April 20-23 are days in which Christians commemorate the death and resurrection of Christ. It is a time for meditation and renovation of the faith, and for many, a time for rest and relaxation.

It is customary in Honduras that this holiday is extended to what is called Semana Santa or Holy Week. This year, the official vacation will extend from the 19th to the 23rd. This means that 70 percent of country will be paralyzed while everyone rests on the beaches, rivers, mountains or far, far away in the quiet of their own home.

The summer oven is at full blast in Honduras, which makes this week the internal tourism apogee. The hotels will be packed, but it is worth knowing that there are still some marvelous, out of the way places that are advertising paradisiacal settings awaiting to be discovered. And that is the whole idea -- to travel, to look around and find these new places and their charms.

The industrial centers and the capital city take a breather and are like ghost towns during this week, except for the Catholic processions that take place in every town in Honduras. These processions have special characteristics, like the flower and sawdust mosaic carpets in colonial Comayagua, the palm fronds in tropical San Pedro Sula and the bells in every mountain town nestled in pine forests.

It is a time to meet with family and friends and enjoy the fresh air and trade winds on the North Coast, to eat clams and fried fish in the Gulf of Fonseca on the Pacific coast, to take a dive in the many cool rivers that run through our land and to see more smiles in the sunburnt faces of all.

It is very special to see thousands of numerous Honduran families travelling together, eating a picnic by the shore, laughing and just being at peace in a wonderful country we call home. This is our time for our young summer loves, of adventures and days that will live forever in our memories.

We at HTW recommend that everyone take this opportunity and enjoy it, to seize the days of Honduras. It is that time of the year again and it is high time we had a healthy break to rest our tired bones, minds and renew our spirit, forgetting the past.

Make sure you do your shopping with time, remember the country will shut down for a week, be careful on the roads and tell your neighbor to watch your home while you are gone.

Then, lay back and enjoy our sun, our mountains, our rivers and our seas and remember why it is a holiday.

In her speech during the recent Inter-American Development Bank's annual meeting in New Orleans, U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said that with the help of the IDB, many member countries have gone on to privatize state-run enterprises, reform their regulatory systems and modernize their economies. She expressed much satisfaction, saying that the this corresponds to political reforms without precedent in our region where customs tariffs go down, investments go up, dictatorships go out and democracies come in.

It was a brilliant and elegant speech from this admirable woman. The sad note, she said, is that the fruits of growth have not yet ripened in every country. She described domestic economies in comparison to macro economies where the main weaknesses of the U.S. allies are hunger and the need for education. All of this requires immense financing that is not readily available, since there are other priorities like peace and hemispheric stability in places like Colombia, Peru and Ecuador, just to mention a few.

At this moment, the theories of globalization and privatization are placed on the backburner.

We recognize the enormous efforts by the United States to help its friends in America in the face of European accusations that the external debt and economic slavery of Latin America are caused by U.S. economic politicks, when the opposite is true. The presence of the United States is not only logical, Latin America itself requires and asks for it. This has made the United States the leader, setting an example and strengthening democracy in the hemisphere.

Is Latin America one unique entity? No. Its ethnic, cultural and racial diversity will always cause a variety of opinions and policies. Each country wants to be and in reality is different. At the moment, a few economic blocks have formed. Mainly, Latin countries want to be original. But, after so much trying to become developed, it would be best to think of all of the choices, that is, to take the best examples the world has to offer and apply them.

Out of the depths of Mrs. Albright's discourse we find that the biggest opposition to the best ideals continue to be corruption, the social elite, illiteracy, demagogy, delinquency and the population boom, all of which are incurable maladies that almost demand a violent response.

Latinoamerica is sick and only through sacrifice will it move forward toward development, and then, when we confront this utopia, the goal will be another and another and another...

Now that Al Gore has gone over to the "Elian must be allowed to live in freedom" side in an appalling and transparent bit of political opportunism, there is really nobody to vote for in the American political campaign. The pathetic rhetoric, self-delusions, and criminal distortions of the Cold War have come back to haunt America.

The other day the self-righteous and tiresomely partisan Senator John McCain expressed his indignation that young Elian should grow up in a society where women "are forced into prostitution." He meant Cuba. Of course, there is no prostitution in the United States, right senator? Except of course for politicians, Michael Jordan, Hollywood, not to mention hundreds of thousands of men and women pinioned in one form of self-dismemberment or the other, and under the control of a merciless economic reality.

So, dear reader of the Gringo strain, vote for whom you like minus my interference. If I should vote, it will probably be for Pat Buchanan, but you won't notice me exactly prancing down to the ballot box. Before you vote, however, please give some thought to the distinguished Bush family of Maine and Texas. There is the dowager empress, Barbara, the former president and Yale first baseman, George the I, the governor of Florida who answers to the jaunty moniker of Jeb, the investor in fraudulent S&L scandals in Colorado, Neil (presently lying low) and George W., the governor of Texas, former president of the Texas Rangers, and Republican candidate for president. I believe there may be another son as well, but I cannot place him. He is not the governor of any state, as far as I know, though Nevada might be a likely prospect. He would get the Las Vegas vote, for sure.

Now, either the talent pool in the United States is very low, or the Bush family is extraordinarily brilliant, possessed of leadership abilities well beyond that of ordinary mortals. There is, though, another possibility, is there not? It is that the Bush family is exceptional only for the degree of its sense of entitlement, its relentless ambition, and with an unsurpassed capacity to "kiss up" to the power elite, a combination of qualities that make their ascendancy all but inevitable.

Last week, however, there was some modest, low-keyed, and nearly unremarked reportage of a story that is revealing. You remember Manuel Antonio Noriega, the thug who became the president and dictator of Panama. The path which Noriega followed to power was labyrinthine, but could not have been accomplished without his special relationship to his jovial American buddy, George Bush, when the later was CIA director, and then vice president. However, the advantages made available to him when he became Panamanian president were too much for Señor Noriega. He became involved in the Colombian drug-smuggling operation, and filled with hubris, drunken with power and arrogance, he began to thumb his nose at his master, now become president of the United States, George Bush.

From the condo-top where he perches, George Bush does not "appreciate" having anyone disrespect him or what he represents. The United States, accordingly, staged a costly mid-night invasion of Panama, which had but one real purpose; to locate, arrest, and punish Bush's erstwhile friend, Manuel Noriega. The fact that Noriega, however unpleasant a fellow, was the head of a supposedly sovereign state was totally ignored. He was hauled off cringing meekly to Miami, and after a rigged monkey trial overseen by president Bush, he was sentenced to 40 years in a U.S. federal penitentiary.

Big mistake by Noriega. He had let it be known that he knew things about Bush the president would find embarrassing. Now, he found himself in a place where he could not threaten Bush, or anybody else. Instead, he has reportedly found Jesus. He has been a model prisoner, and his sentence has been reduced, so that he is scheduled for parole in 2007. One may be skeptical about the depth and sincerity of this conversion, but who are we to judge another's heart, when we have so little activity to evaluate. Evaluating the heart of more active public figures is much easier.

Recently, former Panamanian head of state, Noriega, and now the more or less private federal prisoner of the former U.S. head of state, came up for early parole. His lawyer cited again his good behavior and changed character. This request was denied. The critical factor in the decision of the parole board was a letter from former President Bush requesting that Noriega not be paroled on the grounds that he might be resentful toward Bush and wish to retaliate against him.

Manuel Noriega would not be human if he did not resent George Bush. If he does not put up a picture of Bush in his cell and throw darts at it, it can only be because he is not allowed to have darts. But the likelihood of his ever being in a position to threaten the comfortable retirement of the former president in his comfortable Houston penthouse is very unlikely. The notion that George Bush should be able to continually manipulate the justice system and keep Noriega away from curious reporters is insufferable. The fact that he is doing now when son "Dubbya," or "scrub," is poised to return the Bush family to the presidency and the plutocrats they unfailingly represent is far from a coincidence.

I presume the American republic can withstand the ambition and arrogance of the Bush family. But our friends in Latin America, including Honduras, should be forewarned. The re-ascendancy of the Bush family and their cronies will mean a return to the "bad old days," of the unblushing imperialism that regards the rest of the world as little more than a market to be exploited and protected.

You could ask Manuel Noriega, if he ever gets out of jail.

By DON PEARLY

We are all told that Abe Lincoln studied by the light of a fireplace, that Mozart composed by candlelight and that Galileo invented wonderful things by the light of an oil lamp. My question is, didn't any of these wise men think to do some of this work during the daytime?

As I sit in front of my blank computer screen, searching for a great topic I know something about, looking for some facts of great interest, a mind bending category to discuss with you, I ask myself, why did I not do this during the daytime? Why now, when everyone else gets to go to sleep?

I guess this is the price I pay for taking a small but fun-filled vacation. I visited California and Nevada over the past couple of weeks and had a grand time. Spending 16 nights and three days in beautiful exciting Las Vegas was just about enough for now. We climbed to the top of the Eiffel Tower, rode the canals of Venice and shopped in A.E.O. Schwartz, a big-small version of the biggest toy store in New York.

As I stood in massive lines to do anything, I was reminded of the fact that there are very few lines to hassle back in beautiful Guanaja. It is definitely a trade-off: would one stand in a long line for a 7-11 type Slurpey, for a Haggandaz Cookie-Dough Ice Cream, for a Caesar's Pizza? My answer: yes, anytime. I miss those foods lovingly called "junk." One tends to get tired of delicious, healthy seasoned/baked whole grouper caught fresh that very day, of wonderful conch ceviche, of fresh vegetables and fruits, and one craves greasy hamburgers and French fries instead.

Vacations are good, however, they put things back into their proper prospective. I am glad to be back.

While I was in Las Vegas, as I approached a crap table or a roulette wheel, I remembered the words of that wise man Will Rogers, "The quickest way to double your money is to fold it over and put it back in your pocket." I neither lost or won a cent, but had a great time watching. I was also reminded that it was Will himself who said, "there are three kinds of men: The ones that learn by reading, the few who learn by observation, and the rest who have to piddle on the electric fence for themselves." Graphic to say the least.

Recently, we at Bayman Bay Club enjoyed a visit from Ms. Wendy Griffin, a fellow contributor to the HTW publication. Wendy was on a fact-finding mission looking at before, during and after Mitch stories among other timely topics. She was kind enough to jump-start me when I suffered writers block and wrote down a series of topics she herself would like to see discussed. One was about scuba diving, so here goes.

Scuba stands for self-contained under water breathing apparatus, meaning a human can play fish and enjoy all of the underwater miracles alongside of one of them. It is a terribly clumsy hobby on land or on the boat due to all the extra weight one must carry. There are the fins, the mask, the wetsuit, the weight belt, the regulator, the gauges and of course the heavy metal air tank. Fortunately, you also wear a BC, which stands for buoyancy compensator. This is a May-West, or a life jacket that inflates with the touch of a button, making the diver heavy or light or just perfect for a zero gravity experience.

Now, once you manage to struggle and waddle and wiggle into the water you become a graceful creature of the sea. You can raise or fall, swoop and strafe, hover or speed through the clear water just exactly like a seal or a porpoise. It is a unique feeling and one that cannot be duplicated outside of a space flight in a no-atmosphere condition, something 99 percent of us will never experience. I relate it to flying or souring because you can position yourself at, say sea level, allow some air out of your BB, and begin a dive downward. You can modify it without even seeming to move a muscle and veer off to the right or left and circle a bit then go down again with the feeling of total freedom. No wings, no motor, no ties to the world.

Once you are where your dive master thinks you will be the most productive, you can level off and achieve that perfect balance and simply hover at, say, 45 feet under the water's surface. It can be raining above you, rough seas all around you but you are comfy and secure at 45 feet. Coming to visit might be a giant sea turtle, a nurse shark, a group of groupers, some eels, maybe a huge silvery school of baby fish all swimming in perfect unison. Having been a diver since Jock Crussto and I first discovered the sport (not to be confused with the world famous French diver, Jock Crussto was a haberdasher in Pittsburgh where I grew up).

I could go on and on, but the best thing for you to do is take a course wherever you may live, get the nasty paperwork portion out of the way, and come on down to Guanaja, that's Guanaja with a "G," and do your open water certification in the Caribbean.

Howard Rosenzweig's "Copan Update" column in the Feb. 28 edition of HTW seemed to highlight the unwillingness of Honduras' tourism industry to work together and adopt new tools such as the Internet to market its products and services.

I think, however, that it's probably unfair to suggest that this lack of will is solely a Honduran-grown phenomenon. I believe it's a trait that is common among businesses anywhere in the world which neither understand the concept of good marketing nor appreciate value of new communications technologies.

It's unrealistic to expect that you will attract a huge and instant following within Honduras' tourism industry on any proposal that seeks to bring its players together for any common goal. There are just too many people within the industry who are either suspicious of your motives or skeptical about your ideas.

Besides, I suspect that there are still many hotel and resort owners and managers who may not fully grasp the countless ways a well-designed website can expand business opportunities. I'd be willing to bet that many people would still prefer to pay thousands of dollars for color ads in travel magazines.

The key to uniting the Honduran tourism industry on a common alternative business strategy is to slowly and painstakingly create a network of energetic, creative, and visionary people within the industry. That's what business associations are all about. These people will hopefully serve as a core group which would then educate and bring everyone else along.

Thus, the inherent question in Mr. Rosenzweig's piece should not be... "Why does the Honduran tourism industry not recognize a good opportunity when it sees it?" But rather... "How do we, the promoters of the opportunity, do a better job of selling such a great idea to the industry?" The onus should always be on the leaders, not those who are expected to follow.

Marco Caceres
projecthonduras.com

Judging by your editorial about Cuba [Feb. 7 edition] I guess you endorse the proposition that loss of one's freedom is worth free medical care and a good education system. It reminds me of what one observer said of the Soviet Union in the 1920s when he returned, "I've seen the future and it works." That same sort of naivety fills your article.

I would advise visiting Cuba first and see the fear people have to communicate with foreigners because the secret police are watching. While the capitals of Central America have beggars, I can't recall seeing people petrified of being caught communicating with foreigners. I might add this is much after the Cold War in 1999.

I recall the Stalinist-style purge trials Castro hosted in the late 1980s where he basically betrayed his most loyal supporters to preempt their possible popular succession of himself in some way. There they sat drugged on camera while they were "convicted" for trafficking drugs to the United States -- Castro grasping for power like Stalin in the 1930s, extracting "confessions."

I'm not going to continue laundry listing abuses of Castro because they are many, but close by saying your article sounds like something clipped and pasted from the Peoples' Worker or some other communist party periodical. It sounded informative and fair all the while omitting the facts. I had a glib feel to it, like it was saying, "All of you ignorant people who listen to the human rights groups and the United States listen to us enlightened people." Let's all be objective rather than swallow propaganda like this.

Live free or die.

John Monti, Jr.
Bakersfield, CA

I could not believe it when I heard the news about Al Gore's position in the Elian Gonzales case.

I have always been a Democrat, but I won't be voting for Al Gore, and will do anything in my power to persuade the Hispanic community to do the same.

So much for family values. I gave him the benefit of doubt (read look the other way) with the fund-raising issue with the monks. I also overlooked his change of mind on abortion issues (I am pro-life), but this is the last straw.

As a father of a kid the same age as Elian, I know the boy's place is with his father. We should not have fallen into the political game of the Cuban community in Miami. Who are we to say in which system he is better off? Cuba does not have the drug abuse problem that we do, or school shootings, while they have a lower illiteracy and child mortality rate than the U.S., and a better universal heath care system than we do.

I think that our embargo has hurt the Cuban people more than Castro has, and I have to give credit to a country that has been able to survive such cruel measures that any other Latin American country would not survive even for a few weeks.

Just a few months ago there was an illegal mother from Honduras in California who died from cancer and her three-year-old daughter was deported a few days later. I didn't hear any politician campaigning for her to stay here because they thought she would be better off in the U.S. You would say that there is no tyranny in Honduras but there is. As in every other Latin American country, the tyranny is the elite supported by transnationals, mainly from the U.S., to keep the people uneducated and poor.

I would rather have a President with some personal flaws (that I don't condone) that only concern his family but that has been, in my opinion, one of the best presidents that this country has ever had, than somebody that flips and prostitutes his principles for political gain.

Say "Adios" to my family's vote and to those of every Hispanic person I have the power to persuade. By the way, this won't be to hard to do since the Latin American community resents the bias when it comes to immigration policy toward Cubans.

Dennis Villanueva
Lowell, Massachusetts

The March 25 article about the Honduran Tourism Institute report was interesting, but left me scratching my head. Tourism was actually up in 1999? Even after Hurricane Mitch? I thought resort owners were complaining that business was slow. Didn't Howard Rosenzweig write that hurricane-focused journalism was keeping tourists away?

And the article says that a third of tourists are North American, and 6 percent are European. That's 39 percent -- where is everyone else from? Do that many other Central Americans come here? Japanese? Taiwanese? Is it a kiwi invasion from New Zealand?

Well, if tourism was really up in 1999, I suppose it should absolutely explode this year.

Eric Timar

Tegucigalpa

EDITOR'S NOTE: According to the Honduran Institute of Tourism, the rest of the tourists came from Central America (30 percent), the rest of Latin America and the Caribbean (3 percent), the rest of the world (1 percent) and unknown (27 percent).

(DARK) HUMOR

In 1996, I asked then Vice President Guadalupe Jerezano why, in defiance of law and international covenants, children were being routinely incarcerated with hardened adult felons. She replied: "Honduras is a poor nation. We don't have the resources to build separate facilities. Besides," she added, visibly annoyed, "children are just not a priority at this time. We face other serious problems."

I bet, like the "Chinazo" passport scandal? Abuse of power? Government misappropriation of funds destined for public works?

Children, not a priority? I found the vice president's argument offensive but, in retrospect, revelatory and emblematic: Honduras' baffling -- if habitual -- dawdling in the face of crisis is firmly anchored in the proposition that when everything is a crisis, nothing is a crisis - so why bother?

Take garbage. Traveling by bus from San Pedro Sula to La Entrada (I was continuing on to Copan Ruinas) a young student tossed an empty can of soda out the window.

"Why did you do that?" I asked.

"What, and dirty the bus?" she answered with righteous indignation. I looked at the roadway below. The kid has a point. After all, what are endless ribbons of road, deep ditches, lofty embankments, towering bluffs, verdant gorges and forested ravines along some of the nation's most beautiful turf, if not to jettison cans, bottles, fast food containers, plastic bags, banana peels, soiled diapers, used tissue and other refuse?

Aware of my discomfiture, a Canadian backpacker laconically observed: "Don't bother to understand. Garbage is just not a priority at this time. The country faces other serious problems."

Yeah, like covering the tracks of Candido Amador's killers? Or protecting landowners and cattle ranchers against the legitimate claims of the Maya-Chorti? I stared at heap after heap of waste lining the length of the highway. They still adorn every inch of road, from Teguz to Tela, from La Ceiba to San Pedro Sula, from Comayagua to Danli.

If garbage were legal tender, I muse, Honduras could be one the richest nations on earth. But Honduras has other priorities.

Take tourism. A couple of years ago, troubled by the lame translations, twisted grammar and wretched spelling of the English-language texts published by the Honduran Institute of Tourism (despite failing grades, the Institute has since graduated to "Ministry"), I offered to review all tourist literature and to make the necessary corrections -- gratis. My proposal was met with derision.

"Well English are not now the priority," I was told in the same pidgin syntax found in travel brochures. If it were, I muttered under my breath, the HIT would have had the decency to hire an articulate spokesperson.

If, if, if.

-- If only politicians spent their term cleaning up the mess -- instead of enthroning yet another mighty dynasty to rule over a growing mass of impoverished peons.

-- If only "La Nueva Capital" fixed its streets and sidewalks, tore down the skeletonized remains of buildings ravaged by Hurricane Mitch, picked up its garbage, turned vacant tracts into flowering gardens -- instead of parking lots; if it enacted (and enforced) ordinances against noise (read drivers enamored with their horns); if it banned diesel-fueled vehicles within city limits; if it installed portable lavatories so that desperate people would not be forced to drop their pants and defecate in full view of the public. (Urinating from the bridges into the river below, an act of self-validating machismo, may take longer to discourage).

-- If only Department of Public Works employees did not have a scandalous scorn for engineering codes and the immutable laws of gravity (read the Bailey-type bridge that collapsed recently).

-- If only municipalities set aside funds to shelter the homeless and the mad.

-- If only police officers were thoroughly trained and well paid.

-- If only schools taught the virtues of punctuality, self-discipline, professional ethics, and respect for public order and tranquility.

And on and on.

Hurricane Mitch put an end to many priorities, including, surprise, surprise, the need for an urgent, swift and thorough national housecleaning. It's been two years. Millions of dollars have poured in. The patchwork repairs are curiously out of balance with the huge aid package Honduras received. Where did the money go?

Says "Carlos," a buddy of mine and part-time philosopher who sells defective TV antennas and used batteries in the peatonal:

"Don't be naive. Reconstruction is not a priority. After all, there will be other hurricanes, no? And the country will be laid to waste once more, and more aid will flow from nations intent on appeasing their conscience into the very deep pockets of people who have none."

The Honduran Minister of Defense, Edgardo Dumas, said last week that the "the Armed Forces have opened their doors to the Comptroller General's Office to be investigated." This headline from La Tribuna would have been impossible to print 20 years ago, when the military had absolute control inside and outside their doors.

Minister Dumas has demonstrated with his statements that the total supremacy of civilian power over the military is an irrefutable fact. National defense is in the hands of a civilian who has received the full cooperation of the military without any restrictions. At the same time, the minister said that "this is a revolution of truth," meaning that the military are subject to investigation by the corresponding agencies of the state.

This, as we have said before, is in accordance to the present circumstances of the country that demand an exact accounting of the internal proceedings of the Armed Forces (FF.AA.), because it is a national investment that derives from the sacred taxes of the Honduran people.

Democracy is democracy when we all know about it and act in accordance to its principles and ends. The chief of the FF.AA. is a lawyer "sin pelos en la lengua," that is, he is not afraid or shy of saying anything, and he loves the law and good customs. His mandate has not had any crisis and has been vertical, placing the law first and the selfish interests of the dealers-turned-military last. The evolution of the military lately has been historical, and we could say that the internal restructuring has been well taken by all but a few.

The crisis with Nicaragua regarding the maritime boundary has been a clear demonstration of the pacifist spirit, to a normal extent, that today embodies the military. The military are to coordinate joint patrolling of the oceans after a solomonic compromise was reached.

In the past, we have written many bad things about the Honduran Armed Forces. On this occasion, we are not going to praise their conduct because they are human beings subject to human codes of conduct. We do, though, recognize their advancement toward the strengthening of our democracy and this we praise.

Those days of anguish are over when the military spent their time waiting for advancement and becoming chiefs. This seems to have become secondary. What is most important now, is justifying their salaries and showing exemplary citizenship.

Nothing is forever and things are changing for the better.

A few years back, some friends and I pooled our money and purchased an old dilapidated "house" on the waterfront in beautiful downtown Puerto Castilla, Colon. The place had been a beer joint and dance hall downstairs, with "hotel rooms" upstairs. It was in need of many repairs, but it was perfect for us, as we all like to ride motorcycles and the big concrete dance floor was great for working on our bikes.

After lots of hard work and considerable expense, we turned the upstairs into a place we really liked and could be comfortable in. We had a big area open to the sea and spent many pleasant nights admiring the lights of Trujillo across the Bay.

Then came Mitch. The eye of the storm passed right over our place and, needless to say, did considerable damage. While we were trying to patch the place up, our watchman left us. A few days later, we met Dr. Steve Foster, the head of "Corazon a Corazon," who was in the area delivering aid to the unfortunates in the Mosquitia. He offered to use our place as his headquarters and not only to guard it, but said he would fix it up also. We trusted him and left him with it.

Once when the doctor and his crew had to be gone for a few days, he hired a watchman from Guanaja by the name of Erik Moore. Big mistake. This "watchman" proceeded to steal and sell everything he could, including the doctor's boat. Dr Foster did everything he knew how to have Moore arrested, to no avail. Soon after this, Dr. Foster and crew abandoned our house without bothering to notify us until months later.

When Moore heard that our house had no guard, he returned and completely stripped the place, even stealing the windows and toilets. He hired a boatman in Trujillo to haul the booty to Guanaja. From the sheer quantity of stuff that he took (refrigerators, beds, furniture, diesel generator, windsurfers, etc.), this must have taken some time -- days even. He was arrested for riding one of our motorcycles and crashing it, but was released the next morning so he could get on with his stealing.

The police in Honduras are very good at harassing motorists on the highway and collecting bribes for imaginary infractions, but God help you if you expect them to carry out the duty's they are supposed to.

Watch out for Erik Moore. He's not worried about the cops.

Doug Breeding
Ex-Honduras visitor
via Internet

By ALEJANDRA PAREDES

Special to Honduras This Week

Learning to speak, read and write in the English language is very important for young Hondurans, as it is for other cultures of the world at this point in time. The reasons for this are numerous, but I will stress two I consider most important. First, English is a powerful tool for education in every field. Second, the increasing number of foreigners who visit Honduras, especially from the United States and Europe, makes it important for locals to have knowledge of English as a second language.

All throughout the 20th century, the United States created a way of life where information played a leading role. Newsletters, magazines and textbooks were developed (and still evolve online) to instruct and inform on the various fields of human knowledge.

This vast existence of information resources published in the English language explore and inform extensively on every theme imaginable. Medicine, science, history, art, entertainment, sports, finances, humanitarian causes, current events. In order to be updated on these and many more subjects, full command of the English language is a must for the young professional and entrepreneur.

Another good reason for speaking English here, is that Honduras is a country with a promising future in tourism, as well as business. In the middle of America, Honduras is a country likely to undergo important industrial, as well as touristic growth. Its proximity to the United States and access by sea to both the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans makes this even more likely.

So, in order to communicate with the visitors, it is important for the locals to be in good command of the language. And it is a fact that English is the most popular of second languages in places as far away as India and Japan.

In this era of technology and communication, business and travel, the English language is a powerful tool for investigation, development and communication. It is also a crucial language to get together with the members of other cultures and share impressions, thoughts and knowledge.