By BLANCA MORENO

TEGUCIGALPA -- Following age-old practices, the National Congress began its third term in the Flores administration with

the imposition of the new legislative directorate. The only explanation that Congressional President Rafael Pineda Ponce could give reporters for it was that Honduras is still an unjust society.

Two days before the installation of the third congressional term, Pineda Ponce showed signs of renouncing democratic principles by imposing a handpicked directorate that favors his political ambitions. Nearly all the directorate members are in the same political faction as Pineda, who hopes to be the next president of Honduras.

Totally ignoring the results of the Liberal Party elections three years ago and without meeting with representatives of the other factions in the party, Pineda selected Rodrigo Castillo as first vice president; Ramon Villeda Bermudez as second vice president; Marco Antonio Andino as third vice president, and Mario Ramon Lopez as fourth vice president. Alfonso Hernandez Cordova and Maria de la Paz Rivera were elected secretaries and Luz Ernestina Mejia, Olban Valladares, Victoria Contreras and Eriberto Flores Lagos were elected alternates.

As a result, the new session began with the Liberal party even more divided, given the recent tensions between the executive and legislative branches over the decision by Pineda Ponce to cut the budget in order to allocate more funds to Congress.

Members of the political movement of Jaime Rosenthal, currently the strongest Liberal presidential hopeful according to polls, were entirely left out of the congressional directorate. In reality, a post in the directorate is no different than a regular seat in Congress with the exception that members receive higher salaries and more privileges, such as private offices, vehicles and chauffeurs.

In his state of the union address, President Flores stated that today Honduras enjoys greater credibility and respect worldwide due to the fact that the government has fulfilled all its international obligations.

"Today, liberty, democracy, a state of law and the peace that cost so much to so many to build and attain are not mere aspirations as they were yesterday. We constitute an open society, without hate or partisan grudges, without political persecution...," he said.

In his address, Oscar Avila Banegas, president of the Supreme Court of Justice, complained of the constant attacks -- in his opinion, groundless -- on the court, which detractors have characterized as being weak.

He said, in defense of the court, that the judicial system has been hampered by the national police, which have not implemented most of the arrest warrants that have been issued by the courts. A recent El Heraldo article reported that there are upwards of 10,000 arrest warrants that have not yet been served.

Once again, all three powers of the state demonstrated unity in an important public event, but in reality each one continues to impose its own self-interests when it comes to working for the common good. Also, it is clear that two years after his inauguration President Flores has not lost popularity, that Pineda Ponce is dedicated to his own political ambitions, and that Avila Banegas is using his post as a springboard for personal gain.

Famous movie actor Christopher Lambert, star of such movies as Highlander, Greystoke: the Legend of Tarzan, and many others, will build a luxury hotel on the Bay Island of Guanaja.

In a press conference with fellow investors and Guanaja Mayor Sherral Haylock on Jan. 13, Lambert announced plans to build a five-star hotel that will be named Iguana Bay.

According to investors, the project will cost approximately $11.3 million. The future resort will be located on the island's north shore and will have a 300-meter beach.

Haylock welcomed the initiative and stated that Guanaja, even after suffering much damage from Hurricane Mitch, is still very beautiful. -- El Heraldo

The First Criminal Court of Tegucigalpa has issued another arrest warrant for Teofilo Martell for tax evasion and smuggling. Martell, who was comptroller general during the Callejas administration, was first accused of covering up tax evasion but was granted bail.

However, the case was taken over by Judge Rita Nunez and the charge was modified after finding new evidence, from cover up to evasion and contraband -- charges for which bail is not permitted. -- La Tribuna

Casa Alianza, an organization that assists street children, this week announced the decision of the Minnesota-based H.B. Fuller Company to stop selling glue and solvents that contain toluene and cyclohexane, which are addictive. These solvents are ingredients in Resistol, a glue that is sniffed by street kids and youths to get high.

The announcement comes after years of legal battles in which the issue of taking the glue off the streets or adding mustard oil to make it impossible to sniff, was discussed.

The chemicals in the glue are extremely toxic and addictive. Hundreds of thousands of street people in Latin America misuse the glue as a drug. In Honduras, these people are known as "resistoleros." -- El Heraldo

Demolition of structures in Tegucigalpa's Barrio Abajo zone damaged by Tropical Storm Mitch began last week under the supervision of the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment (SERNA).

Among the structures to be demolished are the Ruben Callejas Valentine National Gym, which was used for thousands of sports and cultural events over a forty-year span. Moreover, 23 houses will also be demolished and nothing will be built in the area again.

Indemnization costs will come to Lps.30 million. -- La Tribuna

Alma Cleotilde Grant Perez, popularly known as "la bruja" or witch and who is currently serving a 10-year prison sentence for murder, was sentenced an additional 29 years for the murders of two other men.

According to proceedings, Grant offered her services as a curandera or witch doctor. One of her clients was found buried in her backyard in a Tegucigalpa barrio. The other two men were also found buried in her house in the town of El Porvenir in the department of Francisco Morazan.

According to Judge Francis Lopez, the sentence cannot be reduced because she confessed to the murders.

Motagua outscored Olimpia 6-5 in a penalty shootout to win its third championship in four years and the first soccer championship of the new century.

The winner of the second match of the championship series had to be decided by penalty shots after the two first division soccer clubs played to a scoreless tie following 120 minutes of regulation and sudden-death overtime play. The first match also ended in a 0-0 tie.

Motagua's Reinaldo Clavasquin, the hero in the 1997 championship series between the two capital city clubs with his goal in sudden-death overtime, nearly became the goat this time when he missed the first penalty shot.

However, substitute Motagua goalie Diego Vasquez later blocked shots by Rodinei Martins and veteran Rudy Williams of Olimpia to give the Eagles its eighth championship since the National Soccer League was founded in 1967. Olimpia has won 14 championships.

The match was watched by a record crowd of more than 34,000 mostly Olimpia fans, bringing in a new record gate of Lps. 3,125,000.

(LEFT TO RIGHT) President Flores, Prince Felipe of Spain, President Portillo, President Aleman. Despite the efforts of Spanish Crown Prince, President Aleman was skittish to pose with Flores.

By BLANCA MORENO

GUATEMALA CITY -- Government officials described as fruitless the meeting between Honduran President Carlos Flores and Nicaraguan President Arnoldo Aleman to settle trade differences as a consequence of Honduras' ratification of a maritime demarcation treaty with Colombia.

The meeting took place during the inaugural ceremony of the new president of Guatemala, Alfonso Portillo that was attended by all the region's presidents and foreign ministers to discuss regional integration issues, especially the Honduran-Nicaraguan trade dispute in which Nicaragua has unilaterally imposed a 35 surtax on all Honduran products.

During the meeting, Aleman appeared aloof even with the Prince Felipe Borbon of Spain, who had been asked to mediate. In fact, when asked when asked by the Spanish crown prince to pose with him and President Flores, he said that the host, President Portillo, should not be slighted, so he backed away from Flores.

In a press declaration, Aleman said he would present to the Nicaraguan congress the Central American Court of Justice’s resolution on the matter as well as promising to annul trade sanctions against Honduras.

But on arriving in Managua, he once again reiterated that Honduras must first suspend the maritime treaty with Columbia before sanctions can be lifted.

Despite Aleman's statements, President Flores said he was satisfied with the results of this first meeting, which has paved the way for subsequent meetings in the search for a solution to this problem. He emphasized that the Central American Court has jurisdiction over the General Treaty of Integration and that, if there are any obstacles, the court can resolve them.

"That is what Honduras has been doing and these talks strengthen integration and guarantee peace for the region," Flores said. Regarding the Nicaraguan request that Honduras back down from its agreement with Colombia, he said that "it is a sovereign act to subscribe a treaty with a country that does not bind Nicaragua nor affect it."

He added that this argument has validity only at the International Court of Justice at the Hague and not in the Central American Court of Justice. The next step is a meeting of the region's foreign ministers in El Salvador Feb. 6-7, promoted by the Organization of American States (OAS) to lessen animosities and in this way avoid a conflict.

Honduran authorities didn't rule out the possibility of applying an equal surcharge to Nicaraguan products should these talks fail to achieve a solution.

The Hernan Corrales Padilla bridge over the San Jose River between Barrio La Bolsa in Comayaguela and Colonia El Prado in Tegucigalpa, was opened to traffic last week.

The 180-meter reinforced concrete structure cost Lps. 19.3 million and will alleviate traffic in the twin cities. -- El Heraldo

The mayor of El Paraiso has offered his post to anyone who wants it for a year. Dr. Armando Morazan hopes in this way to qualm all the criticism he has received over the last two years.

Apparently, most of the criticism comes from the fact that he is building a new house. He stated that it is the product of very hard work and the "sweat on his brow." -- El Heraldo

Zack Fleischman from the United States won the IV Central American ITF Tennis Championship held at the Country Club in Tegucigalpa. More than 70 players from 20 countries participated in the event.

Fleischman won the last round over Carlos Rexach-Itoiz from Spain. -- La Prensa

Colombian airline asked to fly to Honduras

Minister of Industry and Commerce Reginaldo Panting has confirmed that he has asked Colombian commerce authorities to allow Avianca, that country’s largest airline, to provide air service between Honduras and Colombia.

This is part of a government initiative to increase commerce with Colombia, which already has altered its import taxes for the benefit of Honduras.

Panting said the Colombian commerce minister promised to make the necessary contacts with Avianca to initiate talks on this subject. -- La Tribuna

By ALEJANDRA FLORES BERMUDEZ

TEGUCIGALPA -- The millennium bug didn't byte Honduras, according to the nation's top science advisor in the government. Gerardo Zepeda Bermudez, minister of Science and Technology (COHCIT), told Honduras This Week that the nation entered the new century without any significant technical problems caused by the change of digits in microchips.

And this was not by chance. Honduras prepared well for Y2K.

Fearing that some older computers using two digits to record year dates would read "00" as 1900 instead of 2000 and cause possible disruptions in the economy, a presidential commission was formed on Oct. 14, 1998 to ensure that crucial computer systems continued to function with the change of millennium.

Commission representatives included the minister of the Presidency, the minister of Finance, the minister of Industry and Trade and the minister of Science and Technology. It also included the president of Honduran Council for Private Enterprise (COHEP), the rector of the National Autonomous University of Honduras (UNAH) and a representative of the nation's private universities.

Together they focused on making Honduras Y2K compliant and to examine the potential computing and technology problems that could arise if nothing were done to fix the country's computer systems and other equipment before the arrival of the year 2000.

In many international meetings, decisions were made as to which methodologies and procedures would be implemented. Strategic sectors -- those that could effect the economy in the event of a computer failure -- were identified and categorized, such as include energy, telecommunications, air and sea transportation, customs, immigration, potable water supply and financial systems. In Honduras, COHCIT was in charge of providing technological support.

"There was a survey that appeared at the beginning of December in London, which placed Honduras, Costa Rica and Panama as the countries most prepared for Y2K in Central America," said Zepeda. "We were also at the same level of preparedness as such other Latin American countries as Brazil, Colombia and Argentina. We are very satisfied and we can say that Honduras has met the challenge of preparing for the change of digits."

All necessary corrections were made and contingency plans drawn up so that there would be solutions in the event of a problem.

"Many people think that the problem was only in 'real' computers, but remember the speed in which technology has evolved over the past five years, such that more and more equipment now uses microchips," said Zepeda.

He added that a list of more than 1,000 items identified by suppliers as having a potential Y2K problem were provided to hospitals. They, in turn, contacted suppliers to make sure the items were corrected in time or replaced.

"It's very satisfying to see that everybody, indistinctly of their race, religion or political beliefs, worked together on this problem. We have seen the Arabs and the Israelis working together, we have seen the Russians and the Americans working together. We have seen all the people working together on a problem affecting the entire world. With globalization the trend and greater interdependency, why don't we use this effort of having worked together for a couple of years in solving a humankind problem to continue efforts in other very important areas that have to do with poverty reduction, the achievement of world peace or working toward development formulas in [poor] countries," said Zepeda.

Mahogany from Olancho is floated down the Patuca River to Barra Patuca, where it is shipped to La Ceiba.

Photo by Edgardo Benítez

WAMPUSIRPE -- A large lot of mahogony found floating down the Patuca River near the La Mosquitia village of Wampusire was detained by the villages' municipal autorities on December 31 to determine if the wood was illegally cut. According to Orlando Rivas, Justice of the Peace in Wampusirpe, 118 individual rafts of 12 mahogony blocks per raft, for a total of 1,416 blocks of wood were detected floating down the Patuca river on December 15. The wood was on it's way from Olancho to Barra Patuca were it would have been transported by sea to La Ceiba. According to Rivas the raft runners had an expired permission from COHDEFOR (Natinal Forestry Agency) to extract the wood. Authorities in Tegucigalpa were notified and at the time of this reporters' visit authorities in Wampusirpe were awaiting the arrival of official via helicopter on or about January 5.

Illegal cutting of precious mahogany in protected areas threatens the future existence of tropical rain forests. Photo by Edgardo Benítez

According to Rivas, the only wood legally allowed to be extracted from the zone is to reconstruct homes damaged by Hurricane Mitch and for the construction of cayucos (canoes), in other words for personal use.

"The government is making more of an effort at stopping the illegal cutting of hardwoods" said Rivas. "They are conducting more patrols with helicopters and soldiers to help in the fight against drugs and illegal logging".

Another contributing factor to the problem is the continued invasion of ladino campesinos from Olancho who have entered the area of La Mosquitia where they lay claim to large extensions of virgin forest and proceed to log, run cattle and grow basic crops. According to Rivas, "One or two families arrive from Olancho each year, installing themselves in the mountains where local officials have no control over the situation."

By MARIA FIALLOS

During the Sixth Annual Congress of the Honduran Tawahka Indigenous Federation (FITH) held last month in Krautara, members of the Tawahka indigenous group came to several agreements concerning the development of their communities.

The main topics of the meeting were: respect for communal land titles pertaining to the Tawahka Federation, protection and conservation of the Tawahka Asangni Biosphere Reserve, Bilingual (Tawahka-Spanish) education and economic development of their communities, as well as the election of a new executive committee for the organization.

Concerning communal land titles, Basilio Ordonez, liaison coordinator between the FITH and external organizations, said that ladino colonists that moved onto what later became Tawahka communal land need to be resettled. Ordonez stated that it is the responsibility of the government to find solutions for the settlers in the form of relocation as well as reimbursement of crops they will lose when they move.

Another point of concern among the communities is the fact that although the Tawahka Asangni Biosphere Reserve received legal status as protected area by the Congress on October 20, the decree has yet to be published in the official government newspaper, La Gaceta. This final step is necessary for the decree to become law. Members of FITH also feel that their organization should be delegated management of the Reserve since much of the area encompasses Tawahka communal lands and is part of their ancestral and cultural heritage.

In as much as economic development of the Tawahka communities, Ordonez stated that since the FITH is now well organized on an institutional level, it is capable of choosing and managing its own projects and of soliciting financing from national and international donors itself, and will rely less on the help of outside organizations. The assembly canceled all agreements signed by the previous executive committee with national and international institutions. It was also agreed that any organization that wishes to work in the Tawahka communities should coordinate their activities with the FITH. In this way, Ordonez said efforts will not be duplicated, and strife between the communities will be avoided due to outside interference that promote development projects in favor of some villages but exclude others.

The Assembly also agreed that FITH and A-ASLA (administrative component) should follow-up and seek financing for projects initiated during the previous year that include: latrine and water systems, construction and improvement of health centers, land demarcation, agriculture and housing among others.

Aside from the 72 Tawahka delegates from the communities of Parawas, Kamakasna, Yapuwas, Krautara and Krausirpi, 25 special guests participated, these included: nine students from the Tawahka Intercultural Bilingual Education Program, seven Tawahka leaders, members of NGO's that have worked in the area and two representatives from OXFAM International.

In addition to creating the International Volunteer's Day for Economic and Social Development, the United Nations (UN) will soon develop its new Volunteers' Virtual Market. Here, all people interested in using their free time in serving others or supporting a good cause, will be able to register in a database that will be permanently distributed among all social organizations in need of this kind of help.

The announcement was made last month in Tegucigalpa, when Honduras joined more the half of the countries around the world in the celebration of the Volunteers' Day, established since 1985 as December 5th. The idea is to finally recognize the invisible work of thousands of men and women, while stimulating more youngsters, adults and children to collaborate with their talent in support of the well-being of their community.

It is believed that nearly 4000 national and international volunteers, gathered in organizations or working on an individual basis, have supported the emergency and reconstruction tasks in Honduras, after the Hurricane Mitch crisis.

This effort was expanded through the participation of 150 more UN volunteers of 12 different nationalities who are still offering their services in every corner of the country with different rescue organizations such as Green Cross, Red Cross, Médicos sin Fronteras, the Scouts, churches and others.

Nevertheless, the United Nations considers that there is still a wide volunteer deficit in many areas, and therefore it will soon launch a new Volunteers' Virtual Market, aimed at increasing opportunities and extending the benefits of volunteership. The members of the Tegucigalpa's Fire Department, for example, have publicly stated their need of a 400-man rescue team in order to provide a more effective service.

Volunteer's Day was celebrated with a meeting led by César Picón and Ulrich Fechter, UNESCO Mission Chief and the UN Volunteer and Cooperation Program Official, respectively. According to Ulrich, the event was the departing point to prepare the International Volunteer's Year on 2001 declared by UN's General Assembly.

Meanwhile, Sharon Capeling-Alakija, Executive Coordinator of the UN Volunteer Program headquartered in Bonn, Germany, recalled in a message sent from Bonn that during 1999, "volunteers battled together under hard conditions with the purpose of reestablishing order, feeding the people and providing a roof for those who lost their homes."

At its resolution, the UN General Assembly urged governmemts to adopt measures to increase awareness around the importance of the contributions coming from the volunteer service. For more information about the United Nations Volunteers' Program in Honduras, call 220-1100; Email: unv.hn@undp.un.hn.

By JORGE FLORES McCLELLAN

In a surprising move, the airlines of Central America, which consist mainly of American and Continental from the U.S., Taca from El Salvador and Copa of Panama, have dealt a severe economic blow to the travel agency industry of the isthmus by reducing by forty per cent the commission on all airplane ticket sales.

According to sources in several travel agencies in Tegucigalpa, this directly affects approximately 15,000 job places in the region which have counted on this commission for the last thirty years as their income. At present, the travel agency associations of each country are actively seeking help from their respective governments to enforce any applicable laws to maintain their commission at 10% and not be reduced to 6%.

The reduction comes as a new hindrance to the tourism infrastructure which already suffers the consequences of bad services from said airlines, especially Taca which has become synonymous with lost luggage, irregular timetables and bad management in general. This has created bad publicity for air travel in the area which, if the incomes are lowered, will only contribute to less tourism and, directly proportionally, less air travel.

Air travel in Honduras has been dominated by foreign airlines since the demise of the Honduran line Tan-Sahsa in 1992, and since then, has been at the mercy of these lines which, apparently, cannot be controlled by Honduran Civil Aeronautics or any other entity in matters of service to the public.

The "open skies" policy which supposedly is being discussed in congress is in reality effective because it means that any airline can operate in Honduras. The only limitation which now exists is the fact that demand for air travel is lower and no other international airlines would have a market.

Iberia, the only European airline from Spain and which lands in San Pedro Sula, has kept the commission at 10% and shows no inclination to reduce it. Meanwhile, all other airlines have sent notes to all travel agencies in the country to announce the reduction. The letters have no signatures or official seal from any management office and no one responds to interviews.

By BLANCA MORENO

TEGUCIGALPA -- Politics, irregularities in its administration, lack of leadership and corruption charges are all factors afflicting the Honduran Social Security Institute (IHSS) to the point that it is on the verge of collapsing. This would affect thousands of affiliates in the public and private sector alike.

Administrators are demanding that the "ceiling be broken," meaning that affiliates pay fees in accordance with their incomes to receive benefits. This, according to the administration, would "oxygenate" the institution and save it from bankruptcy.

"A critical point has been reached in the financial behavior of the institution which indicates that if the rates are not modified in January, it will collapse in February because payrolls and medicines will not be paid," said Roger Isaula, sub-director.

However, Director Hena Ligia Madrid de Torres denied the allegation. Torres has also been confronted by both private and public sector leaders who claim that some of her decisions are either arbitrary or political.

Torres was given her job by Jaime Rosenthal, a Liberal political leader who placed her in the position as part of his "power quota" in several state institutions.

Meanwhile, the Board of Directors of the IHSS has yet to reach an agreement on the rates to be paid due to opposition from the working and entrepreneurial sectors which are represented on the board.

Everyone is aware of the situation that calls for urgent measures to be taken, but which are being delayed by the labor sectors' demand that the institution be purged of political influence before increasing the rates.

The IHSS was created in 1962. Since its inception, it has had administrative problems which in the end, affect the affiliates who many times receive medical attention but are unable to fill medical prescriptions due to a lack of medications.

One of the ways that the monies from the affiliates has been skimmed is by doctors and IHSS union workers who don't comply with their schedules but do charge overtime. This method has allowed them to "legally" steal more than Lps.50 million since 1993. There is also accusations of falsified checks, illegally obtained medical leaves and payoffs which are evidence of corruption.

For any employee in the public or private sector, regardless of the persons income, the "ceiling income" is Lps.600 a month. This means that the maximum amount paid is 3.5% of Lps.600 or Lps. 21 to be covered by the IHSS services. By the same token, any company, regardless of its gross income, pays only Lps. 2,000 in dues.

The common denominator is, everyone complains about the IHSS services

The vendors who crowded the streets and bridges of downtown Tegucigalpa were evicted in an orderly fashion January 10. The operation was carried out by more than 400 city employees accompanied by hundreds of policemen.

According to the Mayor, Vilma de Castellanos, the vendors will be moved to adequate edifices south of the city. Still, vendor representatives protested in front of the mayor's office.

The city authorities say the next step is moving vendors from the twin city, Comayaguela.--El Heraldo

A commission of citizens from El Progreso came to Tegucigalpa to demand that health authorities allow a Cuban medical brigade to stay in that city. The commission said that if the brigade, consisting of 21 doctors and three nurses, are forced to leave, they will organize strong protests. The brigade came to Honduras last October after flooding affected the area. An agreement exists with Cuba for the permanence of the medical mission.--El Heraldo

Two inmates incarcerated in the National Penitentiary located in the Tamara Valley, 30 kilometers north of Tegucigalpa, were prevented from escaping from their maximum security cells.

The escape attempt was detected during a routine operation to find arms and drugs. The men had already cut two iron bars from their windows and had a machete. One of the men had already tried to escape before.--La Prensa

The International Development Bank (IDB) and the Honduran Armed Forces will create a special school for the prevention and mitigation of natural disasters.

The school will be the first in Latin America which will take into consideration the Honduran Armed Forces' experience before, during and after Mitch.

The initiative was promoted by Defense Minister, Edgardo Dumas and will begin in late January.--La Prensa

The five Central American countries and Panama will finally have their electric systems completely interconnected. The connection will allow all countries to sell their surplus energy to any other nation through the proposed Regional Electric Market, MER, benefiting around 34 million people.

To complete this last leg of the project, 148 kilometers of power lines will be built with a cost of approximately $21.3 million.--El Heraldo

The remains of a person, supposedly a man, were found near the Carias Bridge in downtown Tegucigalpa.

The skeleton was found by a man who was digging sand for construction purposes. After finding one of the upper torso bones, he immediately notified authorities who promptly appeared at the scene.

The investigators suppose that the man was poor because he had a plastic bag as a hat, long hair and beard.--El Heraldo

By WENDY GRIFFIN

(Third of three parts)

All Honduran departments are still facing the task of reconstruction after Hurricane Mitch. Reconstruction projects fall into two main categories -- the rehabilitation of infrastructure like utilities and roads and the rehabilitation of privately-owned structures such as houses and small businesses.

The Mosquitia offers special challenges due to the isolation of the department, the extent of the damage, the poor initial state of infrastructure and the poor relations that exist between local mayors and the Miskitos.

An example of the latter is the airport at Brus Laguna. Money was given to the municipality to repair the airstrip, part of which came from the Mosquitia development NGO MOPAWI. Local people challenged the report of the mayor, saying the amount he said he paid was false and that he kept gasoline and money. The project was never finished and local people consider the airport "una amenaza para la salud" (a health threat). This case was denounced to the Special Investigator of Corruption.

The mayor was also supposed to dredge the canal that connects Brus Laguna and Palacios. However, the canal was insufficiently dredged. The coordinator of the Christian Development Commission (CCD) was invited to see the canal, in part because the people wanted his help to canoe where it was too shallow. The wall to keep the lagoon from flooding the neighborhood of Twitanta was also so poorly done that the people are sure that it will not be effective.

Roads all over the Honduras needed to be repaired after Mitch. The principal road in the Mosquitia connects Puerto Lempira to Mocoron, Ahuasbila and the road system in Nicaragua. The governor of the Mosquitia, Romulo Carias, said the bridge on this road is so damaged that it could fall at any minute. He hoped no one will be hurt when it does.

The governor has written a letter and sent photos to get it repaired, but he has received no reply. Smaller bridges have sometimes been repaired under food-for-work programs sponsored by the World Food Program (PMA).

A number of schools in the Mosquitia were damaged by Mitch. The Ministry of Education had to close schools early after Mitch and automatically promote students to the new grades, as teachers were unable to end the 1998 school year. For example, in the Tawahka village of Yapuwas, every structure -- houses, the church, the school -- were destroyed, except for one house. The whole school of Yapuwas was seen floating down the river during Mitch.

Some schools in the Tawahka area have been repaired and others are on the Honduran Social Investment Fund's list to be repaired. Other schools are being repaired by NGOs. CCD was repairing the school at Cocobila on the coast.

Not all problems with utilities were caused by the hurricane. CIDLAB in Brus Laguna was concerned that the water system there has not worked since Mitch and that the roof was blowing off the structure housing the pump's motor. Diarrhea illnesses are a major problem, reported a nurse at the medical center. However, the municipality said the problem was that they had no money to pay the operator and buy gasoline for the pump, although people pay their water bills every month.

Transportation can be a problem. Over 200 latrines were in Palacios for the Brus Lagoon area, but there was no money to transport them. In the same way, Puerto Lempira was promised a power plant that is currently in Amapala. "Tenemos promesas hasta aqui," (we have promises up to here), said the governor.

In general, private rebuilding is going slower than public infrastructure. CCD has plans for rebuilding houses in the mid-Patuca area. They have spent months getting permits for wood from the Honduran Forestry Development Corporation (COHDEFOR) and setting up agreements with beneficiaries. MOPAWI, which is also planning to rebuild some houses in the mid-Patuca region, has been denounced for cutting wood by COHDEFOR for this project.

Houses were not destroyed only in the mid-Patuca area. Along the Rio Coco, in Brus Laguna, at Barra Patuca some houses were also lost or damaged. There is no project for these people, while Mitch survivors in Tegucigalpa get $600 down payment for houses.

The loss of trees that provide thatch for roofs has affected plans to rebuild houses in the Mosquitia.

Another problem has been that the trees which supply the traditional roofing material, suita were washed away by the hurricane. NGO financed projects and individuals must now use zinc roofing, which is expensive and difficult to transport.

The suita trees have begun to grow up again in the mud left by Mitch, but it will take a while before they will be of usable size, reports Tawahka Edgardo Benitez.

There is some access to a line of credit to open or reopen small businesses through MOPAWI. The Mosquitia does not have a Fundacion Covelo office, the organization managing $6.5 million in USAID funds for small businesses.

The German government also has a project to help small businesses, such as leather working or handicrafts. But there was a Lps. 700 entrance fee to attend the seminar on the project, a sum way outside the range of most struggling small business owners, particularly those affected by the year-long slump in tourism in Honduras after Mitch.

Tourists who visit the Mosquitia to see birds and monkeys will probably not even notice the hurricane damage. If people do not point out the sticks representing a damaged house or show photos of walking in knee deep water a mile inland from Brus Laguna, tourists would not known what it was like before.

The local people are somewhat frustrated by the lack of progress on repairs and a second bad agricultural year. But they remain cheerfully friendly to the few tourists who do come. One relief worker said people suffer twice from a disaster like Mitch -- once during the disaster and again when their needs are not attended to. The Miskitos feel they are marginalized, but that was true before the hurricane, too.

"People don't wait for the government to come and fix their houses. They just do it," said Jairo Wood, coordinator of CIDLAB. But the day of being passively ignored is over. "If the government does not change the mayor, we are going to take over the municipal building," reported a Brus Laguna resident. This type of protest has already been reported in other parts of the country, such as the blocking of the highway in western Honduras for two days by local residents.

By SUYAPA CARIAS

According to the 1999 United Nations Report of Human Development in Honduras launched last December, Hurricane Mitch had a drastic impact on the living conditions of 80% of the Honduran population. The six chapter document addresses Honduras' decline on the 1990 Human Development Index to the lowest on the continent, affecting 16.5% of the Honduran population and consequently reducing per capita income.

The report was conceived to serve as an analysis of the situation of the Honduran society one year after the Hurricane Mitch occurred in October 1998. Especially affected where the opportunities of the country's youth and children. The report also states the urgent need to establish a national family planning program, where prevention becomes a central strategy of development.

Based on the results of field research, the current perception of the community towards human security is viewed from three perspectives: judicial, economical, social and subjective security.

In regards to the judicial security, it points out the efforts made during the last years to fortify the State of Law in the country to provide a level of formal security which should lead to a more democratic, participatory and respectful way of life. However, despite the higher levels of awareness acquired by society in terms of what its rights are, there are also great doubts about the capacity of the government to guarantee such rights.

Concerning economic security, the report revealed the country's weak capacity to guarantee a remunerated job. This situation, and inadequate coverage of basic needs (food and shelter), creates insecurity towards the future.

According to the report, the main problems Hondurans are now facing are the same as in the past: the need for housing, jobs and education. As a result of the natural disaster, the housing deficit increased 20%, which proves the need to stimulate alliances between the private sector, municipalities, the central government and the organized community, in order to run contractual saving programs that allow for the construction of adequate urban and rural habitats.

Between 1998 and 1999, salaries remained in a slump, while the informal economy increased, especially among very poor women.

In the field of education, the report estimates that more than 1,300 schools suffered serious damage, affecting nearly 205,318 pupils, representative of 14% of all the students registered in 1998. Estimates indicate that recuperation of the educational level previous to the hurricane could take up to four years.

Not only should infrastructure be reconstructed as well as expanded, improvement of the quality of educational services offered is imperative, says the document.

With a US$4,000 million foreign debt, Honduras is the second most indebted country in Central America after Nicaragua. The report demands a more decisive participation of the civil society in actions leading to the reduction of this debt.

In fact, the United Nations analysis considers that the hurricane opened participatory spaces for the community, and that people are now more willing to take them. The challenge resides in being able to use these energies in a more organized, less spontaneous effort.

The report defines sustainable human development as an expanding process of the people's opinions with the purpose, among others, of decreasing vulnerabilities. In practical terms, it should be translated into strategies oriented towards the search of opportunities; as in equal opportunity in education, health, employment, justice, liberty and access to an universal culture.

By BLANCA MORENO

At the threshold of the new century and milennium, President Carlos Flores during his traditional message to the nation, emphazised the fight against poverty and importance of a positive attitude so as to avoid being absorbed by a fatalistic atmosphere. Mr. Flores appeared on all national T.V. and radio stations on January 5, the eve of the Epiphany, and said, "A new mark in time, always awakens expectations, anxieties and even fears, but we Hondurans are, fundamentally, people of faith, whose greater confidence relies in God's power and in our own proven capacity to overcome the greatest difficulties, to emerge from crises with the will to win."

"The year that ended," the president went on to say, "left the product of many reconstruction and rehabilitation projects which are also the result of our determination to mantain the financial balance. We are to straighten the production apparatus of the country to extend the social assistance to a greater number of compatriots."

"Our mind and efforts have always been directed towards fighting poverty by any means within our capacity and, obviously, with the own effort from each individual person and family. Each one of us must be more courageous and optimist to defeat conformity and fatalism," he emphazised.

The president went on to say that there is a will to create a more open society with more participation and competition, but that no one should expect oportunities at the door with their arms crossed. "We must go out to find the challenges and face them with imagination, determination and courage."

He made it clear that this new year's message is more than a recount of what has been done and what must be done. It is a message converted into words of support and hope to revitalize the hearts and faith to unite ourselves as brothers to succeed.

He commited the government structure to continue its work in the most efficient, honest an patriotic way. The private sector, he hopes, will keep its role in promoting development and economic growth. At the same time, he exhorted public servants to perform better with demonstratable moral integrity. The labor sector should participate more in the national commitment to increase productivity which would help in mantaining a climate of confidence and security, all within the parameters of the rights acquired.

He also reafirmed that the state and its institutions, together with civilian society, will continue to monitor, promote and defend the essential rights of all citizens with particular emphasis on those who are most vulnerable.

"Every Honduran should feel a guarantee of respect for his dignity as a subject to Law and as a human creature gifted by God of all the essentials of equality and reason," he concluded.

By MARIA FIALLOS

Heart to Heart (Corazon a Corazon), a completely volunteer relief mission based in Dalton, Georgia with the purpose of aiding Honduras during and post Hurricane Mitch has been criminally accused of wrongdoing by the US Army Criminal Investigative Division (CID) concerning two LCM boats the organization obtained from the US Army Base in Panama to use in their mission on the north coast of Honduras.

Dr. Steve Foster, head of the organization, has been accused of grand theft for taking the boats from a military installation without the approval of the Department of Defense Logistics Agency. According to Foster, the CID has doubts as to whether the boats are being used in Honduras and also accused him of selling other articles (hospital equipment) obtained at the base for a profit, as well as cutting off the mission from receiving some trucks and other equipment that had been allocated to them. Dr. Foster states he had personally asked for the delay in the delivery of the trucks until the end of the hurricane and rainy seasons when roads are more transitable.

However, the mission's activities are being held up by CID's investigation. Foster says he has in his possession a three page list of allegations accusing him of money laundering, fraud and being in possession of stolen property that Special Agent Janet Keller presented to Jose Antonio Sosa, the Attorney General of Panama last November.

Corazon a Corazon began relief efforts in Honduras immediately after Hurricane Mitch on November 4, 1998. A group of volunteers and relief supplies delivered free aid and health services to devastated and destroyed communities in the area outlying Trujillo as witnessed and reported by Honduras This Week (Feb. 20, 1999). After some of the volunteers returned home, others stayed and continued delivering relief supplies obtained by the mission in the U.S. According to Foster, all expenses have been paid by him and at the present time he has donated more the US$400,000.

The boats that the mission obtained in Panama are being used along the coast of La Moskitia, Foster personally navigated the boats with a group of volunteers from Panama to Honduras, also reported by Honduras This Week (April 24 and May 22, 1999). On this trip, the mission brought on the LCM's, 13 containers of used hospital and office equipment they obtained from the base. According to Fito Velasquez (Honduras This Week) who volunteered as an interpreter and liaison with Honduran government, the equipment was later distributed as donations throughout Honduras with the cooperation of the U.S. Army Base Soto Cano.

Dr. Foster states that he told the Army from the beginning that they were going to run a freight service along La Moskitia Coast -primarily humanitarian but with a desire to expand commercial opportunities- for shipping products from La Moskitia to the rest of Honduras, to maintain financial viability. At the present time, the two crafts, El Corazon de Honduras and El Corazon de los Estados Unidos are actively engaged in commerce along the north coast as well as carrying relief supplies when they are available. The boats provide a much needed service in La Moskitia since their design allows them to navigate on the rivers in the area, the only mode of transportation in a huge expanse of land with no roads.

According to Foster, "our real problem is that all of our carefully selected equipment may be lost to the Panamanian government and I personally (as do many other Americans) feel that we have given far to much to the Panamanians already -and I am not talking about the canal- but about the military hardware and equipment already turned over to them. For Honduras, we cannot afford to lose this equipment, it will be very important to the development of northern Honduras."

Dr. Foster says he has never taken one cent out of Honduras nor does he plan to, stating "I am not guilty and the charges are baseless and as such I will not even give them the benefit of taking them seriously--as any serious, intelligent person would review the facts and dismiss the charges out of hand. I have no attorney and will use none other than my own conscience and the Divine inspiration of my Lord as I answer these baseless, trumped up charges."

(Second of three parts)

Within a week of Hurricane Mitch, MOPAWI, an environmental and development NGO in the Mosquitia, sent out reports that between 90 to a 100 percent of the Mosquitia's crops had been wiped out. The main rice crop is harvested around Nov. 30, so when the hurricane passed through in late October 1998, farmers had no grains and almost no seed from the previous harvest, notes Tawahka Edgardo Benitez.

Bananas and plantains were among the hardest hit. The Tawahkas and MOPAWI were able to obtain young "improved" plantain trees from Honduran Foundation for Agricultural Investigation (FHIA), located in La Lima, Cortes. USAID has financed a program to plant acres of FHIA plantains, which will be available for distribution for the year 2000 planting season.

Not everyone appreciates the new, improved plantains. In the Mosquitia, at least 18 varieties of banana-like plants are grown, known by different names like datiles (lady-finger bananas), chatas (charter bananas in Bay Islands English) and pilipitas (Philipino bananas). The Tawahkas have collected existing specimens of these 18 varieties and established a nursery. From this nursery, they will distribute plants to Tawahka farmers each year. Benitez estimates that it will take about four years for banana production to return to normal.

Basic grains -- corn, beans, and rice -- were heavily affected by the floods. MOPAWI distributed seeds for replanting these crops to the Rio Coco/Segovia area, Mocoron, Rio Patuca, and within the Rio Platano area. The Christian Development Commission (CCD) also distributed beans, corn and rice seeds to 4,500 families in Auka, Laka, Ahuas and to five communities around Mangotara in the "Zona Recuperada," as the Ramon Villeda Morales municipality is called locally. Both MOPAWI and CCD gave agricultural tools to families.

Unfortunately, agricultural production was low. Miskitos generally plant on fertile strips of land adjacent to the rivers. However, after the hurricane, these parcels were covered with mud. Some people tried planting higher up. The high humidity in the ground caused a high level of plant diseases. Also, the strips of land next to the rivers have become controversial, the management plan for the Rio Platano proposes no agricultural activities within 20 meters of the rivers, but these fertile strips are sometimes no wider than 15-25 meters. "Where are we supposed to plant?" asked a Brus Laguna resident.

Because of the high levels of rain in the Mosquitia, beans and corn have to be grown in the dry season (December to April), instead of in the wet season as in the rest of Honduras. For the December 1999 crops, CCD was unable to obtain bean seeds. In December, they distributed onion, tomato, cucumber, bell pepper, and watermelon seeds to give the people something to eat, but vegetable growing, especially with imported seeds, is very problematic in eastern Honduras. During the heavy rains of November, even native chili bushes did not survive. USAID has a program to provide seeds with the help of the Pan American Agricultural School at Zamorano, but this only benefits departments in southern and central Honduras.

The World Food Program's food-for-work program usually gives out beans, but in general, commercially available beans cannot be used for growing since they are made bug-proof with a chemical that also prevents them from germinating. Hondurans use traditional means of curing beans, such as storing them with hot chili pepper ashes, and storing them above a smoky fireplace to cure beans will still maintain their ability to be used as seeds.

Usually, people in the Mosquitia would supplement their meat and fish diet with manioc or yuca. Both CCD and MOPAWI had programs to distribute cangres of yuca, which are the stems of mature yuca plants. Yuca has the advantage that it provides more calories per acre than almost any crop in the world. Yuca was planted in February in Wampusirpe, Ahuas, Kruta and Auka. There were fresh yuca, malanga (dasheen or cocoyam) and batucas (a kind of bananas) in the market of Puerto Lempira.

Beach plants are taking on a new role in post-Mitch times. The bar opposite Brus Laguna used to have beaches about 40 feet wide. Cocoplums (jicacos) were the principal trees on the bar's beach area -- a low-lying plant that produces a fruit called kamakama. When Hurricane Mitch came, the lagoon rose up and washed away the beaches -- cocoplums and all.

Fishermen are having to cut down red mangroves to have a fish drying area. The erosion of the bar is worsening during the rainy season, so it may be necessary to put in a breakwater to be able to build up enough beach that can be stabilized with plants like the cocoplum.

CIDLAB, a new NGO in Brus Laguna, is planning to promote the cultivation and use of two other traditional beach plants -- cashew trees and sea grapes. According to Jorge Salaveri of Mosquitia Eco-Adventures, sea grapes have great root systems and resist hurricanes.

MOPAWI is also going to try growing a new variety of Jamaican coconut that seems resistant to lethal yellowing. The coconut is smaller than the Jamaican talls, but it has the thick coconut meat needed to make coconut cream, coconut oil and other products. FHIA is currently selling these disease resistant plants.

For MOPAWI Director Oswaldo Munguia, the most worrisome problem is cacao. Almost 100 percent of the cacao production was lost as flooded rivers just carried away the trees. Cacao and basic grains provide the majority of cash income for families. Without cacao, families do not have money to send their children to school, notes CCD coordinator Miguel Echeverria.

Both MOPAWI and CCD have programs to distribute cacao seeds to growers. CCD found that many growers had lost heart to grow cacao, which takes four years to mature. While 4,500 families received basic grain seeds, only 208 wanted cacao seeds.

In Brus Laguna, a similar feeling exists. "People feel discouraged. They plant, it gets flooded by Mitch. They plant again. It gets flooded again this year. There needs to be a program to help small farmers," said one resident. AID and the Honduran government have programs through banks to help farmers, but with few newspapers, no television or radio, and no banks within 75 miles, few people in the Mosquitia know of these programs.

A prinicipal limiting factor in distributing aid was limited capacity to move products to upriver communities. This was made worse by a fuel shortage immediately after the hurricane.

Usually, raising animals helps farmers get through times of low agricultural production. Selling an animal is the first resort for raising cash in an emergency. Many Miskitos lost cattle. Lester Wood's family of Brus Laguna lost over 200 head as the llanos (plains/wetlands) flooded during Mitch and then afterward when the cattle refused to eat the wet grass.

MOPAWI is planning a pig project and a project to help meet the reduction in animals caused by flooding, reported administrator Zaida Calderon. Before it was possible to start this kind of program, it was necessary to ensure that there were enough basic grains for the people.

In towns where tourists might go -- Brus Laguna, Palacios, Puerto Lempira, people reported there was food for those with money to buy it. Everyone said the tourists should feel safe about coming, that there was enough food for them and people would not attack them for their provisions. Lester Wood said as a MOPAWI employee he would carry around Lps. 180,000 to pay people and he felt safe. No one in La Ceiba or San Pedro would say that.

By BLANCA MORENO

President Carlos Flores has introduced in Congress the bill to declare the "National Day of Thanksgiving" to be held the last Sunday of every October.

Honduras previously thanked the international community for its support in the aftermath of hurricane Mitch, with an Eucharist at the Suyapa Basilica. On that occasion, Archbishop Oscar Andres Rodriguez proposed that a national thanksgiving day be declared.

The proposal was well received by the country's people and authorities especially by president Flores and his wife Mary. The Archbishop stated that President Flores has given the Honduran nation a wonderful present by introducing this bill.

He is convinced that the Honduran people should enter the third millennium full of renewed hope and leave behind negative memories because this will strengthen their spirit and guide it towards the building of new nation.

By BLANCA MORENO

TEGUCIGALPA -- After a month of tension between Honduras and Nicaragua caused by the signing of a maritime demarcation treaty between Honduras and Colombia, the problem still remains unsolved, with Honduras proceeding legally into the next century.

Foreign Affairs Minister, Roberto Flores Bermudez, announced that Honduras will continue taking legal action against Nicaragua in view of trade sanctions Nicaragua has imposed on Honduras. Honduras claims that the 35% import tax imposed on Honduran goods is seriously affecting national businesses as well as slowing the economic integration process.

The Central American Court of Justice alleges that Honduras' application for suspension of the economic sanctions should have been presented by Honduras' legal representative, Julio Rendon Barnica and not by its diplomatic emissary in Managua, Rainiery Amador.

Flores Bermudez was surprised when he found out that this procedure was questioned after it has been accepted in many other occasions. "There is an ordinance from the Central American Court which establishes that each party will designate the person who will attend the court and who will be allowed to receive the notifications, but apparently, this has been interpreted another way," he said.

Honduras has also begun procedures so that the Central American Court, which is based in Nicaragua, be moved to another nation to settle the differences.

Flores Bermudez flew to Miami to meet with his Nicaraguan counterpart, Eduardo Montealegre, and the Organization of American States Special Envoy, Luigi Einaudi. Before leaving, he declared that this is a consultation meeting and that the possibility of a reunion of the presidents from both countries will be discussed.

Former Honduras This Week reporter Larry Lee was found brutally murdered in his apartment in Guatemala City on Tuesday (Dec. 28). Lee, who was a correspondent for Bridge News service, was 40.

The discovery was made by Jorge Lopez, a friend, who told the Guatemalan daily Siglo Veintiuno that when Lee didn't answer the phone Tuesday morning, he became concerned and went to the El Centro building where Lee was renting an apartment. On arriving at Lee's room on the 13th floor, Lopez said he found the door slightly ajar and, in the bedroom, the journalist's body.

Law enforcement authorities told the ACAN-EFE news service that Lee died from knife wounds to the neck and chest, and that there was evidence of a struggle inside the apartment.

A veteran reporter of Central America and graduate of the Missouri School of Journalism, Lee joined the Honduras This Week staff in December 1994, writing stories on a wide range of subjects that included AIDS, the demining of the Honduras-Nicaragua border, and the environment. However, most HTW readers will remember Lee for his humorous restaurant review column written under the pseudonym, Sr. Sabor.

Lee left HTW in February 1997 to take a position at the now defunct El Paso Herald-Post and later at the San Antonio Express-News, both in Texas.

However, in e-mails to a friend, Lee said he missed Central America and especially Guatemala, where he had studied Spanish before coming to work at Honduras This Week, and hoped to return one day. "I really don't like American culture that much," he wrote.

Later, Lee wrote, "Maybe I'll save $3K and buy a little adobe hut in Olancho [Honduras] somewhere and move down and be happy, traveling from time to time." Several months afterward, Lee landed the correspondent position in Guatemala.

In December, Lee decided it was time to move on and quit his job with Bridge News service. At the time of his death, Lee was preparing for his move to Mexico City in February where he intended to take up residence.