BUSINESS & ECONOMICS |
BUSINESS & ECONOMICS |
Monday, June 28, 1999 Online Edition 163 |
Do your homework before applying for a U.S. travel visa By DON PEARLY Special to Honduras This Week (First of two parts) Hundreds of Hondurans seek a travel visa to the United States at the U.S. Embassy in Tegucigalpa every day, but only about half obtain one. Knowing what to do can make the task easier and increase an applicant's possibility of obtaining a visa, as well as saving time, money and heartbreak. To seek a visa for the United States without doing all of your homework first is a waste of everyone's time and money. The payment of the mandatory world-wide application fee of $45.00 does not in anyway guarantee that you will qualify for a visa. All it does guarantee is that your case will be heard by a qualified consular officer who is trying to find a way to help you with your trip. Now, it may not seem that he or she is trying to help, but they are. This section of the Embassy interviews about 250 different people each day trying to determine whether they are a risk. This is a very difficult job to do and a lot of people are depending on their judgement. How can you help them do a good and thorough job with your case? Quite honestly it is part of their job to try and find reasons that you, as an individual, will not misuse the tourist or student visa privilege to immigrate to the United States and try to get lost in the crowd. You must help the person reviewing your file by presenting the following items:
You will not be expected to have all of these items with you but as many as possible will enhance your chances of approval. Take your time and gather them carefully. You will be surprised at how many things keep you happy and functioning in beautiful Honduras. By the way, you will need some current photographs of yourself should you be granted a visa. The services of the roaming photographer in front of the Embassy seemed to work just fine for the Honduran travel visa; however, they did not work for my personal U.S. citizen passport renewal. I had to go to a studio for properly sized ones. It is my understanding that about 75 percent of the applicants were granted visas in the past, but since Hurricane Mitch struck only about 50 percent of applicants qualify. Checking into the situation showed me the criteria for approval has not changed, the policies have not changed, the interviewers have not changed, it is just that more and more people with less and less strings to keep them tied to people and businesses in Honduras are seeking entry. To put it bluntly, they are prepared to say or do anything to get into the United States where they might go underground and become illegal aliens. If this is your master plan there are other ways in which to apply for legal entry into the United States, but not with a tourist or travel visa. Don Pearly is the general manager of the Bayman Bay Club on the island of Guanaja. |
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Monday, June 21, 1999 Online Edition 162 |
By MELANIE WETZEL Traditionally, especially in heavily Catholic countries such as Honduras, there had to be a cause in order for a married couple to divorce. This cause had to be invoked by the innocent party, which historically resulted in a situation where one member of the couple could not get divorced because the innocent party decided that the proper punishment for the indiscretions would be having to stay married. Most modern legislation now has ways for a couple to get divorced without one of the spouses having to be declared guilty of causing the divorce. Most also have processes that can be carried out without the consent of the other spouse. The typical -- and oldest -- divorce process in Honduras is when a spouse is declared guilty of one of 12 causes for divorce. These include abuse by word or action, abandonment, public and notorious adultery, abuse of children, and others. This process must be initiated by the innocent party. A newer process in now available for couples who chose to divorce by mutual consent. It is really not even considered a trial. The couple appears before a notario and prepares an escritura publica in which they declare their intention to divorce, provide an inventory of all community property and identify any minor children. The couple then appears before the judge with this document. The judge offers some words of wisdom about the effects of divorce, and then there is a 60-day waiting period. After this time the couple appears before the judge again with another escritura publica that stipulates how they will divide their assets, who will have custody of the children, and the visiting rights of the other spouse. The judge will declare the divorce and then the couple can take the decree to the registry. If one of the spouses is not willing to participate in a divorce by mutual consent, the other spouse can still initiate a procedure that will eventually end in divorce. There must be a separation and one or both spouses must ask the judge to declare the separation legally. After two years of legal separation, either party can ask for a divorce without invoking any other cause. |
Monday, June 21, 1999 Online Edition 162 |
Muscle powers many Honduran businesses
By JORGE FLORES MCCLELLAN TEGUCIGALPA -- It is said that the economy of Third World countries is dominated by "micro-empresarios" or micro-entrepreneurs. Sub-employment is another term used to define a job generated by the sale of products by oneself. But there is nothing "micro" or "sub" about many people who, day by day, month by month, year after year get up and push a "carreta" or "troco" in order to eat and pay their bills. They can be seen in all Honduran cities and towns, mostly in San Pedro Sula where it is flatter but much hotter, and in Tegucigalpa, where it is cooler but hillier. Some do their business by moving other people's merchandise but most transport their own products. It is common to see the carretas, as they are called in Tegucigalpa, or trocos, as they are called in the North Coast, full to the brim with everything from new shoes to fruit to a whole butchered steer. Sometimes, two or three men have to push heavy loads for kilometers. Other times, teenagers and even boys suffice to take the load or bring back the vehicle. You know the job is done when you see them all aboard, rolling fast down a hill, yelling instructions to the brakeman for the road ahead and just laughing all the way down. The mechanical systems that have been devised over many years may seem rudimentary, but they are efficient and, before the concept was globalized, they were recycling. The carretas are made primarily of wood, but any other light and sturdy material may be used, especially for the suspension frame to sustain the heavy loads. Old tire strips, a hard to get rid of pollutant, are used to re-tread the wooden wheels and to line the brake pads. Old aluminum sheets are used to protect the sides and to make the parasols. The steering system consists of one piece of nylon rope wrapped around a long wooden cylinder. When the cylinder is turned, one end pulls one of the sides of the front axle to one side and vice versa. Many other materials like pieces of heavy cable, tubes and nylon rope are used in any way to keep the business rolling. SETTING AN EXAMPLE Feliciano Carranza sells fruit on a park corner in Tegucigalpa. He said he had to move to this new location after Hurricane Mitch because his old place was completely destroyed near the Education Ministry in Comayaguela and now the whole place stinks and is unsanitary. He also lost his two carretas from the parking lot two blocks away from the place. When asked how he managed to go back into business, he smiled and showed off his new troco. "This cost me 2,500 lempiras (about $200) from a man who makes them near the Americas Market. During the Agricultural and Cattle Ranchers Fair in February, I made 3,600 in one week and my brother 2,500," he said. "How much is the minimum wage in this country, 1,500? I make three times as much easily and honestly," he adds. His only overhead expenses are a Lps. 250 permit issued by the Tegucigalpa Mayor's Office and a fee of Lps. 2 per day. He admits he doesn't tell his earnings to just anybody. "Let them think it is a life of poverty to push this wagon. It is the work that matters and that it gives us enough to live with dignity". Wilfredo Garcia and his 10-year-old son Jose work not too far away from Feliciano, selling coconuts for their milk and meat, and also tell a success story. While he cuts pieces of coco, Wilfredo, dressed in nice clothes, talks about the carretas: "These things will carry what a pickup truck won't. I have seen carretas just like this with 10 cargas of corn (about 2,000 pounds), without bending, where a car seems ready to fall apart. I don't know who invented them or designed them but they sure do the job. I carry 150 coconuts and no problem. The car that brings them to me carries about 300 and the pickup bed is almost touching the ground." His son shows all the moving parts and tells the story of the steep hills: "I sit up front and when I see we are going too fast I pull hard on the lever to slow down. Sometimes its hard when the load is heavy but we have never crashed. I think that if a car hits us, it will lose against our cart." Other troco owners have smaller carts and carry smaller loads to fancy businesses downtown. The common denominators seem to be motivation, perseverance and a strong heart. There is an old saying in Honduras when someone asks how is business: "Ahi, empujando la carreta" or "There, pushing the cart," which uses these people as an example almost jokingly. But one thing must be kept in mind, when it comes to hard work, the dignity of people that labor in the street without asking for anything other than respect: these people don't need to be pushed.
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June is also the "fourteenth month" Legal Forum By MELANIE WETZEL We all know that June is the sixth month of the year. In Honduras, it is also the "fourteenth month" (catorceavo or decimocuatro) at least for workers and employers. There are two legally established bonus payments for employees each year, one in December and one in June. They are referred to as the thirteenth (aguinaldo) and fourteenth months. Workers who have been employed for an entire year receive an additional salary, usually at the end of June, equal to the average of their 12 preceding monthly salaries. Employees who are paid by the day or the hour also receive a bonus equal to their average monthly pay over the previous 12 months. Employees who have not worked the full year receive a proportional bonus. For example, an employee who has been working for six months would receive one half of their average monthly salary and an employee who has been working for eight months would receive two-thirds of their average monthly salary. The only employees who do not receive these bonuses are domestic workers. Domestic employees are those whose labor serves the needs of a household. Any employee whose labor serves the needs of a business or other profit seeking entity is not a domestic employee. When hiring employees it is important to keep in mind that there are many benefits established in the Honduran Law that are obligatory, and cannot be surrendered by the employee. This means that even if an employee signs a contract saying that they renounce their right to additional benefits, they may still claim them at a later date. The contract renouncing these benefits will be declared null and void. Many foreigners pay wages that are higher than the customary wages. At first glance it just doesn't seem right to pay anyone less than $100 a month. When deciding on a salary, however, it is important to keep the legal benefits in mind. The 13th and 14th months alone result in a 15 percent pay raise. There is also some healthy vacation pay, and the severance pay can be very high if an employee has worked for a long time with the same employer. These are all things to consider when establishing a salary for your employees.
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Monday, June 7, 1999 Online Edition 160 |
Inflation, exchange, interest rates under control Contrary to early pessimistic expectations inflation has been under control during the first quarter. For the third month running IPC's figure in March was a meager 0.3 percent, 1.4 percent down compared to the (1.7 percent) result registered in March of last year. Thus, accumulated inflation during the first three months of 1999 was 2.9, close to 40 percent below the 5.0 combined IPC of the first quarter 1998. One apparent reason for this decline in prices has been the surge in most staples, including beans, grains, potatoes, fruits, eggs and others, which has resulted in huge price fluctuations in March and April prices, when compared with March and April of last year. The exchange rate has stood relatively stable during the first four months of the year thanks to healthy hard currency international reserves. Equally, interest rates have been relatively stable and have endured steady downward pressure, but only for A-1 clients. For both the short-term evolution of interest rates and the exchange rate the results of the Stockholm summit will be determinant. IHCAFE is revamped The Instituto Hondureno del Cafe (IHCAFE), an autonomous institution founded in 1970, has been restructured after the passing of a legislative bill sponsored by Jose Antonio Saavedra, a wealthy grower from Santa Rosa de Copan and secretary of the National Congress. The main objective of the new legislation was to accommodate in IHCAFE new emerging forces of the coffee sector (besides APROHCAFE, the majority representative) represented by ANACAFE, an association of independent growers and a coalition of cooperatives heretofore not recognized by the government and also located in the western part of the country. The political move, which had been in the offing for more than one year, was preceded by the controversial resignation of IHCAFE Director Fernando Montes Matamoros, a world class expert on coffee matters and former president of the ICO (International Coffee Organization) who had been the target of fierce attacks by Saavedra, the Rosentalista congressional faction and ANACAFE. Also included in IHCAFE's new board of directors is a representative of BANCAHFE, a bank owned by thousands of coffee-growers. All these developments notwithstanding the coffee sector is still enduring bad times due to a combination of low prices and the shaky financial position of many exporters and some banks has set in, as a result of some big loans turned sour, including already-defunct Beneficio Merendon, a multinational operating for some time in Central America which reported operating losses of $12 million dollars at the end of last year. This unexpected but recurrent disruption of the coffee-productive activities has forced Congress to ask the executive branch to intervene before the banks on behalf of borrowers, producers and exporters who are in the red in order to secure additional loans for the forthcoming crop. Maquila top dollar getter With $470 million in value added for 1998, the maquila sector has displaced both bananas and coffee and currently occupies the number one position in foreign currency income. Exports during the first quarter have been positive and will be picking up before the summer and also during the last quarter, due to the seasonal character of the garments assembled in Honduras and other Caribbean basin countries. Value added for 1999 is expected to reach $560.9 million dollars and therefore is likely to retain its first place. However, if NAFTA parity is granted in 1999 results could be dramatically higher. In 1999, for example added value results (with parity) could be $108 million more than without parity. For the year 2000 added value (with parity) could reach $932 million dollars, a figure that could top bananas and coffee combined. |
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