By WENDY GRIFFIN

Christmas is a special time in the Mosquitia. In Miskito "barrios like Punta Fria and Punta Caliente, the sound of tambaku dances with live Miskito bands punctuates the nights in November and December. Members of churches prepare four-part harmony Christmas music in the Miskito language, accompanied by guitars. Children learn games called rondas, which are played on Christmas morning and practice their part in the Christmas story pageant.

This year, though, the largest church in the Mosquitia, the evangelical Moravian Church, is in crisis. This crisis has reached such proportions that the Puerto Lempira Moravian Church has been under court order to be closed for three months, says Miskito Scott Wood. A special investigator was scheduled to visit the Mosquitia in December to see if the problems are serious enough to warrant cancelling the personaria juridica or legal charter of the Moravian Church in Honduras, said Lester Wood, the Miskito lawyer for the traditionalists in the Miskito church.

According to Edgardo Benitez, who grew up in Brus Laguna, the conflict began when part of the Moravian Church decided to set up a program to evangelize the Garifunas, who are mostly Catholic. A Moravian pastor was sent to Trujillo where about 50 Miskitos also attend the Normal School.

While in Trujillo, this pastor became involved with another evangelical church. This church encouraged a 40 day and 40 night fast. This minister felt he had a revelation. He fell down, spoke in tongues and danced, not common behaviors in the Miskito church.

Through this minister, many Miskitos began changing their approach to worship. According to Allen Robinson, a TEAR Fund volunteer from Evangelical churches in England, this change developed into a personal relationship with God. People who used to use drugs and drink alcohol stopped. Church members who stole and slept with 15-year-old girls quit these behaviors.

The new reformed Moravian Church is also against many traditional Miskito practices. Going to a sukya or traditional healer is labelled as brujeria -- witchcraft. Traditional tambakus, which are usually accompanied by alcohol, chasing women, and perhaps marijuana, will probably not be held this year, because of opposition from the new reformed Moravian Church.

Benitez said, "How is it possible that at this late date, after so many years of indigenous peoples fighting for the right of their culture, the Miskitos are going to adopt a religion that prohibits their own cultural practices?" Tom Keog, an active member of the Church of God in the Mosquitia answered, "Because Jesus does not approve of these traditional practices."

The legal battle is mostly over property, although there have been actual instances of physical violence that have led to legal action against some church leaders. In Brus Laguna, there are now two church buildings in use -- one used by the members of the new style Moravian Church and one used by traditionalists. A high school in Brus Laguna and a clinic in Ahuas are among the other properties of the Moravian Church.

The clash between traditionalists and reformists of the Moravian Church has heightened tensions between Miskitos and other institutions. MOPWAI, the largest NGO in the Mosquitia, is perceived to support the reformists, says Miskito Jairo Wood. The Church of God has also actively supported the changes in the Moravian Church, explained Ton Keog. CIDLAB, the new NGO in Brus Laguna, has been asked to take sides, but has not. However, their project to rebuild the auditorium/gymnasium in Brus Laguna is complicated because the building is on disputed church land.

This change in the Miskito Moravian Church has been building for the last year and a half. Attorney Lester Wood feels the final solution will be that the reformists will have to form a separate church with its own personaria juridica. A legal judgement will have to be made as to which church will be given each property owned by the Moravian Church.

How this split will affect the Miskitos remains to be seen. The body of elders of the local Moravian Church and its pastor had replaced the pre-Christian local power structure captain for 10 - 25 villages, local headman, and the council of elders. With two such bodies in each town, the towns are now under divided leadership, where before it was a characteristic of the Miskitos to be united.

In the Mosquitia, the Catholic Church, the Baptist Church, and the Church of God are also important religiously, but the local power structure is based much more on Moravian Church structure than on Honduran customs. So in this season of love, peace and reconciliation, the Miskito society and church face the new millennium with division that will take Tegucigalpa lawyers months, if not years to resolve.

Colon ranchers lost many cattle due to Hurricane Mitch. 
(Photo by Wendy Griffin.)

By Wendy Griffin

"The advantage of Trujillo," said my friend Rigo, "is that it is very difficult to flood." As Trujillo is built on a hill that rises straight up from the beach for several blocks, even Hurricane Mitch only managed to get the beach road wet. However, the surrounding towns were not so lucky.

Chapagua is a cattle ranching village of 700 people located east of Trujillo. In the pre-Columbian period, it was the site of a district capital of Nahuatl Indians. Relics from the site are in the Trujillo museum. In the 19th century, Chapagua was a center of English-speaking Blacks who eventually mixed with other Hondurans. The town, on low lying lands next to the Chapagua River, is now populated by people of indigenous descent. Other nearby towns like La Suyapa, 25 de Abril and Agua Amarilla are recent settlements of campesinos from southern and central Honduras who benefitted from the Agrarian Reform.

During Mitch, the Rio Chapagua flooded all the houses to the waist or higher. Over 90 percent of the cattle and almost 100 percent of the cattle were washed away, says Hector Mendoza, a local landowner. The earthen houses of bahareque construction were destroyed and Mitch's winds tore the roofs off the school and cement houses. These people's belongings and the books in the school were ruined. The pipes of the water system were disturbed where they passed over the river, and the road was so badly washed out that it is still impassable a year later. At the height of the flooding, motor boats could travel over cattle pastures as far as Agua-Amarilla on the Tocoa-Trujillo road and from there to the sea.

Most people evacuated early to Trujillo. Those who remained attempted to seek refuge in the church of the community, 25 de Abril. Only 300 people fit in the church, so the rest were forced to spend the night in trees or in fishing canoes.

When relief was being organized, village leaders went to the Permanent Contingency Committee (COPECO). The people of COPECO gave nothing. "Chapagua is not a priority for us," they said. Eventually, leaders were able to receive food aid from David Harms of the Catholic Church of Arkansas and Mision Caribe, which worked in the Aguan Valley. Villagers eventually received more aid through a food-for-work program sponsored by the World Food Program (PMA), said Mendoza.

After food, the next priority was checking the water supply. The approximately 4,000 people of the seven communities around Chapagua are served by a single dam near the battalion. Each community receives two hours of water a day during the rainy season, less in the dry season. When people do not have running water, they use river water.

The few hours of water service are caused by having a storage tank of water too small for the number of people served, and the pipes from the tank are too small for more capacity. Some pipes were damaged after Mitch, and this damage has not yet been repaired.

In Honduras, many rural water systems treat the water with chlorine as it leaves the tank. This one does not, reports the director of the Trujillo hospital. The water was tested by people from Arkansas and it is of very poor quality. Diarrhea and skin infections are caused by the poor quality water.

Following Mitch, many countries donated funds for repairs. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has specifically targeted part of its funding for water projects. But how do reconstruction projects for small communities like Chapagua connect to international funding? Chapagua's local "patronato" (citizen committee) and an NGO, Asociacion Hondurena de Servicios Comunitarios (Honduran Association of Community Services) have contacted the national water and wastewater company (SANAA), but there has been no response to their request.

The school rood was rebuilt by Irish volunteers working in the area. Nuns in Trujillo were able to obtain funding for a housing project, which is expected to take all of next year. But the food-for-work project of the World Food Program (PMA) ends in December 1999. How will these people be able to work on the houses if they have no food coming in? If they work elsewhere, then the houses will not get rebuilt.

Honduras has developed no programs to help cattle ranching communities like these recover. The people have only been able to raise a few crops because of excessive rains, thought to be related to the La Nina wind pattern.

An impediment to the housing project and the operation of a medical clinic operated by the Missionary Health Service of Ohio is the lack of repair of the road. Leaders met first with the mayor of Trujillo. Under the municipalization process, he is responsible for either fixing the roads or coordinating with national agencies to repair them. The people of Chapagua got no response. Then the leaders went directly to FHIS (the Honduran Social Investment Fund) and the Ministry of Public Works and Transportation (SOPTRAVI).

These agencies promised action, that on such and such a date the road grader and dump trucks with dirt would be there. But nothing was done. Merchants cannot get in to sell. People cannot get their milk out to sell in Bonito Oriental or Leones. They used to sell local cheeses, queso and quesillo, to buyers from El Salvador, but with bad roads, they also cannot reach them. Similar complaints have been made by Colon's orange-growing industry, which also sells to Salvadoran buyers.

The Minister of International Cooperation and Technology (SETCO), Moises Starkman, came to Colon to hear which Mitch reconstruction projects the mayors wanted. Not only did they not include the Chapagua road, they did not even include repairs to the Saba-Trujillo road that is damaged in more than 15 places. Nor did they include repairs to the Bonito Oriental-Corocito road, which has a bridge that would be condemned in most countries.

The mayors wanted to use the funds to build a new Balfate-Betulia coastal road, but Starkman stopped that and insisted they submit these two important projects. "These mayors do not talk to the real local people to find out what they want," said one resident. The mayor of Tocoa, whose county had been trashed by Mitch, boycotted the meeting in disgust over the lack of concern for real post hurricane reconstruction.

Because of Chapagua's location is a flood prone, low-lying area, the residents are seeking funding for a cement community center on high ground where they could go in times of flooding, besides using it for meetings and seminars. For more information, contact Hector Mendoza in English or Spanish at < hector@david.intertel.hn >.

(First of three parts)

A few days after Hurricane Mitch hit the North Coast of Honduras, e-mails began circulating through various discussion groups that the Honduran government had said it would not help the Mosquitia. The government was busy in central Honduras and the people of the Mosquitia would have to get their own assistance and transport it to the Mosquitia as best they could. The Garifunas of Colon received a similar message, reports Angel Batiz, president of the Comite de Emergencia Garifuna. Cries of help then went out to friends of the Mosquitia's ethnic groups.

The first need was food relief. According to MOPAWI, an NGO in the area, 90 percent to 100 percent of crops were wiped out along the major rivers such as the Patuca and Rio Coco/Segovia. Edgardo Benitez, a Tawahka who coordinated Asang Launa, said the Honduran navy was contacted to see whether it would provide ships if the Wood Food Program (PMA) paid for the gasoline. "No" was the navy's response. Attempts to use Honduran helicopters met a similar fate. In the Cocobila area, food aid did not begin arriving until February -- nearly four months after the hurricane -- in part because almost no transportation was available, said Allen Robinson, a MOPAWI employee.

Different NGOs in the Mosquitia focused on specific areas. The Christian Commission for Development (CCD) provided rice, salt, lard and other food to 4,500 families in the Laka, Kruta and Rio Patuca area. Cooking kits were also provided to families who lost their houses. MOPAWI worked with the World Food Program to provide food, especially through a food-for-work program. Clothes and shoes were also distributed. Il Asagni (based in Copan Ruinas), the Rotary Project (based in Santa Rosa de Copan), the Montreal Project and Asang Launa with GTZ funding transported foods to the municipality of Wampusirpe where both Miskitos and Tawahkas live.

Most food aid programs were able to be discontinued in mid-1999 following the harvest of beans and corn. Miskitos say food did arrive, but that Food for Work does not address some of the most vulnerable populations, such as old people, single mothers and women with disabled husbands.

With money left over from the food aid project, Il Asagni was able to start a sewing project in Wampusirpe to bring in extra income, reported project coordinator Angela de Rosenzweig. With money left over from the Rotary Project, the coordinator bought supplies for a new medical center in Wampusirpe, said Warren Post.

As the principal food program is still functioning, PMA employees say they are serving the whole Mosquitia. However, they admit that when they give food, they do not help with the transportation. The community of Corinto was badly damaged by floods from the hurricane. However, when residents received food aid, they were told they had to find their own way to transport there. Finally, a newly formed NGO called MURAPA gave them Lps. 2,000 to pay for a special trip to haul the food from Puerto Lempira to the community.

Most Miskito communities along the Rio Coco are on the Nicaraguan side of the border, because originally that was where there was more infrastructure. Rio Coco communities are being helped by the Nicaraguan Red Cross, reported Tom Keog. An organization based in Mocoron, Norma I. Love, was able to meet some early food needs along the Rio Coco with food flown directly from the United States. (See http://www.hondurasaid.org for more information.)

In Brus Laguna, PMA, which received funding from USAID and the European Economic Union, did give help to fishermen who wanted to rebuild champas (booths) where they sell dried fish. Most fishermen lost their salted fish because the rains and high humidity caused by Mitch caused fungi to grow on the fish, making them unsaleable. People lost their crops, 13 people lost their homes, and just one person lost 200 head of cattle, but PMA said Brus Laguna was not a priority for assistance.

Tons of aid went through nearby Barra Patuca on its way to Wampusirpe. But little help was made available to Barra Patuca, a low lying community hurt by the flooding of the Patuca River. "I felt sorry that so much aid was going through and they were getting nothing, so I finally got them some PMA projects to replace bridges," said Lester Wood.

Immediately after the hurricane, one of principal concerns was the possibility of a health emergency, especially due to the extremely poor quality of water. Within 15 days after the hurricane, CCD began collaborating with the Ministry of Health to clean out wells. CCD also donated tons of medicine. MOPAWI helped to coordinate 22 Cuban doctors in the area and provided eight health promoters. Emphasis was given to using chlorine to purify water.

"There was an outbreak of cholera in the Nicaraguan Mosquitia after the hurricane and we were afraid it would spread here," said CCD coordinator Miguel Echeveria. "We were able to avoid an outbreak of serious diseases and we had more doctors than usual. After the Cubans left, there was no surgeon in the Mosquitia," said Zaida Calderon of MOPAWI.

CCD also donated radios to six health center and MOPAWI donated radios to mayor's offices, because people were afraid there would outbreaks of illnesses and no one would know because of poor communications in the Mosquitia. Mosquitia health centers are often understocked with medicines. "There is not even any aspirin," said a Brus Laguna nurse after recent floods and rains caused an increase in fevers and respiratory infections.

Since the next growing season began in December, agricultural rehabilitation program had to begin almost immediately after hurricane rescue operations concluded and while some relief programs had not yet fully begun. It has been estimated that it will take at least four years to return to somewhat normal production for important crops like cacao, bananas and plantains, said Benitez.

By BLANCA MORENO

TEGUCIGALPA -- Earlier this week, Honduras presented for ratification at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, the 1986 Maritime Demarcation Treaty between Honduras and Colombia. Roberto Flores Bermudez, Honduran Foreign Affairs Minister, stated that this action concludes treaty approval and exchange procedures.

This makes the demarcation official in accordance to the Vienna Convention regarding treaties and international law.

Meanwhile, Nicaragua continues proceedings regarding the maritime dispute between Honduras and Nicaragua at the International Court of the Hague. The Honduran Government has expressed its approval of Nicaragua's move and officially stated willingness to solve the problem in the international courts.

Convened by Luigi Einaudi, Organization of American States (O.A.S.) special envoy, Honduran and Nicaraguan authorities will meet in Miami on December 29 and 30. Einaudi, a veteran U.S. diplomat, also served as the special envoy for the peace talks that settled a 50 year border dispute between Peru and Ecuador.

Einaudi said at a December 20 press conference that the focus of the meeting "will be mechanisms to prevent unintended

clashes, pending a decision on the maritime boundary by the International Court of Justice."

During his four-day trip to the region, Einaudi said he found Nicaragua and Honduras "in their own ways", determined in their desire to affirm their rights, "but I also found countries that are prepared to try to affirm those rights in a peaceful way and in accordance with international law." The two countries, he added, are ultimately "the ones that have to solve the problem" and that is why "I am so pleased that the foreign ministers have agreed to this direct dialogue, this direct meeting in Miami."

Chancellors from both countries will define in advance the agenda for the meeting so as to facilitate the decision making process for the Honduran and Nicaraguan Presidents in a peaceful environment.

Flores B. reiterated that the Nicaraguan commercial sanctions imposed on Honduras will be dealed with in the Central American integration system. Einaudi's mission does not include this issue which is being handled by the Central American Court of Justice. 

By MARIA FIALLOS

TEGUCIGALPA -- During the 15th Multisector Environmental Forum sponsored by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and the United Nations Development Programme, government officials emphasized the use of energy supplied through renewable resources and incentives given to companies that provide it.

Jack Arevalo of the Congressional Energy Commission stated that due to agreements signed by the Honduran government, such as the Kyoto Protocol of 1997 that aims to reduce net emissions of certain greenhouse gases worldwide; and the Framework Law of the Electric Sub-Sector passed by the National Congress in 1995 designed to break the government monopoly of the energy sector and provide incentives to private enterprise for generating clean energy, Honduras is obligated to promote the use of renewable resources.

He also stated that providing a stable supply of electricity is vital for attracting investment to Honduras. Such is the case of the Cangregal hydroelectric project in La Ceiba that is expected to alleviate power blackouts and rationing in the city and surrounding areas. Increased energy generation will also diminish dependency on fuel imports and on the country's main hydroelectric dam, El Cajon, where a fire earlier this year knocked out 60 percent of country's generating capacity.

Arevalo stated that providing incentives for private generation is critical since investments are usually large and payments long term for big projects. Also, as in the case of small hydroelectric projects, private generation into areas with no previous service will improve the quality of life of the inhabitants and protect the environment by preventing erosion and reducing the use of firewood.

Manuel Arriaga Yacaman, manager of the National Electric Company (ENEE), stated that the planned privatization of ENEE will encourage private generation. ENEE is currently conducting initial studies of several hydroelectric projects, Patuca 3, El Tablon, Los Llanitos and others to offer to foreign investors; as well as promoting co-generation biomass projects with sugar cane and African palm growers.

The new structure of the electrical sub-sector will be divided into private whole-sale companies that generate, transmit, and distribute electricity.

U.S. servicemen from Soto Cano helping Venezuela flood victims

By TSGT. CHARLES RAMEY

Special to Honduras This Week

Soldiers and airmen from Soto Cano Air Base are currently in Venezuela supporting disaster relief efforts after massive flooding and mudslides have contributed to that nation's worst national disaster this century.

With a death toll estimated at 5,000, an additional 6,000 missing and an estimated 150,000 homeless, the U.S. Southern Command responded immediately Dec. 17, deploying one C-130 with 32 support personnel, two MH-60 helicopters and one UH-60 helicopter from Special Operations Command South in Puerto Rico to Venezuela. Within the first day of operations, the C-130 crew conducted a medical evacuation of 40 Venezuelan citizens from Maiquetia to Valencia.

Saturday, 25 aircrew members from Soto Cano's 1-228 Aviation Battalion, two medics from Joint Task Force-Bravo's Medical Element, a member of Air Force Forces combat weather team and one airman and three soldiers from Joint Security Forces joined in the relief effort. They deployed with two medically configured UH-60 Blackhawks, two additional UH-60 Blackhawks and a CH-47 Chinook helicopter.

Tuesday, an additional UH-60 and CH-47 departed with 12 more aircrew members and fuels specialists. They were preceded by two C-130s carrying three water purification specialists and a fuel specialist from Army Forces as well as the commander and a supply specialist from 1-228th Aviation Battalion.

"There are three phases to an operation such as this," said Army Lt. Col. William Braun III, 1-228 commander prior to departing on the mission. "The first phase is rescue and situation assessment. This will be followed by relocation of displaced persons and transport of relief supplies to areas where they are needed. The final stage will be infrastructure rebuilding. We are currently in the assessment stage and determining our requirements."

Braun also said as a result of the current operation there would be limited patient transport capability at Soto Cano for the duration of the operation.

Preparations for Tuesday's deployment began Monday. Members of Joint Task Force-Bravo's Air Force Forces air terminal operations center and water purification specialists from Army Forces worked with the 314th Airlift Wing from Little Rock Air Force Base, Arkansas, to load the two C-130s with a 5-ton truck and 17,100-pound water purification trailer.

"Once the trailer is on the ground and running, it has the capability to provide up to 600 gallons of purified water per hour and can run up to 23 hours per day with one hour of downtime for maintenance," said Army 2nd. Lt. Stacey Franklin, Army Force support platoon leader. "Right now our soldiers are scheduled to deploy for two weeks."

Fuels specialists will establish a forward arming refueling point when they arrive in the region. A FARP, as it's commonly referred to, gives aircrews the capability to turn aircraft faster. In addition to people, aircraft, and purification equipment, Joint Task Force-Bravo is also deploying of various supplies.

"We've been working with Army Forces, the 1-228, and Air Force's air terminal operations center to move a few requested items," said Air Force Capt. Teri Weaver, deputy director of Joint Task Force Bravo's logistics directorate.

"Some of the equipment we moved so far includes small generators, body bags, lithium batteries, and chemicals used for water purification," she added. We are currently putting together a capability guide for the task force showing what equipment we have available, and how much is on hand. It will also define, how we are going to get it where it's needed. This will help us provide a one-stop initial assessment of what we can provide to the U.S. Southern Command and other agencies on short notice."

"All our organizations at Soto Cano have worked great together as a team to make things happen quickly during this operation," said Air Force Maj. Carl Agar, deputy director of Joint Task Force-Bravo's operations directorate. "We are still monitoring the situation and I'm sure we will be called upon for further support. When we are, we will continue to execute the mission in an outstanding professional manner."

By BLANCA MORENO

TEGUCIGALPA -- Luigi Einaudi, Special Envoy of the Organization of American States (OAS), began his conciliatory mission between Honduras and Nicaragua last week. His task is to find a peaceful agreement between both nations that have been in dispute since Honduras ratified a Maritime Demarcation Treaty with Colombia.

The martime border and are claimed by Nicaragua

Einaudi has been in Managua since last Wednesday evaluating the Nicaraguan position. He will then do the same in Honduras. He is a specialist in issues related to governability and the mediation of conflicts, having had experience in the territorial dispute between Ecuador and Peru.

The border established by the treaty between Honduras and Colombia.

The dispute between Nicaragua and Honduras began on Dec. 1, when the Honduran National Congress ratified a treaty with Colombia that acknowledges Colombia’s sovereignty over the San Andres and Providencia Archipelago, which Nicaragua says belongs to them.

According to Nicaragua, the treaty does not take into account 130,000 square kilometers of its continental shelf, and used this argument to accuse Honduras at the International Court of Justice at the Hague in the Netherlands.

At the same time, Nicaragua raised the import taxes by 35 percent to all Honduran and Colombian products, breaking in this way, all agreements of Central American integration. Nicaragua has also mobilized troops along the border.

President Carlos Roberto Flores Facusse asked the Honduran people to be prudent in its response, while Foreign Minister Roberto Flores Bermudez flew to Washington to explain the Honduran position and the scope of the Treaty to the Permanent Council of the OAS, asking also for their mediation.

He explained that in the Caribbean Sea, there are overlaps in the exclusive economic maritime projections of nine countries that, according to the United Nations Convention, can be negotiated.

In this sense, the demarcation with Colombia was done in full compliance with these directives because the mechanism used was direct negotiation.

Notwithstanding the fact that the 15th parallel has been considered as the customary and historic Honduran border, Nicaragua wants to draw a diagonal line northeast of its border until it reaches the 17th parallel. This includes approximately 60,000 square kilometers that are legitimately Honduran. Nicaragua has also begun negotiations with Jamaica, effectively bargaining with other countries’ territories.

It is expected that with the intervention of the OAS, the situation will return to normal. The inhabitants of both countries near the border are wary of the ghosts of war. This, according to international analysts would be disastrous for both developing nations, taking into account that these countries were the most affected by Hurricane Mitch and are two of the poorest countries in the Hemisphere.

By MICHAEL COLEMAN

TEGUCIGALPA -- In Triunfo de la Cruz, three Garifuna leaders were arrested and put under custody last month over a more than five-acre piece of land. They were jailed for two days and were released. The charges are still pending.

What's at issue is a more than five-acre piece of land that has traditionally been a part of the Garifuna community of Triunfo de la Cruz. Six years ago, the nearby municipality of Tela sold the land to the "Asociacion de Pueblos Franciscanos de Muchachos" (APUFRAM), a group not directly connected with the Catholic Franciscans, that has built various technical schools in the country. That was the idea with this land and also the condition for getting it.

"APUFRAM was going to build a school there to benefit the community," said APUFRAM lawyer, Cristobal Enrique Fiallos Orellana. He says when the Garifuna were told that everyone and not just Garifuna could study there, they proceeded to invade the land.

But according to officials at Garifuna rights group, OFRANEH, the APUFRAM had two years to build the school after which their rights to the land reverted back to the Garifuna. But the recent arrests initiated by Fiallos Orellana seem to prove that who owns the land is still being questioned by certain parties.

"They don't have any legal papers sayings it's their land," says OFRANEH Communications Coordinator, Jose Serrano. "Since 1997, it's been reverted back to the community of Triunfo de la Cruz."

But Fiallos Orellana says they do have papers, but from the municipality and that National Agrarian Institute, INA, gave the Garifuna the land titles without justification. "INA cannot grant titles in urban areas," he says. "They can only grant titles in rural areas. We are asking the municipality to annul the title."

The Garifuna began using the land again after the two years were up in 1997, planting crops and allowing families to build homes there. So, Garifuna rights groups don't know why last month, three years later, arrest warrants were suddenly issued for Secundido Torres, Cruz Castillo Velasquez and Mario Centeno. A fourth, Juan Martinez, was out of the country and has not been arrested.

OFRANEH was so incensed by the methods of the arrest it sent out a press release calling it a kidnapping. The three arrested were all members of the Committee for the Defense of the Land. All those arrested were told they were needed in helping to locate someone. It wasn't until they were in the car that the "Direccion General de Investigacion Criminal" (DGIC) told them that they themselves were actually under arrest for usurpation of land.

Though Fiallos Orellana couldn't comment on the method of the arrest, he did say that it was the only thing left for them to do, that the Garifuna left them no choice but to use force. The lawyer also claims that the reversion of the land back to the municipality is not automatic and that the APUFRAM title is valid until someone legally challenges their right to the land. "APUFRAM has to be beaten in a trial," he says.

For their part, the Franciscans explain that the delay in construction was simply due to difficulties in raising the $3 million necessary to build the school. Fiallos Orellana claims that APUFRAM offered the Garifuna land not needed for the school but were refused.

OFRANEH says the arrests go against a Supreme Court decision that states that ethnic group members and campesinos will not be detained for conflicts over land possession.

Triunfo de la Cruz has been home to a lot of violence over land. Jorge Castillo worked with the Committee for the Defense of Land and was hanged from a tree and shot in 1997. Jesus Alvarez was a founder of the committee who was gunned down by 17 bullets in a cafeteria in Tela. In all, five land-related killings have occurred since 1996 in Triunfo.

By MARIA FIALLOS

PUERTO LEMPIRA -- In-fighting among Miskito organizations came to a head last week when it was agreed that the National Agrarian Institute (INA) would work in conjunction with Moskitia Asla Takanka (MASTA) and not the traditional spokesgroup for the region, Mosquitia Pawisa (MOPAWI) on land titling.

Earlier this month, INA Director Anibal Delgado Fiallos participated in a land tenure workshop with the objective of coordinating a land title program for the second largest department in Honduras, Gracias a Dios, better known as the Mosquitia.

Delgado Fiallos expressed his desire that the many interests involved -- indigenous land rights, protected areas, agrarian reform, forestry laws, and municipal zoning -- work in a participatory manner. He stated that its completion will be a historic event that will affect both present and future generations of the Mosquitia.

Participants included Benjamin Morales, president of MASTA and also a representative of indigenous rights group, CONPAH; Oligario Lopez, president of the Municipal Association of Gracias a Dios; Fausto Echeverria, head of Special Projects for INA; Arnulfo Messen, the regional coordinator of the National Forestry Development Corporation (AFE-COHDEFOR)/Global Environmental Fund's Biodiversity Conservation Program; and, as a consultant, Tawahka leader Edgardo Benitez.

The workshop sprang from an agreement signed in September of this year between INA and MASTA to coordinate the land tenure issue for the ethnic communities in La Mosquitia.

MASTA is an organization representing Miskitos, the largest indigenous group in the area with 50,000 residents dispersed among 100 communities. MASTA is organized from the bottom up, with individuals and community groups belonging to an ethnic federation. Currently there are seven federations from seven different regions.

The agreement between MASTA and INA is based on Honduran Constitutional Article 346 that assigns government responsibility in protecting indigenous rights and interests and on the International Labor Organization's Convention 169 of which Honduras is a signatory. It states in Articles 14 and 15 that the government is responsible for indigenous land tenure and protecting indigenous rights to natural resources on their land.

Outside pressure in the area, such as ladino colonization, cattle ranching, and logging, have forced ethnic communities to solicit government intervention in assuring their rights to ancestral lands.

During the workshop, the seven federations of MASTA presented to Delgado Fiallos and other participants, the Raya Declaration drawn up at the last community meeting of MASTA held on Dec. 3. The declaration confirmed the seven federations represented by MASTA wanted the organization to represent them in all matters, including the land tenure process. They also validated the agreement between MASTA and INA and expressed their desire for the ILO Convention 169 to be translated into the Miskito language.

The Declaration also instructs MASTA to publicly renounce nationally and internationally the Christian NGO, Mosquitia Pawisa or MOPAWI. The Declaration states that MOPAWI has for a long time used the poverty of the Moskitia for its own benefit, to receive economic support under the guise of development. It also states that the inhabitants of the Moskitia have received no significant benefits from MOPAWI's activities and that, even worse, many of MOPAWI's efforts have been used to support ladino colonization in indigenous communities through "development projects," thus regularly violating indigenous human rights.

According to MASTA directors, MOPAWI is trying to manipulate, through their Municipal Strengthening Component, the land tenure project and have even organized a meeting between the INA and the municipal representatives of Gracias a Dios to present a land title project centered around municipal governments that does not include MASTA's participation. They believe that MOPAWI would like to take credit for the land title process so as to attract more funding for their organization.

In a later meeting held on Dec. 10 between MOPAWI and MASTA, Adalberto Padilla, technical director of MOPAWI, adamantly denied such allegations, stating that the Honduran Association of Municipalities (AHMON) petitioned MOPAWI to organize the meeting with INA. Padilla also implied that MASTA is ungrateful since MOPAWI has provided financing for the institutional strengthening of the organization over the years. Padilla also expressed his anger at some of the directors, whom he held responsible for the Raya Declaration.

MASTA was quick to point out that the land tenure issue is neither a personal nor a financial issue, but rather the concern of the inhabitants of the Moskitia and INA. They said MOPAWI and other institutions should limit themselves to providing logistical support and cooperation if they wish to partake in the process. They also stated that Padilla and MOPAWI should respect the Raya Declaration as it was created by the community federations and not by the directors of MASTA.

Other inhabitants of the area expressed similar opinions. Buenaventura Calderon, former INA regional director for Gracias a Dios, said that MOPAWI put up a sign in their Puerto Lempira office advertising land titling. He said it was not within their jurisdiction as an NGO. Calderon insisted that the sign be removed as INA is the only institution authorized to title lands. He also said that he and many others are tired of MOPAWI being synonymous with La Mosquitia.

The workshop concluded with participants agreeing to form an inter-institutional commission under the responsibility of INA and MASTA that would include AHMON, AFE-COHDEFOR, and the Cattle Ranchers Association. The commission should present within a month a logistical plan for visiting La Mosquitia's communities to discuss the land tenure issue. After the community visits, a proposal must be written for the government.

For decades, the residents of the city of La Paz have celebrated with enthusiasm their annual fair to honor their patron saint, Nuestra Senora de Los Dolores. This year, however, they have one more thing to be proud of: the successful undertaking of their very own Iniciativa de la Paz project.

Launched in February by the mayor's office of La Paz, the Iniciativa consists of establishing alliances with the different local sectors for the purpose of reaching a level of integral, sustainable development by creating public discussion processes, specific programs, projects and awareness campaigns. It has the support of the United Nations Development Programme (PNUD) and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (ASDI).

"We want to invite campesinos, as well as workers, coffee producers, cattlemen, businessmen, women and every one in La Paz to overcome the differences they might have for personal, political or institutional reasons," said Mayor Francisco Filiberto Isaula of the new Unificacion Democratica party during a special meeting held last November.

"Once we have done that, we will be able to improve education, health, housing and infrastructure," he added.

A former militant of the Liberal Party, Isaula jumped into the public eye during the 1998 general elections when he became the first candidate of a minor party to win an election.

"The fact of coming from a small party has given this municipality more commitment and impulse to create a model administration," said Isaula.

Achievements

So far, the Pacenos have been able to organize themselves in nine work groups in specific areas. Each group has it own executive committee that coordinates actions with the mayor's office and other social groups. The issues discussed include urbanization and housing, environmental improvement, social and cultural services, security and local economy.

According to Isaula, between 1998 and September 1999, La Paz' Mayor Office has invested more than 1.2 million lempiras, which were used in part for urban and rural sanitary infrastructure, as well as in the improvement of streets and schools. The Central Park had a face-lift, and traffic education and cleaning campaigns involving school children were held with success.

Currently, there are more than 30 projects that are scheduled to be implemented over a 10-year period. In the short term, projects include the creation of school vegetable gardens, an anti-drug campaign, a scholarship program and the organization of new cooperatives, among others.

Meanwhile, a general training plan for government officials has taken off as part of a decentralization project, and new facilities for the iniciativa will soon be ready. Other institutions like the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Foundation for Municipal Development (FUNDEMUNH) are also supporting La Paz in several activities.

About La Paz

The city of La Paz, located in the country's central region in the department of the same name, has a population of more than 25,000 people. The municipality has one hospital, six health centers, 33 schools, four high schools and 12 kindergartens.

Residents are famous for being good merchants. Rearing and selling mules was the principal activity there many years ago; during the 50s, basic grains became the most important source of income for most families. Today, it is possible to observe a more modern business vision based on agricultural production and exports.

By AIDA O. SABONGE

Special to Honduras This Week

Once upon a time in Honduras, women were the object of any man's whim. Some men could pick their favorite aggression, perform it on a woman, and get away with it. There was no place for a victim to seek real help.

In 1991, however, Emma Mejia, a teacher and social worker, founded a small non-profit organization that she named Acciones para el Desarrollo (Actions For Popular Development), better known as ADP. Today, ADP staff have programs of personal attention for battered women and their children, including the transportation of victims to a safe house in time of crisis. Legal and emotional counseling are also provided at that time if the victim is not in need of hospitalization.

ADP also carries out a program for the prevention and abolition of violence against women. This program is basically educational and includes work with young girls, public campaigns, training workshops for different social groups, and general awareness of women's rights.

A third program at ADP includes activities that empower women by aiding them in creating money-making activities and productive projects. One of such efforts is La Luciernaga, a women's cooperative based in Tegucigalpa that makes and sells decorative candles to contribute to ADP's microcredit program.

The organization also has a home for pregnant women. Though open to any needy woman, the program is designed to meet the needs of pregnant women in high-risk situations, such as women suffering from domestic violence, malnutrition, or financial difficulties. Single adolescent mothers often benefit from this program.

Clearly, the work of ADP in empowering women to become active in the social development of Honduras is noteworthy. Its contribution toward promoting equality, justice and improvement in the quality of life springs from the efforts of its many employees. Teachers, social workers, nurses, administrators and volunteers constantly work hand-in-hand with the police, public defenders and other governmental and non-governmental agencies to give Honduran women and children a better life and future.

"We are not alone in our desire to make Honduras a better country for women," says Mejia. "Other support groups here, such as the Center for Women's Rights, the Public Legal Office, the Center for Women's Studies and the Public Ministry have aided tremendously in meeting our objectives.

"We have also received support over the years from groups and organizations of women in the Untied States, Sweden and Germany," she added

For more information on ADP, call 237-3353 or write: Apartado Postal 2686, Tegucigalpa, M.D.C. The group's e-mail address is: <emma@adp.sdnhon.org.hn>

A team of Japanese specialists advised Honduras to begin the reforestation of the country if it wants to lessen the effects of future natural disasters. Hurricane Mitch, they said, demonstrated that Honduras, due to its location and geographical conditions, is one of the most vulnerable countries in the region thanks to its unmerciful destruction of forests and forest fires. This deforestation has caused cave-ins during rain, mud-slides and an excess of water flowing into the rivers.

They recommended Honduras create a three-step plan: early detection; create risk maps; and start massive and permanent reforestation projects.

One of the officials, Hidetomi Oi, explained that they were not here to give recommendations or suggestions to the government but rather to take the information back to the government of Japan to be considered for further cooperation projects. -- El Heraldo

The land that makes up the former military base of "El Aguacate" in Olancho will be handed over to a campesino group, ruled the Supreme Court. The armed forces had appealed an earlier decision by the National Agrarian Council to give the land to farmers. The decision was upheld unanimously.

Aguacate covers about 1,083 manzanas (1,863 acres). The military base was dismantled after the Cold War. -- La Tribuna

The Honduran Institute of Children and Family gave 100 "chicleras" to single mothers and handicapped people in the capital last week. Chicleras are small street stands used for selling candy and cigarettes. The project is designed to allow disadvantaged groups a chance to start their own business.

This micro-credit project was sponsored by Nestle Honduras, Cressida Corporation and the mayor's office. Each wood chiclera cost Lps. 500 and Lps. 50,000 was invested in total. -- La Tribuna

According to the Medical Association of Honduras (CMH), more Hondurans have died in the last few years from violence than from sickness. Firearms, stabbings and traffic accidents each day kill more people than viruses and bacteria.

"We are in a very precarious situation," said CMH president, Felicito Montalvan Toscano. "The citizens must take precautions and the State must give a satisfactory response." -- La Tribuna

With a schedule jam-packed with stars, Honduras' annual telethon to help raise money for the country's handicapped raised Lps. 12,033,642 over its three-day span.

Presenters and performers included Cuban-American "salsera" Celia Cruz, Spanish singer Marcos Llunas, "Gordo y Flaca" host Raul de Molina, Mexican rock group Azul Violeta and former Menudo star Jhony Lozada. -- La Tribuna

After five years of rehabilitation in prison, Nivida Bethel Hernandez, will be released on Dec. 29. Bethel Hernandez was implicated in the 1994 Christmas murder of her husband's mother and sister. Her husband, Francisco Alexander Alvarez Ochoa, was 16 years old at the time and confessed to masterminding the killings of his 60-year-old mother and 27-year-old sister. Alvarez Ochoa had paid 18-year-old Francisco Vasquez Matute Lps. 5,000 to murder his mother and confessed to killing his sister himself.

Bethel Hernandez, who was 17 at the time, had helped the men in the killings and with disposing the bodies. The group claimed it was for a reputed Lps. 75,000 inheritance.

The case gained national attention both for its brutality and the age of those involved. After the murders there were calls for revisions to the juvenile criminal code. Alvarez Ochoa will be released at this time next year. The couple has since separated. -- La Tribuna, HTW

The Honduran government said last week they were pleased that Nicaragua has brought their case to the International Court of Justice at The Hague to "define the maritime borders with Honduras and the Caribbean Sea. It what we've been looking for all along," officials said.

Nicaragua appealed to The Hague, saying the attitude of the Honduran government has provoked repeated confrontations and both nations have continually captured fishing vessels in the disputed waters. The Nicaraguan government said they decided only decided to take the case to that level because all other diplomatic options had been exhausted.

Honduras continues to maintain that their door has always been open and are ready to solve the dispute peacefully. Many Nicaraguan critics maintain that President Aleman is trying to deflect attention away from investigations into corruption in his government and the recent arrest of Nicaraguan Comptroller, General Austin Jarquin.

Jarquin was investigating a reported 900 per cent increase in the personal estate of Aleman during his time as Mayor of Managua. As a result of the arrest, European aid organizations and international financial institutions are considering withholding all aid packages.

Following is the text of a memorandum issued Dec. 6 by the Honduran Ministry of Foreign Relations stating the nation's legal basis regarding the demarkation of maritime borders in the Caribbean:

1. Parallel 1459'08" is the consuetudinary border between Honduras and Nicaragua, as demonstrated by the behavior of both countries. This is corroborated by:

• Concessions granted for petroleum exploration that Nicaragua has granted south of this parallel and Honduras north of it.
• The traditional exercise of fishing rights, which respect this parallel.
• Patrolling by naval forces also confirms this limit as the customary border.
• Honduran presence in the cays and banks north of this parallel has been in effect.

2. Nicaragua, starting in 1980, and coinciding with the beginning of a new government, did not recognize this consuetudinary border and published an official map that established its northern border at the 17th parallel, including the archipelagos of Rosalinda and Serranilla. The present map dating from 1997 ratified this pretension, which comprises Honduran maritime territories of approximately 60,000 square kilometers of which 35,000 Nicaragua has been trying to negotiate with a third Caribbean state.

3. In 1986, Nicaragua filed protests against Honduras and Colombia, stating that it did not confer any validity or legal effect to the demarcation treaty subscribed by both countries that year.

4. Honduras has always been open for direct negotiation with Nicaragua and permanently maintains its willingness to employ peaceful methods to resolve controversies, based on international law. The last meeting was two years ago and it was Honduras' intention to approach the issue of demarcation in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. However, the meeting centered on the placement of buoys in the demarcated area in the Gulf of Fonseca.

5. In a gesture of goodwill, Honduras sent a high level mission to Managua so that, within the traditional and fraternal ties that unite them, Nicaragua would know about the Honduran government's decision to press for Congressional approval of the Maritime Demarcation Treaty between the republics of Honduras and Colombia. This mission also reiterated the Honduran government's permanent willingness to employ peaceful methods to resolve controversies, based on international law, in the demarcation of the Atlantic and Pacific.

6. The response to this gesture of goodwill is considered disproportionate. The Honduran decision to safeguard its legitimate rights in the Caribbean Sea has been qualified as "deplorable, unfriendly and of unsuspected consequences" by the Nicaraguan government. Honduras, on the other hand, maintains and will maintain a serene, moderate and prudent posture, but will be firm in the defense of its sovereignty and territorial and maritime rights.

7. None of the legal actions adopted by Honduras are oriented to affect the rights of third countries. At the same time, none of these actions tends to diminish the Central American integration process, which will be strengthened by fixing maritime borders that are legally established.

8. It should be noted that the Maritime Demarcation Treaty subscribed with Colombia on August 2, 1986, had as a main objective putting an end to the controversy that, since May 1975, Honduras had with that country over the sovereignty of Serranilla. When an agreement was reached about this issue, maritime borders between Honduras and Colombia were also established.

9. Why, after it was signed 13 years ago, was the treaty ratified now? For several reasons existing during that period, some concerning internal policy which impeded a consensus and others related to the international environment during the Cold War.

10. The Honduran government has designed a strategy to reaffirm its rights in the Caribbean Sea, preferably through direct negotiations with all of its neighbors: Belize, Guatemala, Mexico, Cuba, Grand Cayman (United Kingdom), Jamaica, Colombia and Nicaragua.

11. The treaty with Colombia ensures Honduran sovereignty over the northeast quadrant of this area by facilitating the demarcation with Jamaica (which has already negotiated with Colombia) and, supposedly would do the same with Nicaragua.

12. The real problem with Nicaragua is not the Honduras-Colombia Treaty of 1986. The problem is in the Barcenas-Meneses Esguerra Treaty subscribed by Nicaragua and Colombia on March 24, 1928 and ratified in 1930, through which Nicaragua acknowledges Colombia's sovereignty, especially over the San Andres and Providencia Archipelago, excluding only Corn Island and Little Corn Island, located west of the 82nd meridian. Notwithstanding the fact that Nicaragua, in 1980, by and for itself, declared that it did not acknowledge the validity of said treaty, it, as is logical, holds total validity.

13. It is clear, then, that between Honduras and Nicaragua there is no controversy whatsoever and that the capricious Nicaraguan position that demands that Honduras suspend the 1986 treaty until it resolves its controversy with Colombia is totally illegal and unacceptable. It would be tantamount to exercising a veto, which it does not have, forcing Honduras to wait an undetermined amount of time, but which undoubtedly would be very long because it would have to wait for Colombia to give up San Andres, which is very unlikely.

14. Everything indicates that Nicaragua is proceeding just like it did with the (Laudo) Decision of the King of Spain, decreed on December 23, 1906 and formally accepted by its government, which was also unilaterally nullified. Half a century had to go by before, on November 18, 1960, the International Court of Justice unanimously ruled that the royal decision was valid and feasible in all of its parts.

15. The Government of Nicaragua appealed to the Central American Court of Justice, submitting an alleged controversy which, in all light, the court did not have jurisdiction to hear. In response, the Government of Honduras filed two suits: one against Nicaragua for violating several documents of Central American Integration by imposing new tariffs on Honduran products and, by doing so, obstructing regional commerce, and the other, asking to make null and void everything that was acted upon in the Court as a consequence of Nicaragua's suit, in view of grave defects in depth and scope. 

By MARIA FIALLOS

TEGUCIGALPA -- Members of the Miskut Environmental Organization, an assembly of indigenous, Black and Ladino natives of La Mosquitia, earlier this week issued an official response rejecting presidential hopeful Jaime Rosenthal's proposal of building a high security prison in La Mosquitia.

According to an article published last month in the daily El Tiempo, Rosenthal stated in a radio interview his desire to become president and also his plan to build a prison in La Mosquitia to incarcerate delinquents and gang members from the metropolitan areas of Honduras. This, he feels would be a means of attracting foreign investors who, according to Rosenthal, presently fear for their security and don't want to invest in Honduras due to the dangerous conditions. He also stated that the proposed project would convert the Mosquitia into a productive area.

Miskut rejected the proposal, responding that the Mosquitia is the only department that could possibly be developed sustainably and that, until now, the communities of the Mosquitia have conserved the region's rich bio-diversity and have lived in harmony for centuries. They also say that, while it is interesting to hear Rosenthal's point of view, his ideas for the development of the Mosquitia cannot be taken seriously due to the fact that he is a member of the economic and political elite, and has not proven his interest in social stability but rather in his own personal interests.

The pronouncement by the group states that current social disintegration is not solved by repression and jails, but rather through a functional, multi-generational educational process to eliminate high illiteracy and dropout rates. The current power struggle, states Miskut, reflects Honduran politicians' lack of vision. Building a high security prison in La Mosquitia is illogical since most Honduran cities have already been converted into prisons where residents live fearing for their lives.

Indigenous communities, on the other hand, live in peace and harmony, they say, the product of a 1,000-year-old world vision in which exploitation of fellow human beings and resource destruction is little known. But in a country where 80 percent of the resources are owned by 20 percent of the population, criminality is sure to abound, and the fact that the "modus vivendi" of the ruling 20 percent is corruption, justice is almost impossible to find.

Miskut claims that Rosenthal's proposals are unconstitutional and racist -- hard to believe considering he comes from an ethnic group that has traditionally been persecuted. He has always shown a lack of sensibility toward the Mosquitia, quoting him during the last presidential election as saying, "I would prefer to invest in the Colonia Kennedy than in La Mosquitia."

The group states that the indigenous people of the Mosquitia have a long tradition of protesting and stopping dangerous development projects in the area, such as toxic waste dump proposal, the Stone Container logging company and most recently Panda-Harza's hydroelectric project on the Patuca River.

"Each battle we win feeds our desires for autonomy, an option we cannot ignore faced with the ignorance and deaf ears of the political and economic power gang," stated Miskut.

Three police officers were seriously injured last week in a car accident in Tegucigalpa involving alcohol. The collision took place at high speeds when one truck tried to overtake another on Fuerzas Armadas Boulevard, resulting in it flipping over. The accident is being blamed on the drunkenness of the officers in one of the vehicles. -- La Tribuna

A young couple near Choluteca were surprised last week to discover that they were the parents of triplets. The 26-year-old mother and 30-year-old father, who have been married for 11 years, now have seven children and are worried about the difficulty they will have looking after them. "She is still very young," said the mother's father. "And they are very poor."

In addition to the triplets, they have 10-, 8-, 5- and 2-year-old kids waiting for them at home. The soon to be very busy father of the triplets hopes to name the boy, Frank in honor of the ambassador of the United States and the girls after First Lady Mary Flores and her daughter, Lizzy. -- El Heraldo

The former bishop of Olancho, Nicholas D'Antonio, has joined a growing group that is asking Presidents Flores and Clinton for help in finding the remains of two American citizens who disappeared in 1983.

Father James Carney and David Arturo Baez Cruz entered Honduras with a revolutionary group that was attacked by the Honduran army. Many were killed or captured and some, like Cruz and Carney went missing.

In June of this year, 22 members of the U.S. Congress sent a letter to President Flores asking him for help in identifying the sites where the two Americans are buried and offered him technical support for the search. An excavation project has already begun at the former military base at Aguacate. -- HTW

At least 5,000 people representing eight different communities waved placards and blocked the highway near Santa Barbara last week to protest promises unfulfilled by the Flores government. Long lines made up of hundreds of cars were stuck on the road as protestors, starting at 4 a.m., stopped traffic at five different points on the road.

The people were demonstrating against schools and health centers not being built, lack of electrical power and highways not being repaired. Five municipalities judged as most needing help were San Marcos, Macuelizo, Qumistan, Nueva Frontera and la Entrada.

"We're not afraid to be here all the time it's necessary, because we don't believe in the promises that were given to us," said Suyapa Castillo, a protestor from El Ciruelo last Wednesday.

At that time protestors were still waiting to meet with functionaries from the national transport ministry, SOPTRAVI and the national energy company, ENEE. -- La Tribuna, El Heraldo.

By WENDY GRIFFIN

The movement Nuevo Amanecer (New Dawn) announced that Garifunas have attempted to recover, in a peaceful manner, their lands currently occupied by the company AGROINDVASA (Agroindustria Vallecito Sociedad Anonima), owned by Honduran businessman Miguel Facusse. This company has planted 80 manzanas (56 hectares) of African Palm on the lands of "Empresa Ruguma," a cooperative formed by Garifunas of Limon, Colon.

In addition to planting palm trees, the company AGROINDVASA has opened primary and secondary canals that affect all six Garifuna cooperatives in the area. Because this land was given in "dominio pleno" (full use) to the Empresa Ruguma, the actions of AGROINDVASA have been denounced to National Agrarian Institute (INA) and was also a topic during the Oct. 12 protest march in Tegucigalpa that left several native Americans and Garifunas wounded.

To date, INA has taken no action in the case. As a result, the Garifunas have begun to fence their property according to the property limits established by their INA land title of 147 hectares. Other Garifuna communities have sent people and food to support the people of Limon in this struggle, in spite of poor roads and the difficult agricultural situation after Hurricane Mitch and heavy rains this year.

By MICHAEL COLEMAN

SANTA ROSA, Francisco Morazan -- Last Thursday one of the largest movements to get the thousands of Hondurans still living in "temporary" shelters out and into reconstructed homes was begun.

In the presence of the First Lady Mary Flakes de Flores, the heads of the Honduran Red Cross, the U.S. Agency for International Development-Honduras, the Ministry of International Cooperation and Technology (SETCO) and the International Organization for Migration (OIM) not to mention hundreds of residents, a new construction project was inaugurated in Santa Rosa, a small community about 10 kilometers south of Tegucigalpa. The residents, formerly of Nueva Esperanza, Comayaguela, formed a collective group to buy the land themselves in Santa Rosa after Mitch. They have been living in temporary shelters there ever since.

At a cost of almost US$3 million, 456 families will have new, permanent houses built next year. The project completed in conjunction with the Honduran Red Cross, USAID, and the OIM is just the beginning. SETCO Minister Moises Starkman took the opportunity to promote the oft-criticized reconstruction efforts of his government.

"This is also a project of the government of Carlos Roberto Flores," he said. "You, the victims of Hurricane Mitch, have not been forgotten. Thirteen months after moving into these temporary shelters, we're going to leave all the albergues." The first phases, beginning with Santa Rosa, were going to happen this month, followed by more each month, he said.

"All the victims will be in their houses by the middle of next year," he said. "Then we will begin to dismantle the old temporary housing."

Starkman estimates that 9,000 people are still living in "albergues." However, groups such as USAID have put the number closer to 25,000 Hondurans who still call the make-shift housing built after Mitch home. Original government counts right after Mitch were that 40,000 people were put in these transition houses.

Diego Beltrand, head of the OIM, said that the inauguration was important because it was something concrete. "It is significant because it is more than just words, something was done here today."

Meneca de Mencia, president of the Honduran Red Cross, was especially pleased with the new houses themselves. "I am enormously happy," said Meneca de Mencia. "This is the beginning of making all this a reality -- of giving appropriate housing to people who need it."

The houses will have two or three bedrooms, a living room, a kitchen and dining room, bathrooms and all basic services.

By BLANCA MORENO

TEGUCIGALPA -- The demarcation of the maritime border between Honduras and Colombia that was ratified with a treaty by the Honduran National Congress Tuesday (Nov. 30) provoked the government of Nicaragua to break Central American integration and to impose a 35 percent import tax on Honduran and Colombian products.

The maritime rights treaty, which defines the Honduran border at the 15th parallel and includes the Serranilla Islands, should have been ratified in 1986. However, it was suspended by a Nicaraguan petition that was looking first to define it with Honduras.

After learning of the intentions of Honduras, President Arnoldo Aleman gave a speech to the Nicaraguan people denouncing violations and a "deplorable, hostile action of unsuspecting consequences that Honduras has provoked in a surprise move."

Aleman said, "last Saturday I received a visit from Minister Jorge Arturo Reina, special and personal envoy from President Flores, who came to notify us that the legislative power of his country would be ratifying the treaty signed between Honduras and Colombia in 1986."

According to Aleman, this treaty injures Nicaraguan sovereignty, for which he immediately refuted the position of Honduras and Colombia and asked Reina to reflect on the irreparable damages it would cause between two brotherly countries.

However, Aleman doesn't mention that the 15th parallel is the customary limit between Nicaragua and Honduras. On the other hand he shows an aggressive attitude toward Honduras. "It's a nonsensical ambition that tries to take away more than 30,000 square kilometers," he said.

Honduras didn't have other alternatives but to ratify the treaty with Colombia to defend its sovereignty and to finally fix the differences with Colombia over the Island of Serranilla. The 15th parallel has always been the border for fishing and patrolling rights of the Honduran navy.

Nicaragua denied the 15th parallel when they made their official map in 1980 under the Sandinista government. The map made then has a box showing the 17th parallel as the northern border and encompassing Rosalinda, Serranilla and adjacent areas. This unofficial demarcation has caused continual hostile actions such as the incessant capture of Honduran fishermen north of the 15th parallel. In the official cartography of 1997, Nicaragua confirms this intention.

The Honduran Constitution includes the islands of Rosalinda and Serranilla, among others, in national territory. But Nicaragua is seeking to negotiate with Jamaica all Honduran territorial waters north of the 15th parallel all the way to the 17th, which would include about 60,000 square kilometers.

The treaty gives Aleman a perfect escape valve for Nicaragua's internal problems.

After the General Comptroller of Nicaragua, Joaquin Jarquin, was jailed for investigating the management of reconstruction funds, Aleman has been harshly criticized. This resulted in events like the resignation of the post of an ambassador from the European Union. Also, Sweden, Finland and Germany froze all financial cooperation with Nicaragua due to the lack of transparency. The country has been declared ineligible for the Highly Indebted Poor Countries Initiative (HIPC) for its lack of governability.

In Nicaragua there is talk of an alliance between the Liberal party and the Sandinistas to seek Aleman's re-election. Supposedly, treaties have been made behind closed doors to have a bi-partisan system. This has caused problems within the conservative sector and with all the smaller parties like the Social Democrats to which Jarquin belongs.

The newlywed Aleman also has problems with the major newspapers "La Prensa" and "El Nuevo Diario," which have criticized him for his costly dream of building a new presidential palace that would cost $10 million. For this, he asked Taiwan for a donation.

His defenders allege that one of these newspapers is against Aleman for taking the business of the telephone directories from them, which was then given to former Somocistas who reside in Miami.

The treaty came just in time for him to bind forces since all attention is diverted toward the unexpected "patriotic position of Aleman to defend Nicaraguan sovereignty."

Minister: peaceful solution sought

According to Foreign Minister Roberto Flores Bermudez, it was not the intention of the government to stir up a controversy over Honduras' maritime rights in the Atlantic.

Following are the minister's responses to several questions posed by HTW about the treaty and the controversy it has caused.

HTW: Why did Honduras ratify the treaty over maritime borders with Colombia at this time?

FLORES: Our main objective is to put an end to the controversy that Honduras and Colombia had over the keys of Serranilla. This was the idea when the treaty was signed in 1986, and its ratification was withheld by different circumstances that no longer exist. Obviously, Honduras cannot wait indefinitely until Nicaragua solves its problems with Colombia over San Andres Island, to solve our own.

HTW: Is this something new for Honduras to solve its international controversies by legal and peaceful means?

FLORES: Absolutely not. Honduras has defined its territorial borders with its three neighbors -- El Salvador, Guatemala, and Nicaragua -- through the means established by international law, namely: direct negotiation, arbitration and the International Court of Justice.

HTW: How do you explain the warlike reaction of the government of Nicaragua to the ratification of the treaty?

FLORES: Honestly, I can't. In ratifying the treaty with Colombia, Honduras has not infringed the rights of Nicaragua or of any other state. My country simply exercised its sovereign and legitimate right to conclude treaties with other states in accordance with international law.

HTW: In what way does the conclusion of this treaty affect the process of Central American integration?

FLORES: In none whatsoever. That's why we can't understand the legal action that Nicaragua introduced before the Central American Court of Justice on a matter that is clearly outside its competence. In contrast, Honduras will present its own legal action against Nicaragua in the same court, contesting the legal measures taken by its government that directly affect regional commerce, taxing the goods proceeding from Honduras. This matter does fall within the competence of the court.

HTW: What will happen in the future?

FLORES: My country expects that this artificially created problem will soon be solved by peaceful and legal means, as corresponds between our two countries historically united by history, geography and friendship.

The Ministry of Health called the situation in the cholera-stricken neighborhood of El Ocotillo an emergency last week. At least 15 critical cases of cholera have been reported since Nov. 6. Carlos Alfonso Benatton, chief of the regional medical authority, said it was at near epidemic proportions.

The disease has been contracted through contamination at the local garbage dump in which a local meat processor dumps its waste. Health officials have tested the water and claim that it is not contaminated. Residents are asking that the dump be closed or at the very least, fenced in.

Some health officials have met with violence when asking residents, who have few other sources of food, not to eat the meat from the garbage dump. Soldiers are now being used when the garbage trucks arrive to dump their loads. -- La Tribuna

The Tegucigalpa Chamber of Commerce joined a growing group of those calling for the removal of Mayor Vilma de Castellanos last week. Critics have claimed that there has been no improvement in the city and that the mayor blames the central government for too many of the problems in Tegucigalpa.

Some members of the National Party are also calling for her dismissal. Castellanos succeeded her husband as mayor after the popular leader, affectionately known as "El Gordito," died in a helicopter crash after Hurricane Mitch. -- El Heraldo

Dania Prince, a 21-year-old originally from Choluteca, became Miss Latin America 1999. The student of international commerce returned to her hometown and was received with all the honors. Already offers are poring in for her to appear in television shows and to do some modelling.

Also the holder of the International Queen of the Pacific title, Prince became the first Honduran to hold two international titles.

"I felt as if this was for all Hondurans," she said, of when she won. "In that moment I didn't think that I was winning, but that all Hondurans were winning." -- El Heraldo

At a recent day-long conference and workshop, the Public Ministry discussed the difficulties in the Rio Platano Biosphere. The national park is the largest protected area in Honduras. Officials say they are very concerned about the changes in the use of the land; the expansion of agricultural use of the land; the loss of important natural resources through deforestation, hunting, the introduction of species not native to the area and overfishing which is threatening the turtles. Also mentioned were the removal of archaeological artifacts and cultural conflicts between ladinos in the area and the three indigenous groups.

The group would like to have the Rio Platano included on UNESCO's endangered world heritage sites among other potential moves to protect the area further. Earlier in the week, the Honduran Armed Forces sent armed units into the biosphere to search out and capture those involved in drug trafficking or the illegal removal of wood. -- HTW, El Heraldo

Twenty-four-year-old Lindolfo Lopez was imprisoned last week for hen-theft in Tegucigalpa. Lopez, a bricklayer, said that someone planted the hen near him as the police were coming. "Imagine, real criminals are free and I was put in jail, it's not possible," he said. "The white-collar criminals have robbed and I, for a sorrowful hen, am put in jail. It's not fair." -- La Tribuna