 35,000." The total population for Honduras country is 7.2million (UN 2005).
In trying to tackle the problem Proyecto Victoria breaks down the term 'gang member' into four categories: sympathizers, new members, active members and leaders. Of these, the NGO "aim to focus their work on the sympathizers," saying that it "is very dangerous for new and active members to leave a gang, but it is less dangerous for sympathizers, it is not considered to be a betrayal."
Renan David Galo, captain of the police Division for the Prevention of Maras (gangs) in Tegucigalpa, agrees that the sympathizers are the people who are most likely to leave the gangs. For this reason the department is focusing a lot of their work in schools in the most affected areas.
The department organizes "fifteen, one hour lessons over three weeks" for all children attending classes. They also hold a "two day conference for teachers, police, judges and attorneys and meet with groups of child workers and parents with the aim of educating them about the problems of being part of a gang and how to notice and avoid gang activity." Galo believes that this "will solve the problem in part," claiming that "more than 80% of the people they have worked with so far have managed to avoid getting involved with a gang."
However, there are many factors that lead to increased gang activity, according to Galo. He pointed to family disintegration, truancy, unemployment, a loss of values, the influence of the media and immigration/deportation. Alvarado pointed also to the fact that "there is no longer a compulsory military service that the government can oblige you to do if you aren't doing anything else" and suggested that "children are overprotected by the law…for this reason older gang members are getting the younger members to commit crimes, and the judicial body cannot do anything substantial about it."
Both Alvarado and Galo also pointed to Sangre por Sangre (Blood for Blood), a specific film that, they claim, had a "major influence in publicizing and spreading gang culture." They were both in agreement that there should be "more censorship in the media."
The situation is such that "over publicizing the problem seems to lead to an increase in people joining the gangs" says Alverado, adding that "the media is no longer allowed to show big or detailed pictures of gang members, because in the past those gang members have gone on to be rewarded." Galo added the example of Nicky Cruz, a gang member turned Christian crusader. Converting to Christianity is the only way for a gang member to safely desert a gang. Thus many, including the department for the Prevention of Maras in Tegucigalpa and Proyecto Victoria, aim to work with the Catholic Church in discouraging gangs. However, when Nicky Cruz crusaded against the gangs he gave details about what his life as a member was like. According to Galo, "people from the poorer areas went to hear his speeches, but instead of getting the Christian message they got the maras message, and used Cruz's experience as a model for forming their own gangs."
Galo believes that governmental legislation against the maras has become a mere political enterprise. Though Manuel Zelaya advocates a reconciliatory approach to the problem of gangs, both Galo and Alvarado feel that "in reality he is pretty much the same, just less public than Ricardo Maduro," the previous Honduran president, who advocated a hard and tough approach. Galo points to Article 332, introduced by Maduro in 2003. "It was meant to make him look strong…but in fact it is almost useless." Galo explains that the article "is linked to U.S anti terror laws and attempts to make it illegal to be a gang member by criminalizing 'illicit association' with identified maras." However, unlike the judicial system of the U.S, the "Honduran courts cannot make it fit with their constitution, which claims everyone to be innocent until proven guilty." Galo suggests that a prosecution lawyer "could try for 'illicit association', but they would lose because the defense would just point to the constitution."
The conclusion of last week's meeting in Los Angeles was that police from all countries affected should together make a plan to prevent gang activity, share their intelligence about the history of known members, search for fugitives and exchange police between the U.S and Central America. They will meet again to develop and revise the execution of these four points in El Salvador in April.
UNCAF Nations’ Cup:
Disappointment for Honduras
Sasha Arms
Honduras This Week
The 2007 UNCAF Nations’ Cup, held in El Salvador, has been a nail-biting affair for Central American countries this year. Panama was celebrating this week as the country came out at the top of Group 2, securing a place in the 2007 CONACAF Gold Cup this June. Things for Honduras unfortunately did not go so well initially.
After losing their first match against Costa Rica 3-1, they went on to draw with Panama 1-1 in their second and final match of the group stages. Scorers of the two goals for Honduras in the group stages, Emil Martinez and Ubaldo Guardia, showed great skill in the matches. Nevertheless, Honduras finished last in Group 2 and went on to play the losers of Group 1, Nicaragua, for fifth place. This final match for Honduras, played on Thursday in San Salvador’s Estadio Cuscatlan, saw Honduras win 9-1, also winning the final Gold Cup spot. Wilmer Velasquez fired in four goals and Saul Martinez scored a hat trick.
A relatively disappointing year for Honduras in the UNCAF Nations Cup, seeing as it was just last year that Honduras was playing Costa Rica in the final, losing the title in a penalty shootout (7-6). Nevertheless, this year has been an exciting tournament for Central American countries as a whole, which will end this Sunday 18th in the Grand Final.
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15 million lempira armed robbery
15 million lempiras were stolen in San Pedro Sula this week in an armed robbery described as the biggest one in the history of Honduras. An armored vehicle owned by the Wackenhut company was due to collect money from 15 companies and the hold-up occurred at the final company on the route. Two men wearing Wackenhut uniform got out of a car and removed pistols from their briefcases. The guards of the armored vehicle were told they would be killed if they didn’t oblige, and the men subsequently left with the 15 million lempiras in the vehicle. Suspects who are currently being held for questioning include the drivers of the Wackenhut armored vehicle and the guard at the building.
El Heraldo
Detective in Anti-Kidnapping Unit Assassinated
Rony Ayala was attacked in his unmarked pick-up on a boulevard next to the Tecucigalpa airport by four hit men in two cars using AK 47 assault rifles and 9 mm pistols on February 13. Ayala, a 39 year old agent in the Direccion General de Investigacion Criminal (DGIC), played a key role in the San Pedro Sula anti-kidnapping unit’s recent breaking up of some organized crime kidnapping groups. The head of DGIC, Benancio Martinez, speculated that an insider must have tipped off the professional assassins because only a few officials knew that he was in Tegucigalpa.
La Tribuna
Anti-corruption march a success but not entirely un-corrupt
The Great March against corruption took place on Boulevard Suyapa last week and was considered to be a huge success. People wore t-shirts with anti-corruption messages, and displayed large posters and dressed-up domestic animals to attract attention against corruption. However, despite the fact that the march was supposed to have no political interests involved, it has emerged that the Liberal Party breached this by spending thousands of lempiras to pay activists to attend.
The National Council of Anticorruption (CNA) has demanded that the Liberal Party explains these actions, which are ironically being described as being inherently ‘corrupt’.
El Heraldo
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