OPINIONS & EDITORIAL

Monday, March 29, 1999 Online Edition 151

By ERLING DUUS CHRISTENSEN

Matias Funes does not give off the vibrations of a politician. He is not slick, guarded, or calculating. He is direct, warm, vigorous, and earthy. Nevertheless, he may have some political skills, and he will certainly need them if he is going to lead his new populist party, the Democratic Unification (UD), to prominence and power in Honduras, a nation dominated by two traditional parties for most of its history.

Funes does seem like a philosophy professor and writer (which he is), and has the energy of an organizer and activist, which he no doubt also is. He founded the UD in 1994, and 1997 was the first time the party participated in national elections. Funes received around 100,000 votes for president of Honduras, and was elected to the National Congress. The party also elected a mayor, Filiberto Isaula in La Paz. This was an encouraging beginning, and could be the spring-board to launch the party toward changing the shape of Honduran politics.

The slogan of the UD is "Change the history," and that is exactly what the Unification Democratic party wants to do. It calls on people who are motivated by ideals that are Christian, socialistic, or simply patriotic to join in "constructing a new Honduras, a nation with justice and equality for everyone." It contrasts these aspirations with the record of the two dominant parties that along with the military have controlled Honduras for over a century, creating a legacy of backwardness and social misery.

The UD would change Honduras for the oldest, best, and most pragmatic reasons, because it is a party of the people, and its leader is a man of the people. He is not a member of the urban bourgeois elite, or the professional political class. Campesinos are no more foreign to him than are university intellectuals. His name and face does not appear in the social pages of the newspaper, and he is not invited to the birthday parties covered by Estilo magazine.

He does not countenance the subordination of the people to economic and social elites, or to giant corporations, neo-liberal theories, or international financial institutions. Funes believes that both the liberal and national parties in Honduras accept this subordination of the people with complacency, when they do not themselves embody it. The UD will fight for the people against all domination and exploitation.

The first or second thing which Hondurans usually say about Funes is that he is a Communist, or a Marxist. Is he? "Certainly not in any dogmatic sense," he responds, when asked directly. But he goes on to mention the ways in which Marxist analysis of modern society informs his own understandings. He particularly emphasizes "the alienation of labor" in modern industrial society.

But the issues that his party are touting while clearly populist, are not really very radical. He speaks of national programs to bring reading and writing skills to the illiterate. He wants to improve health care, and make it more accessible. And, he feels that agrarian reform is essential. He wants to make it possible and appealing for campesinos to stay on the land, which will simultaneously relieve pressure on the cities. Such ideas should not be frightening to very many. They do not differ greatly from ideas being advanced in President Flores's Master Plan for Reconstruction and Transformation.

Why then does one have the feeling that given the chance Funes and his party would change the whole nature and character of the country? Perhaps it is related to that Marxist philosophical insight, the alienation of labor. Funes knows that poverty is no accident, and that the deepening chasm between rich and poor is not a result of overwhelming natural forces. He knows with a force of intellect and passion that these things exist because government and supportive institutions have willed them to be so, because the majority have been allowed to be the hostages of the few.

Is there any serious chance that Matias Funes will become the president of Honduras? There are obviously enormous obstacles, the greatest of which is lack of money. The UD receives no money from outside Honduras, and for reasons not difficult to imagine does not enjoy the support of many wealthy business people. The party raises very modest revenues from sponsoring events. These do not generate the kinds of revenues needed to win national elections.

So it comes down to this: Funes must somehow find the resources to put together a broad and far reaching coalition that reaches into all the grass roots, urban and rural, of the nation, and which will simultaneously attract urban professionals as well as the intelligentsia, who are tired of politics as usual. And then he must come up with enough money for a vigorous national campaign, in which the UD has the strength to contest elections all over the country.

If these things can be done, and they are not impossible, then there is probably nothing that can stop him. The Honduran people, given a decent opportunity to support a genuinely populist campaign, would desert the traditional parties in droves. The dissatisfaction in this country is immense, and only waits to be captured by some credible popular crusade.

The Unification Democratic Party can be contacted at Apartado Postal 5051, Tegucigalpa 238-3401.

Don't spit, spitting spreads disease

By ERLING DUUS CHRISTENSEN

I guess that spitting used to be a bad problem in the United States. How else explain the fact that when I was a boy growing up in Minnesota I often saw displayed in virtually all public buildings a sign that said, "Don't spit, spitting spreads disease."

These signs were enormously effective, and all but the most uncouth got the message. If the need to expectorate became urgent enough, one would look for a discreet location, and even then commit the dastardly act only with a certain amount of guilt. Who wants to spread disease?

My Spanish is not good enough to know how the same message might best be expressed in Honduras, but I would say it is worth a try. Would it work? That is a tough call. The Ministry of Health might have to mix it in with other inducements, like for example, electric shock. Something subtle like that. You spit, you get a shock. We are striking very close here, one suspects, to the sacred sources of machismo itself, a bit like Samson with his long hair.

Deprived of the freedom to spit randomly and joyfully anywhere at anytime, the Latin male of a certain class and orientation might lose his self-confidence, a confidence seemingly comprised of the belief that his body fluids are a libation that deserve to be shared freely and poured forth liberally upon the unsuspecting earth, as well as other places. Anything else would be to submit to the rule of women and the demands of domesticity.

What does a little disease amount to compared to such freedom, such glory. One might as well prohibit football, or try to stop the wind from blowing.

Still, as I say, it is worth a try. We are getting into the dry season, and soon there will be no rain to wash the sputum off the walk-ways, and the odor of stale urine will reek from every nook and cranny of the city. It may be that a national campaign using something so simple as a sign and a slogan could make a difference.

Frankly, I don't know if spitting spreads disease or not, though it seems a not unreasonable thesis. But it is damned unpleasant for all but the spitters themselves, who seem to not notice. And as for all the damp corners, and suspiciously wet streaked side-walks, they smell. They smell bad. Even the most insensitive nose can hardly fail to notice. Issues of public health pale before this unromantic fact.

So I envision a sign that says (in Spanish of course), "Don't spit, spitting spreads disease, and if you think spitting is bad..."

The spirit of sacrifice needed

While it is being reported that some 360,000 Hondurans have fallen into poverty because of Hurricane Mitch, the country continues in a state of lethargy and despondency in part because of the indifference of some government bureaucrats who are more interested in looking after their political profiles than they are in giving serious support to the economic recovery programs of President Flores.

We cannot easily build a new country, but the plan for reconstruction created by the cabinet especially appointed by President Flores proposes a process that would restructure and transform the society in order to achieve a better future. This plan is practical and at the same time visionary and progressive, and if undertaken in the right spirit can be viable.

However, a spirit of national emergency must prevail, and all sectors of the country must be oriented toward making sacrifices, and not supposing that there can be a business as usual attitude. International aid is of course important, but we must not make the tragic mistake of thinking we can simply look toward it for deliverance.

As Flores recently said, "we must reconstruct our country with international aid or without." The reconstruction plan is not simply a new formula for development, but is in larger perspective a plan for attacking the perennial poverty and backwardness that have plagued our country for many years.

We have the capacity for triumph over our adversity. If we will reach down into ourselves and unify our efforts, make the necessary sacrifices, and remind ourselves of what is truly important, we can recover our confidence in our country and ourselves.

The March 13 HTW front page article, Government negligence cause of hunger in La Mosquitia, makes a statement to which I take exception.

The article stated, "...government in the Mosquitia has broken down, municipalities are not functioning, and chaos and anarchy reigns." I think Erling Duus is painting with a rather broad brush here? Our Copan Ruins based Mid-Patuca relief effort has made numerous trips into the Patuca River region of La Mosquitia and I can assure the readers of HTW that clearly "chaos and anarchy do not reign."

The situation we have found on the ground, at least where it concerns the municipality of Wampusirpe (15 villages with a population of some 5,000 people) is that while food is in short supply and few relief supplies are getting in, the municipality along with the Community Development Committee are working in a very coordinated and organized manner to deal with the aftermath of the storm.

The time has come to put a lid on alarmist, sensationalist comments by the media. We in the press should be guided by fact, truth and confirmed unbiased, eyewitness testimony. Anything less leads to a demeaning of the press and a trivialization of the medias important function. Sensationalist post-hurricane stories have done much harm to Honduras. The view around the world that Honduras was banged back to the 1940s, which for those of us who call Honduras home, is blatantly untrue.

Copan Ruinas

EDITOR'S NOTE: The article is based on an interview with Edgardo Benitez, a Tawahkan leader who has travelled extensively in the region since the Hurricane.

Monday, March 22, 1999 Online Edition 150

A call for protection via the int'l community

By ERLING DUUS CHRISTENSEN

During recent years, Honduras, like many other Latin American countries, has been plagued by highly publicized kidnappings. In Honduras, these have been described as coming like "waves." The ruling class, feeling besieged by an increasingly aggressive and rapacious criminal class, are pressuring the government to enact laws mandating life imprisonment for the kidnappers, and increasingly are calling for the death penalty.

In the March 11 edition of El Heraldo, Eduardo Facusse, the president of the Honduran Council of Private Business, was quoted as saying that Honduras should request help from the international community in combating these criminals. He particularly singled out Mexico and Spain as having well trained security forces, and they should be requested to "extend us a hand."

The basis for this request, according to Facusse, is that the national police lacks the capacity to combat this wave of kidnappings, "our security forces do not have the capacity to respond to the problem in a manner that can quiet the anxiety of the population." He continued by pointing out that the existence of these "evil Hondurans," is scaring away prospective investors in the country, and "generating chaos in the Honduran community."

In response to a question about how the assistance of these international security forces would be paid, he responded that this should not be a concern, because tax-payers are already paying for a guarantee of security.

On March 14, another story in El Heraldo quoted from an conversation in which Col. Rodolfo Eugenio Interiano, general commander of the military, indicated that the military was ready and willing to "re-establish tranquillity...and support the competent authorities to create a front against these criminal acts."

Whether the colonel was in any manner responding to the statements by Facusse is not known. A story on the same page reported that eight people were killed in an attack and robbery of a large farm owned by Miguel Facusse near Limon. Most of these were apparently security guards. On March 16, President Flores ordered 8,000 troops to go on duty to provide protection for the Honduran people.

If Col. Interiano was not offended, he should have been. Hopefully, Hondurans in general found Facusse's suggestion offensive. Apparently, President Flores was not very partial toward it either. It can well be believed that Mr. Facusse as well as other Hondurans have little confidence in the police. What after all can be legitimately expected of men who are poorly trained, badly paid, and ill-equipped. Can they be expected to go up against criminals who are apparently far superior in training and fire-power? Where would such men gather the pride, will, and resolve to risk their lives on behalf of a privileged class who are unwilling to see to it that a genuinely professional police force should exist, a corps paid and respected as befits a class of professional law enforcers?

Is it really advisable, we should like to ask Mr. Facusse, at a time when Honduras is already so dependent upon the international community for assistance of all kinds, to send out the word domestically and internationally, that Hondurans are so helpless that they cannot train and equip a competent and formidable police force?

It is appalling to contemplate the notion that the irresponsible and often corrupt elite of this nation should be protected from the consequences of their actions by international forces (with the Honduran people picking up the tab) when what is clearly needed is a commitment to a more just society, a redistribution of wealth, and the elevation of the police from a semi-servant level to a professional status. A crack unit of police could be selected and trained in a few months. Why does Mr. Facusse not suggest that?

Kidnapping is a terrible crime, but it is no worse than crimes that are regularly perpetuated against honest Honduran citizens on a frequent basis by people who operate within the protection of the law. But Mr. Facusse is right to be concerned. Honduras is slipping deeper and deeper into a lawless and violent society in which nobody is safe, and if the trend continues, convulsive and intensive internal warfare, accompanied by an oppressive police state is the only possible consequence. If this is to be avoided, Honduras must somehow transform itself into a different kind of society.

For the past year I have tried to maintain contact with the Honduran Tourism Institute (or IHT per its Spanish acronym), but with no success. As the co-author of the guidebook Honduras: Adventures in Nature and the webhost of Planeta.com, I had hoped that the IHT would keep me up-to-date, or at least informed. It hasn't.

Earlier this year I received a call from Larry August who told me he was working on a PR account and was inviting travel writers to Honduras to see the country rebounding from Hurricane Mitch. I've never heard from him again.

If IHT is assisting travel writers who cover Honduras, I would hope that those of us who are guidebook writers are invited. But moreover, I would just like to be in contact. For example, what are the government plans for promoting ecotourism and nature tourism? E-mails and letters to officials go unanswered.

If Honduras wants to improve its image abroad, it must begin by maintaining communication with the writers, editors and webhosts who have shown their interest in this country.

Last month Honduras participated in the "Mundo Maya" tourism conference or Ki-Huic in Merida, Mexico. I attended and visited the Honduras booth. Again, I was promised by the IHT official that they would stay in touch. Unfortunately, I haven't heard anything from since.

Ron Mader
Mexico City
ron@greenbuilder.com

Honduras This Week is beginning to hint at some of the darker sides of tourism (Rudi Kerkmann, Oct. 17, 1998). Ballyhooed as a panacea for Honduras' economic ills, tourism can be just the opposite.

We are an agricultural country of mainly small-scale farmers who live on, to put it mildly, the economic fringe.

When hordes of tourists enter a country like Honduras, prices rise overnight to the level of the tourists' pocketbooks. If you think the devaluation of the lempira hurt, you haven't seen anything like the inflation tourists create.

Costa Rica is a perfect example. Once a gem of a country, Costa Rica now lists tourism, especially "ecotourism" as its chief source of income. Costa Rica now has jammed airports, is more expensive than the USA, and their currency, the colon, is rarely mentioned. The Yankee dollar is God, and there are street protests about high prices.

Forget about taking the character out of a basically unspoiled country like Honduras, which tourism quickly does. With everyone scrambling for the $10 tips tourists throw around, there will be a massive rural movement into cities where crime, already a national scandal, will rise even higher.

The only industries to profit will be the airlines, restaurants, hotels, taxis, curio shops and the like. The influx of rural peasants will result in lower wages, if that's possible, and an erosion of the quality of life for the majority of our citizens.

When people ask me, "Oh, you live in Honduras! How is Honduras to visit?" I tell them we have cholera and terrorists. At least I'm doing my part until a statesman emerges who will encourage outside investment in industries that will create a demand for labor resulting in a higher standard of living for our people. We've got the natural resources and the people. What we don't need is droves of mindless tourists.

Gene Ostmark
San Pedro Sula

Monday, March 15, 1999 Online Edition 149

The importance of statistics
Gathering information, which includes the creation of tables and graphs, the calculation of percentages and ratios, testing hypothesis, drawing conclusions and making projections, are some of the activities involved in the discipline of statistics. This discipline is not new, because we know from the Gospel narrative of Luke that a census was taken under Caesar Augustus, which is why Joseph and Mary sojourned to Bethlehem. In Honduras during the last century, the Catholic church consistently gathered information about the human and material resources within the diocese.

With the great impact of computers in today's world, the versatility and capability that has emerged for handling huge amounts of information and compiling results quickly is astounding. For example, we were able to observe during the last housing and population census that the compiling of complicated information was effected efficiently and accurately, and these results permitted various population studies that were able to facilitate estimates and projections. The United Nations has recommended that the census be taken every 10 years, and in Honduras this means that we must make strong preparations during the year 2000.

Our governmental authorities and the Honduran people in general should make permanent an up-to-date information file about our demographic situation: the rate of growth, the mortality rate, the birth-rate, malnutrition, literacy, and unemployment. But we cannot be constantly making an expensive census, which is why we need to regularly make use of sampling surveys that should be administered by the general office of statistics and census. The advantages of keeping up to date information is that valuable information is ready at hand with little cost, and inasmuch as this information is based on mathematical theory, we can place great confidence in its accuracy.

The government should support our national system of statistic gathering, giving it the personnel and the technical equipment it needs, and allowing its employees to stay at the job regardless of party politics or political favor. Statistics can be manipulated by dishonest or incompetent practitioners, and therefore it is vitally important that the office of statistics be staffed by competent and trained professionals who are not serving the whim of politicians.

Monday, March 8, 1999 Online Edition 148

Welcome to Honduras, to the country of the five-star flag, and a people renowned for warmth and hospitality.

We know that you are very busy with many responsibilities, and that your visit to Central America is not for sight-seeing, but is your way of expressing your commitment and your concern for your neighbors to the south.

We have already on a previous visit had the opportunity to welcome the gracious First Lady to our country as she was one of the first international visitors to come here to share our suffering and express her concern after the hurricane.

As you are well aware, the terrible destruction of Hurricane Mitch has set our little country back dramatically. Just when we thought that we were making a little progress economically and socially, we were struck a mighty blow by a hurricane whose destructive wrath was unprecedented in all of the history of this hemisphere.

In the midst of this crises we have relied heavily, and will continue to do so, on the good-will and generosity of our friends throughout the world, and especially that of our great friend to the north, the government of the United States of America and the people of that country. And we are especially grateful to you, Mr. President, for the leadership you have shown as well as the concern you have expressed.

Allow us on this occasion to remind you of a few things pertaining to our common history, and to some of the challenges and problems we face together. Our two countries have always stood together in peace and war, in combating the drug trade, in promoting cooperation and stability throughout the region. We share a commitment to democracy. And we have worked cooperatively on the problems of illegal immigration. Beyond that is the fact that there is hardly a Honduran family that does not have a relative living, voting, and paying taxes as a loyal U.S. citizen. Nor is the exchange entirely one-sided. It has been estimated that there are as many as 10,000 Americans living and working in Honduras.

We will continue to depend upon the aid and support of your people, just as we will continue to be your loyal allies in the region. But what we need perhaps most of all are trade policies that do not discriminate against the products of poor countries just because they are poor, and do not have very much power. Bananas or pineapples, in the scale of things, should not be worth less than computers. And we need full access to regional markets, just as Mexico has.

There is, as you certainly know, a great deal of poverty in our country. And our precarious status has now been profoundly worsened. But this is a beautiful country, with a warm and wonderful people, and we continue to have a great potential. We are confident that with your friendship and support our nation can re-build, and that we can reach our potential and make our full contribution to the mosaic of the Americas.

President and Mrs. Clinton, we want you to know that you have the love and respect of the Honduran people. And once again we say, dear President, "Welcome to Honduras."

In a story carried by United Press, Jan. 6, President Carlos Flores Facusse declared that in spite of the well-publicized millions of dollars in cash donations, debt forgiveness, and related international charity, Honduras still lacks the ability with which to counter the devastation left by Hurricane Mitch.

"There is no internal financing to reconstruct the country ... and 1999 will be a very hard year for Hondurans," President Flores told reporters.

This advisory will come as no surprise to the vast majority of the Honduras population that has seldom known anything except "very hard years" for as long as memory runs. However, the devastation left by Hurricane Mitch has surely multiplied the misery of the majority of Honduras citizens who, even without a notable disaster, live well below the poverty line.

Strange as it may sound, Mitch can very well prove to be a great blessing in disguise, provided President Flores and his administration officials have the flexibility and sagacity to capitalize on the opportunities a flood of international sympathies offer. To understand this situation, you need to take a hard look at the Flores tax program, that I labeled "Theater of the Absurd", when he announced it in April 1998. (The article can be read it at: <http://ldbelveal.net/Hond_tax_plan.htm>

The fact is that Honduras has never had a fiscal program seriously pointed toward national self-sufficiency, and the Flores tax effort does nothing to alter this perfect record. Much is being made of the destruction of the banana plantations, as a great loss to the national coffers. The fact is, that President Flores virtually wiped out national revenues from banana culture, by slashing the export tax on bananas from 50 cents (U.S.) per 40-pound box, to four cents (U.S.) per 40-pound box. He did this a full six months before Mitch arrived!

In view of this, the storm damage to the plantations is resulting in the loss of a lot of jobs, but the impact on government revenues is minimal, because El Presidente had almost totally removed bananas from the taxation list, half a year earlier.

The Flores Tax Program was clearly designed to support an international fund-raising effort, rather than to internally meet the predictable financial requirements of the Republic. Coincidentally with his announcement of the new tax schedules, Don Carlos announced the formation of a team of money solicitors, consisting of key members of his administration, who were to be dispatched far and wide, to seek financial donations, loans and prepaid "projects" from the world's affluent nations. This approach to meeting Honduras fiscal needs is not new with Carlos Flores. Indeed, international beggary has been the major source of Honduras income for at least half a century.

In the course of establishing this record, and even after interest and principle forgiveness, restructuring of obligations, gifts, etc., Honduras had still managed to build up a public indebtedness well in excess of $4 billion dollars, by the time Mitch arrived. The bitter truth is that Honduras is a terrible credit risk. Honduras hardly ever repays principal and, almost as often as not, also defaults on interest obligations. This kind of a record does not encourage potential lenders to keep bankrolling a non-performing client nation. Lenders like to get paid.

When Mitch descended on Honduras, wreaking historic devastation across the country, the needs for reconstruction funds ascended to levels that neither Honduras, nor its lenders have ever previously contemplated. International sympathy is a strong motivator to provide the money needed to rebuild the storm-trashed nation. But a long-standing and dismal experience with Honduras as a borrower, has prompted the potential lenders to impose some restrictions intended to have a twofold effect: First, to insure that funds are spent as intended. Second, that necessary protections against contract "skimming" and other forms of financial hanky-panky are in place before the funds are handed over. These requirements are intended to make sure that accounting practices, progress reports and conformity to engineering standards are met.

Flores is complaining bitterly that meeting these requirements of the lenders, as a precondition to release of the funds, is taking lots of time and delaying arrival of the money in Honduras, where it needs to be spent. Without doubt, his complaint is well-founded. In justification of the position of the lenders, however, and based on the Honduras fiscal record as a borrower, it is difficult to imagine how it could be otherwise.

Nations, like individuals, establish a credit experience with which they must live. On the record, Honduras is a lousy credit risk.

There is another problem. Or two other problems, to be quite literally accurate.

Section 200 of the Honduras constitution is an immunity clause that places all elected politicians and a great many appointed political functionaries above all the laws of the land, both civil and criminal. Thus immunized, Honduras political officials are entitled to break the laws that ostensibly apply to everyone else, with impunity.

In addition, in April 1997 the Honduran congress passed a publicity gag-law that imposed draconian penalties, fines and jail terms, for reporters, publishers and broadcasters, who publicize information concerning Honduras officials involved in corrupt practices of virtually any kind.

Taken in combination, these two protective devices have the end effect of, potentially at least, making licensed criminals out of any "public servants" so inclined. With legal immunity protecting political malefactors from the provisions of civil and criminal statutes, and a publicity gag-law to immobilize honest reporters and publishers from investigating and reporting violations of the public trust, crooked politicians truly enjoy the best of both worlds: Pesky reporters are warned to look the other way where political corruption is involved, and even if found out and identified, the laws governing fraud, misappropriation, and related crimes against the public trust do not apply to them.

This situation would have to be viewed in an extremely grave light, even under the best of circumstances, but there is another facet to the risks involved in Honduras money-handling.

In August, 1998, "Transparency International," a German University organization that specializes in screening official business practices on a worldwide basis and rating the nations involved, identified Honduras as the third most corrupt country on this earth. According to the "Transparency International" report, only Paraguay and Cameroon, are more corrupt than Honduras. Consider this reality along with the immunity blanket and the publicity gag-law.

Small wonder that potential lenders and donors seek to impose some reliable safeguards, before handing Honduras large sums of money to handle at its own discretion -- ostensibly in the area of reconstructing the devastation left in the wake of Hurricane Mitch.

Proceeding from its accrued reputation as one of the most corrupt nations on the planet, it is not surprising to discover that potential benefactors seek reasonable safeguards against the very real possibility that their donated and loaned funds might otherwise just disappear into what has been called "the black hole of Central America."

President Flores finds this reticence to hand over the millions -- or billions -- of dollars to Honduras, for disbursement as they see fit, to be an onerous if not insulting process. He points out that meeting the donor nations' pre-requirements is a great time-waster, when so much needs to be done at once to rectify the damages left by Mitch. Indeed, he declares that his administrative team will seek alternative funds from other -- presumably less cautious -- money sources. Just who these more tolerant bankrollers of Honduras reconstruction may be has not been clarified. Until they do stand up to be identified, this reporter strongly suspects they are nothing more than figments of the Flores imagination.

There can be no argument with the obvious fact that Honduras has suffered an historic catastrophe. Equally obvious, Honduras desperately needs countless millions of dollars to replace and repair destroyed roads, bridges, and related infrastructure. And this says nothing of the tens of thousands of private homes that must be renovated or entirely replaced, along with emergency food requirements, medicines and restoration of public health facilities. These things require money -- in a hurry, and in amounts never before contemplated in Honduran history.

Moreover, it seems obvious that the international community stands ready to liberally participate in this herculean task. But first, prudence demands that, on the Honduran record alone, there must be some firm protections in place to make sure that history is not repeated, with the reconstruction funds being diverted to the illicit enrichment of avaricious and venal political criminals. To ignore this very real possibility would require ignoring half a century of consistent Honduran behavior.

At the very least, Honduras owes its benefactors the token gesture of expunging the infamous immunity statute and the disgraceful publicity gag-law from the books. A respectable nation has no need for such flagrant invitations to political corruption on the part of its officials. Indeed, an honorable nation would be shamed by their very existence.

But beyond this, properly wary potential donors and lenders are surely not going to ignore these enticements to official abuse of relief funds, as long as they exist to aid and abet it. Until these shameful statutory provisions are erased from the laws of the land, Honduras can never expect to have its promises of honest dealing and responsible conduct in the handling of relief funds to be taken at face value.

The greatest mystery of all is why Honduras officialdom pretends to not understand this sorry reality.

By ERLING DUUS CHRISTENSEN

Throughout the capitals and populations of Latin-American and the Caribbean, you can almost hear the sighs of relief now that the Clinton trial is over. As in much of the world, the people here have followed these events with both disbelief and alarm. The world has become so dependent upon the health, stability, and rationality of the United States that when that nation careens off in one of its periodic fits of irrationality and hypocrisy, the rest of the world, and especially this region, trembles.

Many Latin Americans have the feeling that since they are so much affected by what takes place in the States, they should have some say-so in the process of electing the president. If they did have such power, there is no doubt that they would give their support to Bill Clinton in a major way. The president is even more popular here than in the United States, and this is not as a result of any naivete, but rather of an insight both intuitive and rational.

In the early years of the Clinton presidency, it will be recalled that he overruled most of the foreign policy and political establishment by sending the Marines into Haiti for the purpose of overthrowing a military and oligarchic elite who had staged a coup against the popularly elected president, Jean Bertrand Aristide.

The American people back home stifled a yawn, but the impact of this action in the rest of the hemisphere was immense. People in this part of the world are used to seeing the U.S. military intervening on behalf of dictators and reactionary business interests, but not on the side of populist and leftist governments, no matter how popular with the people. A signal had been sent to ambitious military men that coups against progressive and elected politicians would no longer be tolerated. Had it not been for this, it seems most likely that Gen. Discua and his cohorts might have attempted an overthrow of the Reina administration three years ago.

Latin Americans do not see the United States through the same prism that people in the States so commonly view their country. Latins are dualists when it comes to their attitude and expectations of the great neighbor to the north. They know that Americans can be generous and open-hearted, but they also know that in all too many situations the United States is motivated by an arrogant determination to control and exploit the region for the benefit of very narrow economic and political interests. This gives them a discerning perspective. They do not listen very attentively to our high flown political rhetoric, but observe closely what we do.

So when ingenuous Americans start talking with baby-faced innocence about holding president Clinton to a "higher standard," and with hand on heart tell us about the ideals we (they) fought for in Vietnam or Korea, not to mention the Persian Gulf, Latins for the most part hold their nose. They know us in a way we prefer not to know ourselves.

And like the hedgehog the people of the region may not know many things about Bill Clinton, but they know one thing, and that is that the only time troops have been sent to the region during the Clinton administration it was on the side of the good guys. Don't even imagine that they don't know how to understand such matters.

It is certainly refreshing to hear from a member of the Presidential family. Carlos David Flores's defense of his father, although eloquently written, lacks substance.

I would also like to question President Flores' conviction towards democracy. Honduras presently has two laws enacted which seriously put into question the country's conviction, as well as its presidents conviction, toward democracy.

I am speaking of the gag law, which I believe Carlos Flores helped to enact, and the immunity law. The immunity law is especially troubling for it allows most elected officials, and those running for elected office, exemption from the laws of Honduras.

The gag law does not allow true freedom of the press. I must question how could a country, or a man, with a conviction for democracy lets such laws stand? Does the President plan on leading the way to change these archaic democracy crushing laws? Perhaps one way for President Flores to leave a legacy as a man with a conviction for democracy, would be for him to ensure the abolishment of these two laws, with the assurance that they can never again be reenacted. That man would indeed be a great man.

Miami, Florida

I would like to comment on your editorial "Lack of faith blocks road to a better future" and tell Erling Duus that it is our strong faith that will build a new Honduras!

Please, don't you confuse our early battle in recovering from one of nature's worst catastrophes ever with our ability to confront challenge and shape our own history! I don't need to repeat how tremendously our country suffered and it is precisely what he calls "the psychological make-up of Hondurans" what will pull us through and in 10 years Tegucigalpa will be a beautiful city.

One of the greatest intellectual assets we Hondurans have is our faith, an integral part of our family values and yes our religion. Our mission is as clear as ever, reconstruct our country to the best of our abilities and effort! We might not be one of the most educated countries in the world, but we are certainly hard working individuals and will build the best future for our beloved Honduras.

Unfortunately, the examples Duus uses to try to illustrate his points are limited and great generalizations. For example, his description of a typical "Honduras business" reveals his confined exposure to many of our prominent companies in industries such as manufacturing, banking, consumer retail, agricultural, import sector and many others. Any business person in the world would be impressed with the quality of the professionals who run these enterprises. Proudly, one can find that many businesses of all sizes use some of the latest marketing techniques to aggressively compete and serve their customers.

Lastly, I would like to thank the punctual effort and benevolence with which Honduras This Week served our country during the emergency. Your online edition and web sites especially, helped us communicate to the world. In that same manner we would appreciate if you would continue helping us by conveying positive messages that will nurture our FAITH and reassure us that we will reconstruct a better Honduras.

pinedaa@hotmail.com

As I glance at El Cristo high at El Picacho from my room, I cannot help but express the bad experience I had at the Metropolitan Zoo today. From my hotel room the mountain looks so tranquil and peaceful and I can see the forest surrounded by black birds.

When I last visited the Honduran zoo ten years ago, I could not believe what I saw, and today I thought that the terrible condition for the caged wildlife had gone for good. But to my amazement, the conditions are still the same or even worse.

The typical role that zoos play worldwide are tremendously oriented toward wildlife education and promoting appreciation for the local wildlife, but this is dead and non-existent at the metropolitan zoo. It would seem as if though time has stopped here. The jaguar, spider monkeys, grey fox, owls and all the other animal species are under extreme stress, a condition that is unacceptable in zoos. The only animals that would seem to be living healthily in this zoo environment are the vultures -- which now that I can identify are the birds that I can see from my room, flying so majestically over El Picacho.

During my short walk at the zoo, the animals were pacing up and down, a sure sign of stress; and by the corner a pregnant spider monkey was pacing outside of the enclosure, a sign that no monitoring is made on the premise; in another part of the zoo I could see a young boy poking the jaguar over the fence, a sign that the infrastructure is poorly maintained; and all around the zoo I could see the visitors busily chasing the vultures, a sure sign that the zoo is dirty and unhealthy.

As I look at the entrance ticket, one thing comes to my mind -- HOW IRONIC! The ticket reads "¡Cuidalo para ti y tus hijos! Well, I say to the management, you follow the rule first. Take care of the zoo for all the children of Honduras. Take care of the animals!

Mahatma Gandhi once said that one can judge the type of society one has by the way it treats their animals.

I hope conditions change. I wish all the best for the fate of those wild animals.

Via e-mail

Monday, March 1, 1999 Online Edition 147

Living with the aftermath of Mitch
Hurricane Mitch has brought about the following effects: Approximately 90 percent of the damage involved gross natural production. It was anticipated that in 1998 there would be an increase of 5 percent, but instead there has been a loss in production of 2 percent. Losses, either directly or indirectly, are estimated at $4,364 million, with more than 5,000 people known to be dead, more than 8,000 disappeared and presumed dead, and more than a million people rendered homeless.

It was anticipated that overall the economy would grow by 2 percent in 1999, but at the moment, such hopes must be considered doubtful, because Mitch has lowered the standard of living in the country, and this in turn is likely to diminish the intake of capital, increase unemployment, and bring increased insecurity in many forms.

Before the hurricane, our economy was already hurting with a low rate of growth, a per capita income of $758.00, a growing and out of control birth-rate. Additionally, 68 percent of the population were living below the poverty line, natural resources were being depleted, the national debt was growing, and the rate of unemployment was at 30 percent.

Even with this bleak picture, we are once again preparing for a new strike. This crisis has brought us to a condition of being international beggars, but this aid is a necessity if we are to placed in a position from which we can begin to rebuild.

The international community has been generous with aid, but in too many cases promises of help have bogged down in a swelter of bureaucratic red-tape. This is enormously discouraging in a country where many are without roofs for their homes, or bread for their tables.

Preparations for the year 2000 bring a hope that the international community will work to create a more humane world by identifying those countries in direr straits, giving them the kind of support that will enable them to escape the clutches of economic crises. crisis

In the case of Honduras, it is our experience and observation that our people are possessed of a great deal of courage and perseverance, so that with the help of our international friends, we will eventually be able to once again stand on our own feet. But this will take time. We will be focused on our survival and recovery, and not on competing economically.

We have great hopes that the long-term effect of the hurricane will be to deepen our sense of connection to the traditions of our country, and that new generations will commit themselves to rebuilding and renewing our patrimony. The ramifications and scope of Mitch are truly unfathomable. We must act to raise the spirit of our people with campaigns that elevate consciousness and challenge the people to undertake greatness, overcoming inertia and mediocrity in order to rise out of this lamentable situation.

Honduras will rise again. We are certain of this.

She could have been a pretty girl

By ERLING DUUS CHRISTENSEN

She could have been a pretty girl, and on one side of her face she still is. But on the other, the marks of some terrible burn, probably suffered in childhood, disfigure her countenance. In the more developed world she would have undergone skin grafting and plastic surgery, and people would be able to look at her without flinching.

But one sees these unfortunates, the maimed, everywhere in Honduras. They are poor, and will go through life in this condition, most of them. Some have been born in this manner, others are victims of accidents. Each of them has a story, a unique human drama, a personal history never told. Each of them must make their way as best they can, and make their peace with the brand they carry so publicly through the world.

Fortunately, despite the disintegrative pressures of poverty, Honduras remains a family-oriented culture, and it is likely that many, perhaps most of these sufferers receive a special nurturing from loving relatives. It is fortunate also that the Honduran people are schooled in hardship, accustomed to hard times, and able to find pleasure in simple things. They do not live in a land infatuated with youth, or beauty.

When one sees the maimed on the streets of the city it is noticeable that they do not shrink or shirk. They go about their lives with what looks like resolution or courage. Many of them have a heroic quality. Some beg for a living, and do so without apology or self-pity. Some even have a certain flair or style. They don't allow you to pity them or scorn them. If you give them money they smile, but if you don't, they do not curse you. Their presence and equanimity is staggering.

It is almost a banality to say that society should do more for its maimed and disfigured. Skin-grafting for the badly burned, artificial limbs for those who need them; these should not be luxuries reserved for the affluent. Of course, this is so. But without major changes in political and social philosophy, that will not happen. What could happen and should happen is that so much unnecessary suffering be taken for granted. People could begin to talk about, dream about, and at last demand a more compassionate society.