NATIONAL

Monday, March 30, 1998 Online Edition 99

Mosquitia's Zona Recuperada faces hard times ahead
Hundreds of lobster traps are piled high on a fishing boat in French Harbour, Roatan. Some buyers, such as the Red lobster restaurants, now insist on lobster caught in traps instead of by divers, making it necessary for Miskito lobster divers to find other work. Photo by Eric Schwimmer

By WENDY GRIFFIN

Each April, Honduras commemorates the return of the Mosquitia and the Bay Islands. Most of the Mosquitia officially became part of Honduras in 1861, as a result of a treaty between Honduras and Great Britain, followed by a Honduran decree annexing the areas.

However, one corner of Gracias a Dios department known as the Zona Recuperada (the area between the Rio Cruta and the Nicaraguan border) did not officially become a part of Honduras until 1960, when the International Court of Justice made its ruling on a long time border dispute with Nicaragua.

Much of the Zona Recuperada is included in the Rio Cruta protected area. Most of the area is llanos or savannahs. The coastal lands are generally not suited for basic grain production, so coastal Miskitos travel inland to plant. However, part of their agricultural lands have been usurped by mestizo cattle ranchers taking advantage of the grassy llanos. Along the border some of this pressure on Miskito lands is coming from Nicaraguan Ladinos.

Other aspects also separate this area from the rest of the Mosquitia. Around Laka on the Rio Cruta live the Sambul people -- women who are broad-shouldered, broad-hipped, full-bosomed from an early age and men who are big and robustly built, much like the Garífunas rather than the leaner Miskitos. The name Sambul probably comes from the Spanish word sambo, meaning a person of mixed Indian and black Africans descent.

Food is also different from the rest of the Mosquitia. Everywhere the ojon palm is processed to produce batana, which reportedly prevents hair loss and gray hair. However, poor Miskitos of the Zona Recuperada mash the nut and produce an atol or porridge that is an important part of their diet. Ojon is related to the African palm exploited elsewhere in Honduras for its oil.

The current situation of most people in the Zona Recuperada is between difficult and desperate. Studies done prior to implementing bilingual education show that people have a very low proficiency in Spanish. Only 22 percent of those who enter 1st grade finish 6th grade. Few have the opportunity to go to high school, and if they do go, they often fail due to low levels of Spanish proficiency. Moreover, bilingual education is only available in a few schools in the area.

Traditionally, men and women here worked in agriculture together and helped their neighbors through a system known as pana pana in Miskito and la mano vuelta in Spanish. Men also hunted and fished.

When Nicaraguan Miskito refugees came to Honduras in the 1980s as a result of the conflict between the Nicaraguan Resistance (Contras) and the Sandinista regime, frictions arose because the Honduran Miskitos had an economy that was hardly monetized, said Honduran anthropologist Manuel Chavez. Coconuts, and dried fish were the principal products sold for cash at that time.

Now things are drastically different. According to a 1996 study by Eco-Consultoras de Honduras, 75 percent of young men on the coast work as commercial divers to take out lobster and conch with scuba equipment for Bay Island companies. This is not a traditional industry here as Miskitos do not have lobster banks near them and conchs were previously available in very shallow waters, notes Miskito diver Roberto Hernandez of Cocobila.

About 10 percent of the men in the coastal area of the Zona Recuperada earn their money through artisanal fishing, preparing smoked and salted fish all year around for sale during Holy Week, says Miskito teacher Walstead Miller.

It was thought with the divers earning Lps. 3,000 and 5,000 a month, this would help Miskito families, but this has not been the case. The study showed 80 percent of Miskito divers abused drugs, alcohol or both. They work for a while, come ashore and spend their money in coastal cantinas and on coastal women. Also, they rarely go back to see their families in the interior. Sometimes they even form second families on the coast. Of course, the men return home in the event they become paralyzed as a result of diving accident (which happens to about 20 percent of Miskito lobster divers) so their wives can take care of them.

These situations cause significant problems for Miskito women. Thirty-five per cent of adult women in the Zona Recuperada are madres solas -- either single mothers, widows or women whose husbands seldom if ever come home. There are serious taboos against remarriage in Miskito culture, including the belief that the spirit of the first husband will cause disease or turn into a tiger and attack the new husband.

Yet no non-governmental organization is working in the area to teach the women any saleable skill so they won't have to depend on men, such as processing the cashews that grow wild on the coast, selling cakes, or becoming seamstresses.

There is tunu to make into bark cloth, but no one helps them with designs and marketing, since the project conducted by the Organization for the Development of the Mosquitia (MOPAWI) does not extend into this region.

Unable to work the fields by themselves, women rely on children to bring in fruits, iguanas, crabs, and fish. Some Miskito women also learn to fish, a traditionally male job.

With no other skill to sell, there has been a significant increase in prostitution in the area. This is a culture where men used to be fined just for looking at the legs of a women who was not his, reported Scott Wood. There is talk of forming an association of Miskito women, COMUDEIN, to help women process and market agroforestry products so that they can improve their lives.

Another concern is health. The principal ailments are acute respiratory infections, diarrhea caused by a complete lack of clean drinking water, malnutrition and malaria, according to health centers at Raya and Usibila.

Part of the problem is the on-going conflict between the Moravian Church and traditional Miskito healing men called sukyas. In the absence of any other form of medical care, sukyas and midwives still provide much of the area's medical attention, but Moravian church pastors tell the people not to got to sukyas because of their links with traditional Miskito pre-Christian religion. There are also high levels of maternal deaths before, during and shortly after birth.

With the complete lack of anything resembling government in the area (although the municipio of Raya is expected to be operational soon), the Zona Recuperada has become a corridor for drugs trafficking, both marijuana and cocaine coming over the border from Nicaragua. Eyewitnesses have seen Miskito grandmothers paddle the white powder down the canal that connects Rio Cruta to the Caratasca Lagoon. In Cauquira, they can meet up with Bay Island lobster boats. Numerous eyewitness reports of cocaine and marijuana on these boats exist.

Four months of the year there is a moratorium or veda on lobster and conch diving. Most divers save nothing for this time. Of course, the Zona Recuperada has no banks to permit savings by Miskitos, so men who have become addicted to cocaine or alcohol become desperate during the veda. At this time, assaults and violence increase significantly, reports a former teacher in Auka.

The veda problems are a foreshadow of hard times to come. There could be no lobster or conch left in Mosquitia waters in just two years due to over exploitation. Already there are calls to halt lobster diving, which worries Bay Island packing plant owners who say it will devastate their economy. People are also concerned about what will happen to 5,000 divers if this industry does collapse. However, the fact that hundreds of Miskitos were planting rice during the last veda was seen as a hopeful sign.

Sale of U.S. visas still hot business in Honduras
By BLANCA MORENO

TEGUCIGALPA -- The sale of visas to travel legally to the United States from Honduras is still a lucrative business in Honduras, where organized bands of forgers continue to reap enormous profits.

The most recent group of criminals dedicated to this business were apprehended last week in San Pedro Sula in possession of over 30 passports, official government stamps and other documents.

Two of the arrested traffickers, Donaldo Rodriguez and Rogelio Ramos, claim to be working for a man known as Ely Herrera, who is allegedly in charge of the system of forging visas in authentic passports and later selling them for US$3,000.

Authorities say that the stamps used to produce the visas are very similar to the authentic stamps used at the U.S. Embassy, and they are investigating to see if U.S. Embassy or Honduran Foreign Relations employees were involved.

In a search of one of the suspects' homes, a stamp was found that had disappeared from the Immigration Offices, as well as various types of official government paper.

The director of Consular Affairs of the Foreign Ministry, Mario Fortin, told reporters that no official report has been made since the investigation has not concluded. He added that the ministry is currently studying the possibility of implementing new mechanisms to prevent passport falsification. As part of the treaty signed by the Regional Conference on Migration between the countries of North and Central America, Honduras is obligated to fight the illegal trafficking of people.

Rodriguez and his wife Maria de los Angeles Paz have been charged with fraud. Paz, the sister of former Foreign Relations Minister Ernesto Paz, was recently released from prison after being held nearly three years on similar charges.

Rodriguez claims the passports are legitimate and that Ely Herrera is the person responsible for the falsification of U.S. visas.

Meanwhile, the judge of the First Criminal Court Judge of Tegucigalpa has issued instructions to the Immigration department that suspects in this case not be allowed to leave the country.

Drug bust nets 101 kilos of cocaine

In the second largest drug bust this month, narcotics agents last Wednesday (March 18) seized 101 kilos of cocaine with an estimated street value of Lps. 8.5 million at a San Pedro Sula warehouse.

According to the daily La Tribuna, the cocaine was concealed in a shipment of appliances and stove parts. However, on opening several boxes with the label of a Colombian-brand machete, the shipment's consignee discovered small nylon bags containing cocaine. The merchant immediately notified the police, which found a total of 101 one-kilo packets after examining the 500 boxes in the shipment.

In just three months this year, law enforcement authorities have seized 1,706 kilos of cocaine worth an estimated Lps. 2,000 million.

Women's group against marriage

A feminist group is recommending that young women refrain from marrying due to the brutal treatment that many wives receive from their spouses, the daily El Heraldo reported last Friday (March 20). The Visitacion Padilla Women's Movement for Peace also recommended that women who do marry, or plan to cohabit, make arrangements to assure that their future children will receive adequate nourishment, such as through insurance, in the event their spouses do not fulfill their responsibilities.

Alba de Mejia, president of the group, said her recommendations are not based on personal experience, but on the large numbers of battered and abandoned wives who come to the organization's offices every day seeking assistance.

Govt cancels witness protection program

Due to the lack of financial resources, the Attorney General's Office has temporarily canceled the Witness Protection Program, which could leave many persons who have provided information and testimony to the government unprotected. According to a La Tribuna report Sunday (March 22), authorities decided to discontinue the program when funding provided by the U.S. Agency for International Development ran out.

Through the program administered by Hugo Suazo Sanabria, witnesses who cooperated with the government in cases of corruption, drugs, racketeering and murder were assigned several specially trained agents to provide them and their families with security.

Over the last few months several witnesses have left the country as a result, while others currently receiving protection may have to pay private security firms unless the program receives new financing. Among the witnesses who have received protection are Maria Martha Diaz Velasquez (Chinazo passport scandal), Josue Eli Zuniga (who accused the defunct National Directorate of Investigation of committing atrocities) and the late Florencio Caballero (human rights violations).

Tourism minister sworn in

As of Monday (March 23), businessman Norman Garcia is the head of the new Ministry of Tourism, which was recently created to replace the Honduran Institute of Tourism (IHT), the daily La Tribuna reported. Prior to his appointment Garcia was president of the Foundation for Investment and Development of Exports (FIDE).

Jacqueline Foglia Sandoval, who is a graduate of West Point and has a masters degree in international relations and economics, was sworn in as the vice minister.

The now defunct IHT was headed by Ricardo Martinez.

Movie to be filmed in Honduras

Global Universal will begin filming an action-adventure movie in Honduras in six weeks, according to the daily La Tribuna. Scenes from the film "Perdido en el Paraiso" (Lost in Paradise), starring Barbara Carrera, Erick Robert and Antonio Sabatto, will reportedly be shot in Tegucigalpa, San Pedro Sula and the Bay Islands.

A representative of the film company on Monday (March 23) met with capital city Mayor Cesar Castellanos to discuss details of the film and obtain authorization to film several scenes around Central Park, which would have to be closed to the public for at least three days.

Suspect in satanic murders now claims innocence

Roatan native Cleotilde Alma Grant, who initially admitted to murdering two men in satanic rituals, now alleges that she was "crazier than a dog that had just given birth" when she made her confession, the daily La Tribuna reported Monday (March 24).

Now that her mind is lucid and the demon exorcised from her body, Grant said, she can affirm that she had nothing to do with the murders and is totally innocent. Grant also claims that she was just as surprised as authorities when the two bodies were found in the residence she rented in Porvenir.

Grant is currently being held at the women's prison facilities in Tamara.

Monday, March 23, 1998 Online Edition 98

Police give gang members second chance to be 'Good Boys'

By TELISHA WILLIAMS

A muchacho bueno getting his hair cut as a visible way to show the world he is ready to change for the better.

TEGUCIGALPA -- The lives of 15 Honduran adolescents took a turn for the better this past Sunday when they became the first graduates of phase one of a new social project aimed toward rescuing and rehabilitating members of the various street gangs that menace and endanger the streets and neighborhoods here in the capital city. Initiated by the national police, the project is called "Muchachos Buenos" or Good Boys.

Specifically, it is Col. Luis Alonso Reyes Barahona of the Seventh Regional Police District (CORE7) who began planning Muchachos Buenos last year after a personal analysis of the reasons behind this growing social problem.

Barahona described how the program locates potential members. "We go to the affected neighborhoods with a police officer who is an ex-gang member and we start gathering the kids together. Then, we begin discussions about our role in the community and the relation we want to have with them." After spending several days or weeks making visits and building trust, an open invitation is made to all who would like to take the first step toward becoming a muchacho bueno.

The project consists of two main phases. The first is termed encierro which means lock-in or retreat. It takes place on the weekends for four weeks in a row. The youths are picked up on a Friday around 5 p.m. and taken to Picacho mountain to attend a camp where they sleep in tents and prepare their food.

During this camp the participants further establish a rapport with the police officers and social workers who begin educating them about the effects of cigarettes, drugs, alcohol, and crime.

Barahona noted the progress throughout phase one, "The first week everybody's smoking, and we let them live the way they are used to living. But by the second week nobody's smoking, and it's not by force, they just start realizing that they want to change their life and image. They themselves asked for haircuts during the third week of camp."

The Monday after the initiation weekend the potential members immediately begin working in various community cleaning projects.

During a recent work project, some unexpected problems arose. This past week rebel gang members from a nearby neighborhood encircled one of the working groups and began verbally and physically assaulting their 'former allies.' However, the working youths turned their other cheek and did not respond to the gang's taunts, thus proving their maturity and commitment to being muchachos buenos. Supervising officers settled the confrontation and work resumed.

"We plan to bring more officers the next time the boys are working in an area where other gangs could bother them," said Barahona

Before the first phase is complete the adolescents are visited by representatives of the religious community who talk with them about the development of personal morals and family values. In addition, they receive basic information about the civil rights they are entitled to under Honduran law, specifically those for minors. Then, they begin training in a self-chosen area such as carpentry, painting, landscaping, direction of traffic and various other positions offered by the municipal government.

This past Sunday a ceremony was held to recognize the first graduates of phase one. Now phase two awaits these official muchachos buenos. They will begin their jobs with the city and will be paid for their services. During this etapa abierta or open phase of the project, the youths will be supervised to see if they show up to work regularly and perform their duties accordingly.

When asked how the project is progressing, Barahona responded, "Three visited me this morning at 7:30 a.m. I'd say the results have been good because they are approaching us. It's enough if we can get three to come by because then they are the multiplier effect for the rest who are out in the streets. They'll bring others."

He went on to say that the majority of the participants who graduated from phase one want to study. "I'm in the process of looking for 55 scholarships for next year." Barahona's personal dream for the future is to establish a large center with capacity for about 300 potential muchachos buenos who "we can form into good citizens and prepare them to be the future police force." Currently there are 50 participants including the 15 who recently graduated.

As with all social programs there is always a need for more monetary resources. Although the staff that works with the juveniles is government financed, Barahona is in charge of camp costs such as food and transportation. "Each time Thursday comes, I begin thinking 'whom can I ask this time to help us with the food' because I don't want to stop. I believe in this project."

For more information about the progress of Muchachos Buenos or how to contribute to or become involved with the project, contact Col. Barahona's office at telephone number (504) 222-8201.

Civilian and military officials seek hefty pay raises

TEGUCIGALPA -- While the minimum wage in Honduras barely reaches Lps. 900 ($75), government ministers cabinet will be earning Lps. 35,000 ($2,670) as of March 1.

In contrast to the laborers, teachers and public employees who often have to wait years and declare strikes to receive a minimal wage hike, cabinet members did not have to make any demands or efforts to receive their hefty salary increase. During the Reina administration, cabinet ministers earned Lps. 25,000 per month, but received an extra Lps. 10,000 in expenses from the presidential budget to compensate for deductions.

The ministers have defended themselves, saying that this raise was already planned and is included in the current budget.

Cabinet ministers had previously been left out of the huge salary hikes obtained by managers of autonomous government institutions, such as the Honduran Telecommunications Company (HONDUTEL) and the National Electric Company (ENEE), civil servants who have traditionally received enormous salary increases.

Currently, the managers of autonomous institutions and the comptrollers receive larger salaries than ministers. The Attorney General, for example, earns Lps. 75,000 per month and the Comptroller General, Lps. 58,000.

Recently, the chief of the Armed Forces, Gen. Mario Hung Pacheco, announced that promotions, along with their respective pay increase, should become standardized in the military, to be awarded after a certain number of years of service. But critics argue that the military is being reduced and there is hardly a need for so many generals. The salary base for a brigadier general is Lps. 9,000 per month, and with another star the figure jumps to Lps. 25,000.

Meanwhile, municipal governments have not remained behind and the mayors of Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula now receive salaries of Lps. 40,000 per month, while the seven councilmen are paid Lps. 35,000 per month.

The President of the Supreme Court earns a salary of Lps. 50,000 per month, and the seven other Supreme Court Justices receive Lps. 40,000, plus meals, expenses and medical care.

However, the representatives to the National Congress appear to be on the losing end, earning salaries of Lps. 15,000 per month, but there are 128 deputies, which in turn becomes a large expense. In the next administration (2002-2006), the National Congress will be reduced to 80 diputados.

Former President Carlos Roberto Reina never revealed his salary during his administration, in his customary English manner of never talking about money or health. It is hoped that this "best kept secret" will be revealed during the Flores administration, to assure the transparency that Flores claims to support.

The national budget is Lps. 13 billion and 80 percent of that goes to pay the salaries of 100,000 public employees.

The committee overseeing the transfer of the police from military to civilian control last Friday (March 13) ordered the Public Security Force (FSP) to immediately discharge Col. Raymundo Alexander Hernandez Santos, the daily La Tribuna reported.

Hernandez, a fugitive from justice for more than two years, is wanted in connection with the temporary disappearance of six university students and the illegal detention and death of Adan Aviles Funez and Nicaraguan citizen Amado Espinoza Paz in 1982. Previously in September, the committee had ordered the FSP to remove Hernandez from the FSP payroll.

Claiming that it will cause irreparable damage to the environment, the Organization for the Development of the Mosquitia (MOPAWI) last week stated that it opposes the construction of a new dam in La Mosquitia to generate hydroelectric power, the daily La Tribuna reported Saturday (March 14). In a report sent to the Honduran Institute of Tourism, MOPAWI stated that the US$600 million project would cause extensive damage to the area around the Patuca river by opening up the region with the construction of roads. The dam, added MOPAWI, is to be located in the heart of largest intact tropical forest north of the Amazon.

Meanwhile, the Office of the Special Prosecutor for Indian Affairs and Cultural Heritage is investigating whether the dam project would violate the rights of the Tawahkas, an indigenous group that lives in the area.

Congressional deputy Frank Goff Eude on Monday (March 16) told La Prensa that the death toll from the recent cholera outbreak in Gracias a Dios is more than 30 and not 12 as reported by health authorities. Moreover, the total number of cases diagnosed has increased to 259 as of Monday, up 77 from the previous week.

To contain the epidemic, President Flores last Friday (March 13) ordered additional medical personnel and medicines to be flown to communities near the Wans Coco/Segovia River near the Nicaraguan border, one of the hardest hit areas in La Mosquitia.

Prominent San Pedro Sula attorney and businessman Edgardo Dumas Rodriguez has been appointed the new Honduran ambassador to the United States, succeeding Roberto Flores Bermudez, the daily La Tribuna reported. Dumas, a columnist and member of the La Tribuna's editorial board, is also Honduras' representative to the Inter-American Press Association (IAPA).

The Health Ministry plans to hand out nearly 4 million condoms to vacationers during next month's Holy Week, according to a report in the daily La Tribuna Wednesday (March 18). Honduras, whose population is slightly more than 5 million, has the highest AIDS incidence in Central America with 10,731 diagnosed cases.

Eight top-ranking military officials have been temporarily denied their "stars" by the National Congress, the daily La Tribuna reported Saturday (March 14). Claiming that it is not the right moment, Congress refused to consider legislation calling for the promotion of three generals and five colonels.

According to the La Tribuna report, the Armed Forces is requesting the promotion of Mario Raul Hung Pacheco, Roberto Lazarus Lozano and Oscar Servellon Moradel from brigadier to major general and Ricardo Reyes Rivera, Guillermo Linares Zepeda, Cristobal Corrales Calix, Francisco Davila Nolasco and Eugenio Romero from colonel to brigadier general.

Monday, March 16, 1998 Online Edition 97

World Bank prez brings hopeful news to Honduras

TEGUCIGALPA -- World Bank President James Wolfensohn's visit to Central America this week filled people with hope and expectation with his declarations that there are $300 million available to the region for social compensation programs.

Wolfensohn met with President Flores, Finance Minister Gabriela Nunez and the president of the Latin American Episcopal Council, Archbishop of Tegucigalpa Monsignor Oscar Andres Rodriguez, who attempted to show the visitor the poverty and necessities of the country.

Education topics most interested Wolfensohn, who promised to provide assistance to Flores in combatting poverty.

In the six hours he spent in Honduras, Wolfensohn left hope by promising to include Honduras in the Initiative of Highly Indebted Countries (HIPC), but the country will first have to reach an accord with the World Monetary Fund.

The World Bank approved its first loan to Honduras in 1955; since then the debt to the organization has risen to over $1 billion.

Currently, the lending institution has providing $320 million in financing for eight projects in the country through the Asociacion Internacional de Fomento.

The International Finance Corporation has also authorized a total of $36.4 million to private investors in the textile and energy industries.

The World Bank has grouped Honduras in the lowest income bracket for countries in the American continent. The debt crisis during the early 80s caused a reduction of economic activity that lasted the entire decade.

Now the objectives of the World Bank revolve around reduction of poverty through sustainable growth, and an increase of investment in education, health, and social protection programs for the most vulnerable groups and modernization of the state.

Honduras has a per capita income of US$650 and a 42 percent rate of illiteracy. More than 50 percent of its population lives in poverty conditions, many without access to potable water.

During Wolfensohn's visit, the media expressed that "it is not appropriate to exaggerate our misfortunes in search of a pardon from the heart of the President of the World Bank for part or all of our debts..." Instead they advise that Honduras must demonstrate strength and initiative toward growth and good management of aid received and as such will not be seen as begging for charity.

Roatan native accused of three murders:
"The devil made me do it," says the suspect, who practices witchcraft

Cleotilde Alma Grant was arrested for murder last Tuesday (March 3) after the decomposed remains of two men were found in the house she rented. Investigators also found a third body in a house formerly inhabited by the woman, who is accused of practicing witchcraft and murdering the men in satanic rituals.

Also arrested were the suspect's son Selvin Geovanny Grant and nephew Silvio Guiti, who lived with Grant. The young men have confessed to killing eight people with Cleotilde Grant, but have not been able to provide authorities with the location of the bodies.

Neighbors confirmed to La Tribuna reporters that Grant had been living in the small town of El Porvenir, Francisco Morazan for seven months. She had established a small clinic of natural medicine and fortune telling, but many neighbors claim that she also practiced "black magic," and that many visited her to have a spell put on their enemies.

Inside the house the police found homemade cigars, often used by Honduran fortune tellers to predict romance, and several herbs thought to bring luck.

Wednesday, the remains of a third man were found in a house in Comayaguela where Grant lived last year. Manuel Sabino Rivera had been missing since January 1997. Family members claim that Sabino had sought the services of Grant to choose lucky numbers in the lottery. One month before his disappearance he had won the lottery, and family members accuse Grant of having killed him to steal the winnings.

More arrests were also made Wednesday. Mirti Joan Grant, sister of the accused and her husband Jose Sixta Avila, were taken into custody after police found a large number of cigars buried in the patio of their home. Mirti Grant claims that her sister lived with them for a time, but Sixta threw her out when he discovered that she was practicing witchcraft. Mirti Grant says that she was not aware that her sister was involved in murder, that to the best of her knowledge Cleotilde only used herbs and smoked cigars to help women with their romantic problems, and read palms. Mirti also said that her sister did have very good luck with the lottery, and had helped many women win using the number 35.

After having spent the morning before the judge, Cleotilde Grant made statements to the press on Friday. "I'm happy, don't you worry about me; I don't regret anything," said Grant to La Tribuna reporters. Later when one reporter asked her how many people she had killed, she replied, "With you it's going to be ten." Grant confessed that she had drugged the men and later killed them with a hatchet.

At times the accused has also become very agitated in front of reporters. "The devil is trying to take me away...the devil tells me to go with him," she chanted to El Heraldo reporters. Grant has requested that a priest be brought to help her get away from the devil.

A psychiatric investigation was performed at a local hospital on Monday but results have not yet been released.

Honduran government renews interest in science and technology

Science and technology play an important role in the well-being of individuals, families, communities, and society in general, according to engineer Gerardo Zepeda Bermudez, current National Commissioner of Science and Technology for Honduras.

This past Tuesday, March 10 at the Ceremony for Reactivation of the Honduran Academy of Sciences, Bermudez addressed the audience saying "Central America has an urgent need to stress the development of science and technology in its effort to combat poverty, violence, injustice, and intolerance." He went on to say, "The starting point will be the incorporation of information and communication technology into basic knowledge and education."

Patricia Inestroza, an official of the Honduran Council of Science and Technology (COHCIT), related that the purpose of this meeting was the "reactivation" of both COHCIT and the Honduran Academy of Science. She explained that the academy was formed in the 1980s but regrettably has not yet advanced as far as had been expected. "At this time, we are looking for new ways to help strengthen its competence as an instrument for scientific progress in the country."

However, Inestroza did point out that there had been past accomplishments by the Academy and COHCIT including the formation of the National Research Academic Network, which has provided Internet access for professionals and the general public. In addition, the council has participated in the conduction of an evaluation and analysis of the current state of scientific and technological advancement in Central America.

Honduras has participated in scientific forums at the international level and currently holds the vice-presidency of the Commission of Science and Technology of Caribbean and Central American States.

Bermudez recalled that when Carlos Roberto Flores assumed the office of the President of Honduras on Jan. 27 he proposed the establishment of a technical policy that would lead to greater scientific and technical knowledge and skill as a principal solution toward overcoming the social and economic factors which have kept the country in a state of underdevelopment.

Bermudez reported that as a part of future council activities, he will be visiting Chile and Brazil next week to find out what type of ideas and experiences he can bring back to Honduras. "I am going to visit the University of Chile to see if they can help stimulate the scientific and technical research capacity in our country and the possibility of starting post graduate studies in specific areas of development."

Bermudez also plans to hold meetings in Brazil with members of the National Council of Investigations, the Ministry of Science and Technology, and the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation - a scientific organization working in the area of public health. "With Chile and Brazil the intention is to establish a dynamic scientific and technological cooperation."

This new initiative by the Flores Administration to revive interest in research and development in the areas of science and technology will facilitate the progress of Honduras toward improving the health and livelihood of its citizens and becoming a respected competitor in the global market.

For more information about the Honduran Council of Science and Technology contact Gerardo Zepeda Bermudez at P.O. Box 4458 Tegucigalpa, by phone (504)236-9954, fax (504)236-6151 or e-mail: gzepedab@ns.hondunet.net

A vessel transporting more than 1,30s0 kilos of cocaine was intercepted by the U.S. Coast Guard near Cayo Gordo in Honduran waters last Friday night (March 6), the daily La Tribuna reported. The 35-foot vessel was handed over to Honduran authorities at Puerto Castilla and its crew of four Colombian nationals taken into custody.

Meanwhile, narcotics agents seized 30 kilos of cocaine at the Guasaule customs house on the Nicaraguan border. The drug was found in a semi with Guatemalan license plates reportedly bound for the United States. The police also detained Eber Qua Carsantes of Guatemala, the vehicle's driver.

Benefiting from the Unsentenced Convict Decree, Maria de Los Angeles Paz Aguilar, chief suspect in the "Pasaportazo" scam, was released from prison last Friday (March 6) -- slightly more than three years after her arrest, the daily El Heraldo reported.

Popularly known as Marielos, Paz Aguilar allegedly headed a ring that sold official passports and U.S. entry visas to people wishing to travel to the United States. The scam was discovered in January 1995 when two women were detained at Toncontin International Airport for attempting to travel with falsified documents. The women told authorities that Marielos and attorney Ercilia Thompson de Reyes had helped them obtain the passports.

Marielos was arrested and charged with falsification of public documents and conspiracy. Her brother Ernesto Paz Aguilar, who was Foreign Minister when news of the scandal first broke, was forced to resign three months later and was subsequently arrested on two different occasions for alleged involvement in the scam.

Seven persons have died of cholera and another 182 are infected with the bacterial disease in La Mosquitia, forcing the Ministry of Health to issue a health alert for Gracias a Dios department, the daily La Tribuna reported Tuesday (March 10). Cauquira is the area most affected by the outbreak, with 104 cases reported. Other areas reporting cases are Ilaya (40, including 4 deaths), Barrita (18, including two deaths), Raya (9 including 1 death) Tusidacsa (8) and Benk (3). Four of the victims were children under 5.

An official of the Commerce Ministry has proposed that Hondurans eat rabbit, garrobo (a large lizard, slightly smaller than an iguana) and radish leaves as alternatives to expensive traditional foodstuffs, the daily La Tribuna reported Tuesday (March 9).

The recommendations were made by Rufo Paredes, director of the Consumer Protection Department, who says Hondurans must learn to eat non-traditional foods with equal nutritional value in the wake of higher prices. Paredes, well-known for his outlandish recommendations, held the same post during the administration of President Azcona.

Thousands of gallons of liquid asphalt aboard a grounded ship could soon spill into Trujillo Bay unless immediate actions are taken, according to chief government prosecutor Hector Trochez in a La Tribuna report Thursday (March 12). Trochez said that according to official reports, the Hilton Kingstown arrived at Puerto Castilla (across the bay from Trujillo) from Venezuela in 1991 and, after Honduran authorities refused to except the shipment on grounds that the asphalt was unusable, it was abandoned. He added that the asphalt could begin leaking into the bay as early as the upcoming rainy season.

Monday, March 9, 1998 Online Edition 96

TEGUCIGALPA -- Drug lord Ramon Matta is big news again in Honduras, 10 years after his detention by U.S. law enforcement authorities. The Special Prosecutor for Human Rights this week requested that the courts investigate the handing over of Matta to U.S. authorities during the administration of President Jose Azcona Hoyo.

The prosecutor investigating the case claims that the illegal detention and transfer of Matta outside of the country to be submitted to the justice system of a foreign government consisted in abuse of power and a violation of duties. Charges are being brought against Azcona, and former Armed Forces chief Gen. Humberto Regalado Hernandez.

Also mentioned in the charges are Leonel Riera Lunatti, Oscar Fuentes, Mario Pena, Jose Lin Sierra Leva, Julio Cesar Chavez and David Abraham Mendoza.

Matta was captured in Honduras in April of 1988 after having escaped from a Colombian prison where he was being held on drug trafficking charges. After being apprehended in Tegucigalpa, he was transferred to Palmerola air base and later flown to the United States.

Matta was wanted by the Drug Enforcement Administration for charges of drug trafficking as well as involvement in the murder of DEA agent Enrique Camarena.

After Matta's abduction, hundreds of Hondurans rioted and set the U.S. consulate in Tegucigalpa on fire. Four protesters were killed.

Azcona responded to the charges in a brusk manner, saying that he was proud of his actions, because it was for the benefit of the country.

"If the prosecutor thinks that there needs to be a trial, they should go ahead. Why should I be afraid? What are they going to do to me? If they want to put me in prison, they should do that," said the former president.

Azcona is the only one of the accused who has spoken to the press.

This is not the first time that the case of Ramon Matta has been brought up. Each new administration has been questioned by Matta's family and friends as to whether or not it will seek the liberty of Matta, who they say was kidnapped rather than arrested.

Debate continues over new police

TEGUCIGALPA -- In a series of heated debates, the National Congress this week continued to discuss legislation on the new police force, in which some deputies have proposed that the Department of Criminal Investigation (DIC) as well as the police be organized under a new Ministry of Security.

Much of the public response to the proposal has been heated; human rights and government organizations, as well as the general public, disagree as to whether the DIC should be moved from its current position as part of the Public Ministry to form part of the Ministry of Security.

The Ministry of Security would have two sub-secretaries to manage the two agencies, but some fear that the DIC would not be able to comply with its duty of investigating the police if it were under the same administration.

It was also noted this week that advertisements that seek to hire police officer candidates require that applicants have served in the military. Those interested may also be trained in the Military Instruction Center.

For many people, this confirms their fear that the police will still be under strong military influence.

The National Congress has established that there will be limits over military involvement, but this will be accomplished, for the most part, through the "professionalization" of the institutions.

The legislation also stipulates that private security companies can be involved in the prevention of crime and in the formation of police officers.

The National Police council will be formed in the following weeks, made up of the Ministry of Security or the sub-secretary for the police, as well as representatives of the Ministry of Government, Public Ministry, the Supreme Court, Office of the Human Rights Commissioner, and the Armed Forces.

Meanwhile, the women's activist group "Visitacion Padilla" has threatened a hunger strike if the DIC is not maintained separate from the police.

Hondurans observe last eclipse of the century

TEGUCIGALPA -- Considerable lines of students, professors, and visitors formed last Thursday (Feb. 26) in front of the physics department at the National Autonomous University of Honduras.

Everyone wanted to see the astronomical phenomenon through a telescope, or a hand-made projector constructed from a simple carton box with a pinhole on one end that projects an image onto a piece of white paper at the other end, or simply through a good lens with an adequate filter.

Television cameras were there to follow the course of the event. Young members of the Society of Astronomy were helpful in explaining the scientific details of such an occurrence. With more sophisticated equipment the wonder was also being observed in the Central American Astronomical Observatory of Suyapa at the university.

What was being spied on and peeked at? ...the last solar eclipse of the millennium, ...the next one will occur in the year 2005 and will be a total eclipse.

A solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes between the Earth and the sun, impeding a view of the solar disk from our planet. If the moon completely covers the sun it is called "a total eclipse", but if it only obscures a part of the sun then it is called "a partial eclipse".

The shadow that the moon projects over the surface of the earth can be divided in two parts -- the umbra, which is the darkest part, and the penumbra, which is the lighter area. If you are standing within the umbral shadow, you can see a total eclipse, and if you are outside of the umbral shadow, but inside the penumbral shadow, you can see a partial eclipse. If you are outside of the umbra and penumbra, then you will not see any eclipse.

In order for an eclipse to occur it is also necessary for the moon to be at a distance of at least some 376,000 km from the Earth.

As the moon travels around the Earth in an elliptical orbit, it is at its apogee, the point farthest from Earth, at a distance of some 407,000 Km; and passes its perigee, the point closest to the Earth, at a distance of some 356,000 Km. We are able to see a total eclipse when the moon is at a distance sufficiently close enough to the Earth that its shadow reaches the surface of our planet.

The Feb. 26 eclipse was visible in the Western Hemisphere, including parts of the United States, Mexico, Central America and the northern half of South America. In Honduras, a partial eclipse was seen, starting at approximately 10 a.m. It reached its maximum at 11:30 a.m. and concluded at 1 p.m. The fraction of the diameter of the eclipsed sun was 69.7 percent. A near total eclipse (95.3 percent) was seen in Panama, Venezuela, and Colombia.

Through the labor of the Astronomy Society at the university, which relies on coordination between its dynamic and enthusiastic young members, the public received wide coverage of this astronomical event in a scientific and responsible manner.

More information about the eclipse can be found on the Internet at http://planets.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/tse1998/tse1998.html

Forest fires destroyed hundreds of acres of land in the El Merendon mountain range and surrounding areas this week, the daily La Tribuna reported. Hot weather and strong winds combined with drought conditions fueled the fires, which also razed hundreds of acres of forage crops and left almost 400 families homeless.

Declaring a state of emergency, the Regional Emergency Committee (CODER II) on Sunday (March 1) appealed to local residents for assistance in fighting the fires, requesting manpower as well as shovels, pick-axes, machetes, backpacks, food, bottled water and other items. Fire fighters with assistance from the 105th Infantry Brigade finally brought the blaze under control on Monday.

Located west of San Pedro Sula, the El Merendon National Forest is one of that city's principal water sources, providing 45 percent of its water needs.

Former Central Bank President Hugo Noé Pino this week flew to New York as Honduras' new representative to the United Nations, the daily La Tribuna reported. Pino succeeds Gerardo Martínez, who held the post during the Reina administration.

Before leaving, Pino told reporters that he has learned that officials of several Central American countries plan to nominate former President Reina for president of the U.N. General Assembly's session scheduled for the end of the year, which coincides with the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

A priest in La Paz affirms having the carcass of a never before seen animal that some people claim is the chupacabras or goatsucker. Father Abel del Pilar said in a La Prensa report Tuesday (March 3) that residents of Florida de Opatoro, La Paz department, gave him the strange creature about 10 months ago when he was visiting the community. Although the creature was given to him alive, it died shortly afterward so he had in mounted and varnished.

A combination of a reptile, bird and bat, the creature has two wing-like appendages on either side of its body, three long lower appendages (two of which are probably legs), and four appendages on its rectangular-shaped head. It also has a long mouth with tiny, razor-sharp teeth. La Prensa and several other dailies published photos of the unusual creature.

Law enforcement authorities on Wednesday (March 4) recovered 28 Mayan artifacts that presumably were stolen from the Templo Margarita at the Copan ruins. The daily La Prensa reported that the pieces, which included jade collars and small figurines, were found in a La Ceiba pawnshop called Nanguta. The owner has so far refused to explain how he obtained the artifacts.

Sometime last weekend, possibly Friday night, thieves broke into a tomb in the Templo Maragarita and stole, among other things, seven jade and conch collars and several engraved stones. Olga Joya, the director of the Honduran Institute of Anthropology and History (IHAH), told La Prensa that it is unlikely the thieves were professionals, since they left behind other more valuable items.

Overcoming several handicaps, the San Pedro Sula fire department quickly extinguished a fire on the 13th floor of the Atlantida Bank in front of the Central Park on Wednesday (March 4).

According to La Prensa, around 12:30 p.m. a short circuit caused a fire in the bank's air conditioning system located on the terrace. The fire department arrived shortly afterward, but initially had difficulties getting water to the top floor. Finally, fire fighters were able to connect their pumps to the building's own emergency water system and in 15 minutes had the blaze under control.

The department's only ladder truck capable of handling fires in tall buildings is currently out of action due to the lack of spare parts.

Monday, March 2, 1998 Online Edition 95

Streets: A better home?

Special to Honduras This Week

TEGUCIGALPA -- To the average visitor the streets are not very inviting here. The homeless ask for money; bus drivers dangerously race each other down congested avenues; fetid odors emanate from sewer drains; and there are the ever present machos who like to shout obscenities as you walk by them. However, Gabriel, Goyo, Melisa, Kelly, Maritza, Monchito and Pulga are just some examples of the many children from Tegucigalpa that consider the streets an option for entertainment and at times a refuge when escaping from their own homes.

'Pulga,' a tiny eight-year-old, says, "I live with my mom and grandmother. I love my grandma the most because she is always with me, she prepares my food, and she gives me money for candy. My mom is never at home...she drinks a lot. My father doesn't live with us, he doesn't love my mom because he hits and yells at her. They both fight a lot. But I love my daddy because he takes care of me when I'm sick and he gives me money once in a while. I feel sorry for my mommy and my daddy."

What is your religion? I asked.

"We are Christian, what's yours?"

I am Catholic.

"Oh! so are we."

I thought you said you are Christians.

"We are, but we were also born Catholics, you see, when we go to the Christian church, it is really pretty. We sing, we see plays and sometimes we go to nice parks. It's real fun, but we are also Catholics."

Jenny, 13, "I was working every afternoon serving coffee to bus drivers because I wanted to buy a bicycle, but I had to spend the money to buy my school books instead. Before, [when] I didn't behave well, my grandfather would punish me by hitting me with an electric iron cord. So, because of that, I left and went to sleep and live near the park."

But, what did you do? Why did your grandpa beat you that way? With whom did you spend the night? In which house or under which tree? How often did you do it?

She shrugged her shoulders, "Not very often, once in a while...I was a little girl, I don't remember."

The older sister looked at me all the time but did not say a word.

Beautiful eyes hide the bruises on Goyo's face. "I like, most of all, to dance..., I can dance very well, do you want me to dance?"

Where have you danced?

"Oh well, every where, in my house, in the schools, in the street with the children, just put on the music and you'll see."

His mother, a big fat woman, smiles while listening to the conversation, and then says: "You should see how much this cipote enjoys parties. One day there was going to be a big party and the cipotes where going to have a dancing contest. So Goyo was very excited the day before. He went to bed very late because he was practicing his dance, and surprisingly he woke up early the next morning. I heard some noises in the middle of the night and woke up scared thinking that someone was inside the house and there was Goyo at 5 a.m., washing himself and getting ready for the party. He took his time in picking out his best clothes, he got dressed and then of course he was so tired that he fell back in bed and slept. He woke up hours later, but anyway he danced."

Beautiful and proud Maritza, 14, smiles, "We are so bored here, and outside there are so many pretty places to see, our parents have nothing to offer us, you see. They don't have the time," she says in a funny way, indicating money with her hands.

"You know, you might have more time than us, more pisto (money). Do you know what I mean? I have better friends in school, you know, they have better houses and dress well, but my aunt doesn't let me visit them. She says someone could rape me or mug me on the way. But anyway, every day I go to the market alone and nothing happens to me. I know how to take care of myself. My parents don't give me all that I need. We eat always the same food. I wish I could have more pisto."

Claudine, who is 15 but looks older, says: "I do not think my family respects me. I must stay in the house and do all the chores here. I can't go outside to the streets as much as the rest of the cipotes do, my parents treat me differently than the rest of the cipotes and I don't know why."

At the beginning, I was talking with two children and slowly as time went by, more and more began to appear like elves. Gabriel is playing all the time. He doesn't want to talk or listen, and from his very precarious and small life, all he wants is to be photographed with his favorite toy.

The majority of the children interviewed spend more than six hours in the streets. They are there for various reasons, ranging from irregular school hours, to simple lack of adequate stimuli, or in the worst cases, inattention or outright abuse in the home. And beyond all of these circumstances in which they find themselves lie the ambiguous situations that each of them confronts in choosing what to do in order to surmount the problems of drugs, gangs, sexual abuse and crime.

Perhaps the one thing that truly helps save, in a sense, the individual lives of each one of them was the observation that for every child there was at least person that truly loved them. In an environment with so many privations, some small and passing, others larger and more definitive, the hope for their present and future lives hangs on a very fragile cord.

If it is true, as Lilian Cantor Zelaya, Fund Development Manager of Casa Alianza, stated in a recent interview, that "each child in the street is potentially a child of the street", then perhaps it is this one thing, the love of at least one person in their life, that represents the difference between these children and a street child. If one of these children loses this last hope, perhaps the only one they have, what is left then?

As the new millennium approaches, the women of Central America are taking a proactive role in expressing views and making decisions on how to improve their quality of life -- socially, economically, and politically. Last Friday, Feb. 21 the Honduran chapter of the Women's Forum for the Integration of Central America (FMCAI) held its first meeting at the Hotel Plaza San Martin of Tegucigalpa.

According to Adela Medina, National Coordinator for FMCAI in Honduras, this international forum originates from the initiatives of a coalition of women who support advancement of the Central American region through political integration. They anticipate the construction of alternative development models that take into account the needs, priorities, and potential contribution of women while recognizing the diversity and the social and political inequality of the region.

The proposal for such a medium of debate was realized in July of 1996 when women from seven regional countries representing a variety of government and private organizations met in El Salvador to discuss the difficult historical moments of the Central American region due to poverty and social inequality. Medina explained that the main objective of the forum is to promote the participation and contribution of women to Central American integration and global development through their empowerment in decision making processes regarding sustainable human development, gender issues, and social justice.

"In order for these objectives to be achieved women must have access to and real control of social and economic resources, they can no longer just be passive observers," said Medina. To date, Central American women have been organizing themselves into networks, regional movements and associations, as well as participating individuals and organizational volunteers interested in becoming part of a permanent work group that confronts present national and international concerns.

Last week's conference was the first activity of the Women's Forum held in Honduras. The participants divided into discussion tables addressing the following three areas: the economy and sustainable development; social and cultural development; and political responsibility. Each table became a setting for identification and analysis of potential alternative solutions to national and international dilemmas in the areas mentioned above.

One of the main outcomes of the discussion for social and cultural development was the identification of a need for change in the national education model. Medina said, "We are convinced that education is the key to progress and the only way to truly change society."

A more dynamic, diverse, and productive approach linked to specific regional and local needs should be implemented in the educational planning process, Medina explained.

The political discussion table reviewed the current economic marketing model that has thus far been implemented in the region. The general consensus was support for a change toward a more democratic and social oriented model that will favor the process of globalization and increased employment with a consequential reduction in poverty.

Among the participants were individuals coming from different occupational, social, and economic backgrounds at the local, national and international level. Featured guest speakers included: Luz Ernestina Mejia (the first female vice president of the Honduran National Congress); Maria Marta Diaz (coordinator of the Government Office for Women); Adriana Prado (director of Central American Regional Projects for the United Nations); and Eliet Giron (vice minister of Population Health Risks).

In the near future, the Women's Forum plans to continue holding regular semestral colloquiums between the Central American countries and more frequent national forums featuring the well-received discussion table format. For more information about the Women's Forum for the Integration of Central America and its upcoming events, contact Adela Medina at: Apartado Postal 30107 Tegucigalpa Tel. 26-6702 or 21-0374.

Prisons militarized to avoid further breakouts

TEGUCIGALPA -- To prevent further breakouts and riots, President Flores this week has ordered the deployment of police and soldiers to the nation's 25 penal centers. This decision comes after the wave of violence wrought by scores of convicts who escaped from the detention centers in the past year.

On Tuesday (Feb. 24), Flores met with Minister of Government Delmer Urbizo Panting and Armed Forces Chief Gen. Mario Raul Hung Pacheco to discuss emergency steps to stop the growing number of prison breakouts.

Currently prisons are supervised by guards, and administered by a head warden. But due to low salaries and lack of weapons and equipment, guards and wardens have been unable to control inmates in the excessively crowed prisons. Some have even been fingered as accomplices in the escapes.

Urbizo Panting told reporters that the penitentiaries will now be supervised by the police and military, and guards will be provided new equipment.

In 1997 there were eight breakouts and this year there have been two (see Week in Review on page 3). There have been deaths and injuries reported during the escapes among both prisoners and guards.

Along with the new security measures, the Finance Ministry will determine whether the prisons are being run in a cost effective manner. There are also plans to remodel and reequip some of the older facilities and the Finance Ministry has promised Lps. 35 million for the project.

The newly constructed National Penitentiary located in the valley of Tamara, Fransisco Morazan -- about 25 minutes from Tegucigalpa, is now ready to receive the prisoners currently housed in Tegucigalpa's Central Penitentiary. The Central Penitentiary, or PC as it is popularly known, is dangerously overcrowded and inmates, the majority of whom have never been tried or sentenced, live in unhygienic conditions.

Prominent businessman Rodolfo Zelaya Osorto, popularly known as "Noche Clara" in the local press, committed suicide at his Tegucigalpa residence late last Wednesday evening (Feb. 18). He was 54.

Rodolfo Zelaya Jr. said in an El Periodico report that on several occasions his father had expressed concern about how he was going to pay the mounting interest on millions of lempiras he owed to creditors. Zelaya's financial problems are due largely to the Public Security Force (FSP), which has still not paid him for several million lempiras in supplies and equipment it purchased in 1997.

In the 1980s, Zelaya was one of the principal arms suppliers of the Nicaraguan Resistance (Contras) in Honduras. He was also a deputy for the National Party during the administration of President Azcona.

Islena Airlines has been granted permission by the Honduran government to make commercial flights to Habana, Cuba, the daily La Tribuna reported Monday (Feb. 23). Airline officials are now waiting for final approval from the Cuban government before initiating the new route. With the establishment of direct flights to Cuba, Hondurans will no longer have to make stopovers in Mexico City or San Jose, Costa Rica.

Jack Newman, a Canadian citizen and resident of Hawaii, died of a heart attack in Tegucigalpa last Thursday (Feb. 20), the daily La Tribuna reported. At the time of his death the 65-year-old mining executive was reportedly accompanied by an unidentified woman in his hotel room.

Fire fighters this week continued to battle an enormous fire that has consumed hundreds of acres of forest land around El Piliguin, a small community north of Tegucigalpa. Fire department spokesman Oscar Triminio on Monday (Feb. 23) told La Tribuna that their task has been made more difficult due to the lack of support and manpower from other governmental institutions, specifically the Armed Forces' Green Battalions that in the past assisted them in putting out forest fires. Triminio also complained about the absence of forest rangers in the area.

CARE International on Monday (Feb. 23) signed a Lps. 305 million (US$23 million) food security agreement with the Honduran government, the daily La Tribuna reported. The project is expected to benefit more than 100,000 people in the departments of Lempira, Intibuca, Comayagua, Valle and the southern part of Francisco Morazan. The project will be financed by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and administered by CARE International.

Law enforcement authorities have recaptured only two of the 29 convicts who broke out of the El Progreso prison facilities on Monday (Feb. 23), the daily La Tribuna reported. The breakout comes less than two weeks after more than one hundred inmates escaped from the El Porvenir prison farm near La Ceiba.

Strict water rationing measures have been implemented by the government to conserve the nation's diminishing water supplies, such as the Los Laurales reservoir on the outskirts of Tegucigalpa. Photo by Eric Schwimmer

The National Electric company has been forced to purchase energy from private sources. Water is being rationed in major metropolitan areas. Farmers are having one of their worst years in recent history. And everyone is pointing their finger at one cause: the El Nino phenomenon.

The most visible sign of El Nino in Honduras has been the near drought conditions. Farmers in the southern part of the country lost crops which accounted for nearly 15 percent of Honduras' yearly production. The months of May through October are usually very rainy in the central Honduras. In 1997, this rainfall was much less than average.

Now, at the height of the dry season, the results of El Nino are shockingly apparent.

Water reserves in the major water supplies are significantly lower than the same time last year. In an effort to conserve this water, which has to last until the rain comes again in May, water rationing has been implemented in Tegucigalpa. In some neighborhoods water is being provide only two hours every day.

The dry climate has also provoked an unusually high number of fires in the outlying areas of the capital city. The fire department has been overwhelmed by the demand and many fires have been left unattended. This has also prevented the fire departments from performing their traditional delivery of water to homes in fire trucks.

The water level at the El Cajon reservoir is also lower than normal for this time of year. According to an El Periodico report, the El Cajon hydroelectric facilities usually produce 300 megawatts of electricity, but as its level drops, so does its production capacity. The plant is now producing 20 megawatts less than normal capacity, and is expected to lose 30 more megawatts by the end of the summer.

To counteract this loss of production, the government has agreed to buy energy from several private power plants. According to an El Heraldo report, 60 megawatts will be purchased from Luz, y Fuerza de San Lorenzo, 40 megawatts from the Empresa de Mantenimiento Construccion y Electricidad and 20 megawatts from Electricidad de Cortes, S.A. There is also an incentive program being offered to private businesses that have their own generating plants. Businesses that use their own energy during the hours of highest consumption will be repaid with 2 megawatts for every megawatt of production, once the energy crisis is over.

El Nino is the name given to weather conditions caused by a disruption of the ocean-atmosphere system in the tropical Pacific. The consequences of this disruption have been major variations from normal weather patterns, in Pacific areas, and beyond.

In a normal year, trade winds blow to the west across the Pacific Ocean. This causes the warm surface water to pile up in the western Pacific; the surface of the sea is usually about half a meter higher at Indonesia than at Ecuador, and nearly 20 degrees warmer.

When El Nino conditions are present, however, the trade winds relax in the Central and Western Pacific. The warm water which is usually swept away from South America remains in place. Colder ocean water is usually found at 50 meters on the South American coast. During El Nino, this cooler water is not found until 150 meters. The result is that the usually fertile fishing area off of South America suffers. Rainfall follows the warm water, causing flooding in Peru, and drought in Indonesia and Australia.

The displacement of atmospheric heat results in major changes to normal weather patterns, beyond the Pacific coastal regions.

Meteorologists say that the worst of the El Nino conditions are over, and now the drought being experienced here is normal dry season conditions. But they are quick to point out that all will not be back to normal as soon as hoped. The dry season this year in Honduras is predicted to extend into July.