Monday, November 27, 2000 Online Edition 48

Maduro would place more importance on pre-school, basic education  Ricardo Maduro

By BLANCA MORENO

(Second of two parts) 

TEGUCIGALPA -- The political future of presidential hopeful Ricardo Maduro Joest is still in the balance just eight days before his party's primaries.  Wrangling continued this week over the selection of the final of three jurists who are to resolve whether he is a Honduran citizen by birth -- a key requisite for the nation's highest elected office.

Adversity is not new to Maduro, however, who has had to deal with one of the greatest tragedies that can befall a parent -- the death of a child.  The tragic death of his son immediately changed Maduro's beliefs, and forced him to change his priorities in life.  One of these priorities is achieving major reforms in the nation's educational system.

Following is the conclusion of Honduras This Week's exclusive interview with the leading presidential candidate for the National Party. 

HTW: How is your situation [one] week from the primaries? 

MADURO: That's the $64,000 question.  What would seem most convenient to me is a reversal of the process.  My registration should be accepted and, at the same time, we can go to court [to resolve the nationality problem].  Jaime Rosenthal, Pineda Ponce and myself should be examined.  I have personally heard that the Liberal Party has said they could not be able to get me off the ballot once I was on it. 

HTW: Would you accept being removed [from the ballot]? 

MADURO: If it were legal and legitimate, yes.  Before deciding to run, I asked three of the best jurists in Honduras, Cesar Batres, Joaquin Alcerro and Jorge Ramon Hernandez, to review my case because of the enormous responsibility I would be assuming with my supporters.  Because otherwise, I'd have to run away... 

HTW: When did you first want to be President?  We heard some rumors back in 1993... 

MADURO: When those reports came out, I did not really want [to run for president.]  I still have a T-shirt that reads, "Maduro es el futuro" (Maduro is the future).  Seriously... after [Tegucigalpa Mayor César] Castellanos's death [in November 1998]. 

HTW: Why? 

MADURO: Because of my son's death.  After [his death], I felt that I was going to dedicate my life to education.  I founded FEREMA, and I was spending half my time working with it.  Before César's death, a few people suggested that I could do more for education as president.  I wasn't convinced that education could become a national issue embraced by civil society.  The main problem is  that politicizing education condemns it to mediocrity because of inconsistent efforts.

When I became part of the administration in 1990, no one knew what fiscal deficit, devaluation, interests rates and the relationship among them were.  We spent so much time discussing them that everyone knew what they meant after four years.  Now people are interested in that topic, because they know that if there is a fiscal deficit, it logically produces inflation and devaluations.

The same situation can be applied to education, and now when I talk about the high dropout rates, grade repetitions, scholastic aptitude and curriculum content, they are not concepts people understand.  The fact is that teachers in rural areas don't attend class 40 percent of the time.  One of the programs we currently have is informing the people about education through advertising, [such as], "This child has no future without an education," to generate concern.

Most Latin American countries don't publish education statistics, largely due to the fact that most are negative and place us behind the rest of the world.  Mexico and Costa Rica don't publish these statistics.

But it's necessary to publish them and I have started to work on this at a Central American level, and when César Castellanos died, pressure [for me to run] was enormous because the Nationalist party no longer had a presidential candidate.

That's when I started to feel that I had the capacity, because I had been directly affected.  Losing a loved one is a wound that heals slowly.  Curiously enough, beautiful things spring from tragedy.  My priorities changed instantly.  Material possessions were no longer important, I would have given everything my family and I had ever accumulated in return for my son.

In second place, my loved ones are the most important in my life and together we continue on a spiritual journey.  My horizon has changed.  I studied for eight years in the United States, but it is not for this reason that my education is scientific, I studied industrial engineering and economics, but when my son died, that event was the biggest and most frustrating experience in my life.  He was 25 years old and I would have liked to see his children, my grandchildren, and I realized that almost unconsciously, a person expects their children to hold their hands on their death bed, and not the other way around.

I realized my horizons had changed.  I am a devote Catholic, but I immediately questioned my beliefs, and a new phase began for me, my ex-wife and our daughters.  Suddenly, we were forced to break open a window to see outside.  That took us several years and I no longer think of death as the end of my existence, but in other things.  Tolerance towards children changes and I discovered I was able to tolerate a political environment, I was jealous of my privacy, I rejected notoriety.  Now, if I am insulted it doesn't matter as much, because what is most important to me is my family.  Now my horizons are broader, capability and profound inner peace, greater tolerance and clarity as much as my priorities are concerned.

I won't be able to do everything I want to with education, but at least I can try.

HTW: With respect to the price hikes, what would your personal touch be? 

MADURO: First, I would like to address the perception that governments have dedicated themselves to imposing "imported" hikes; this must be seen in a more equilibrated way.  The problem with economic reforms is that they have been regressive and the economic changes have negatively impacted the poor.  Supposedly the idea behind reforms is growth accompanied with progressive results.  Sales tax is regressive, because it affects everyone; in other words the same percentage is applied regardless of income. 

Subsidies are also supposed to be progressive, but if you take the National University as an example, you will find it is not.  It is said that it costs 30,000 lempiras a year per student, who are charged only 300.  Why should my daughter pay 300 when she can afford 30,000, and adversely affect a student from Intibuca who can afford to pay nothing.  What should be done is to charge students based on their ability to pay, and conduct a socio-economic evaluation of needy students.

 When we entered the government, there was a large diesel subsidy.  We came to the conclusion that it had progressive elements, like lowering public transportation costs, as well as shipping costs, and therefore final product costs.  But, it had a regressive element: Guatemalans and Salvadorans came to buy diesel in Honduras because it was cheaper than in their own countries.  The Honduran people paid the difference.

I would begin by holding a serious economic debate with the objective of helping those with lower incomes.  Changes should be made in our educational system, because we are providing more financing to higher education, which is the level where the fewest number of Hondurans reach.  The majority of them do not pass the fifth grade and we are neglecting the pre-school and basic educational systems.  The poorer a country, the more important its pre-school education is.  In a country where parents are illiterate, and they have no computers, a child entering first grade and school for the first time can experience shock. 

HTW: So, then, is it necessary to place greater emphasis on preschool education? 

MADURO: ...we are over-financing higher education and ignoring the base of the pyramid, where few people get past.  The university has no admissions test, and professors say that if there was one, no one would make pass it. 

HTW: In the short term, what do you propose for education? 

MADURO: Efficiency, in the first place, and this is something that can be done in the short term. Immediately depoliticize [the university].  This would not be easy, because 50 percent of the total production of goods and services is consumed by the public sector.  This is as high as in many socialist countries, it's more than half of the economy.

If you have a country with 20 or 30 percent unemployment and government jobs are assigned based on politics, sectarianism is difficult to eliminate because the State is the number one employer.

The best way to depoliticize education is to involve the teachers' natural ally, parents.  Unfortunately, "machismo" is a big problem here.  I remember that when I went to my children's schools, there were a lot of mothers but very few fathers.  That is a cultural problem.

Involve the civil society and prevent congressional deputies from asking for teachers' positions [for their supporters]... 

Doctors, teachers, lawyers and priests provide leadership in a community.  A teacher is a natural leader, however, politicizing the process of selecting teachers in the capital generates a cultural breach between teachers and the community.  No one can admonish them because they have a political godfather.

The fact that the university is autonomous does not mean it can be irresponsible to society.  The loss of teachers' prestige is one of the most serious problems that is occurring.  One must have a calling to be a teacher.

HTW: So, Maduro's reforms would focus more on education than the economic? 

MADURO: If you analyze what is happening today in economic terms, the information revolution, and the fall -- thank God -- of colonialism backed by militarism, the one who wins the battle today is the one who has the human resources.

HTW: But, how can you achieve production?  What will you do to motivate and attract industries? 

MADURO: We are on the right road.  We must promote short-term production.  In the long-term, production will be promoted by human capital that is able to compete...  This can be achieved in the short term, using the physical and human resources we have right now.  It can be done by creating project management teams.  The problem with Honduras is not the what, but the how.  It is recommendable that we invest in a hydroelectric project to avoid consuming imported oil.  But, what happens?  The projects are shoved in a drawer.

There is an efficiency problem... The traditional policy of presidents is to place their friends in the best posts.  One's personal physician -- mind you, Plutarco [Castellanos] is my friend -- cannot be a health minister, because that does not [necessarily] guarantee administrative capacity.  Take the post of minister of education.  A teacher comes to mind, but that post should be held by a good administrator because he manages 55,000 people and Lps. 4 billion a year.

It does not sound politically sexy to say it, but the truth is there is no clear concept of how to do things here.  We are great at making government administrative plans.  It's just liking sitting our children down and asking them to write their gift list for Christmas.  They sit down and write everything that comes to their minds, and this becomes a government administrative plan, and nobody figures out how much it will cost.  In the end, nothing is bought, and what could have been salvaged from the situation is lost in inefficiency and corruption.

If I am going to name a minister, I am going to ask, "How will you accomplish what you say, from an executive and financial point of view?" 

HTW: And what is lost in corruption and commissions? 

MADURO: A part of the how is eliminating corruption.  In my opinion, for each lempira that the government spends, 40 cents go to corruption and inefficiency.  They either steal it, spend it, or earn it in commissions.  Another thing is the lack of coordination between institutions... 

HTW: How do you define yourself and who is your hero? 

MADURO: Public servant.  A leader has to serve, otherwise he is not a leader.  All leadership needs to be genuine, and I'm a fanatic, because the most profound human happiness is through service, and I can serve as president.

I greatly admire Gautama Fonseca.  My party is not totally in agreement with me, but no one was more useful to me in FEREMA than Gautama.  I admire moral leaders who exercise their leadership by demonstrating their principles.

I don't admire dictatorial leaders, or those who use military power.  I admire Gandhi, not Hitler.  There's something Albert Einstein once said that I love: "Simplicity is the hardest thing in the world, it is the ultimate state of experience and the maximum fruit of its kind" 

*

And Maduro is simple in the way he dresses and talks.  He would like to talk about everything, housing deficits, roads, public services and price hikes during the administration of Rafael Leonardo Callejas; but it will have to be next time, and with a blackboard.  He promises to return as he leaves the offices of Honduras This Week.

Taiwan supports Honduran shoe, rice production 

By SUYAPA CARIAS 

TEGUCIGALPA -- Officials of the Chinese government have announced the establishment of the first information and exhibit center and the creation of a website for the Honduran shoe industry.  This represents the fourth stage in a technical assistance program undertaken by the Republic of China as part of its cooperation to this country.

Gregorio Huang, the new Chinese commercial attache in Honduras, said during a special event held this week in the capital that they have been working closely with government authorities and the private sector in developing three main action plans.

The first plan is focused on increasing Honduran traditional and non-traditional exports to Taiwan; the second one is intended to diversify Taiwanese investment in the country in agricultural and industrial activities; and the third plan has to do with joining efforts to develop certain promising sectors, such as the shoe industry.

DESIGN CONTEST

Jeff Huang, a shoe expert who recently arrived from Taiwan to work as an advisor in this program, said they have been working with local shoemakers in an effort to organize, strengthen and develop this sector, consisting of approximately 85 small businesses located mostly in Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula.

"With this new center, not only will producers have a place to receive and provide information about their business, but they will also be linked to the rest of the industry's participants around the world through the Internet," he said, adding that a shoe design contest will be held in the near future to select the best designs and include them on a permanent basis at the exhibition center and at the mayashoe.com website.

According to the former advisor of Pou-Chen International Group, a shoe company with more than 200,000 workers, the main issue for Honduran shoemakers is not so much about quality as about learning how to promote and place their product in the international market.

BETTER AND MORE RICE

On another subject, the Chinese commercial attache said his government is satisfied with their efforts to improve the quality and quantity of rice production in Honduras.  To this end, a Taiwanese technical mission has been providing support to Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (SAG) through the Technology and Science Bureau (DICTA).

"Thanks in part to the technical assistance of China, independent rice producers from Comayagua and Jesus de Otoro are directly producing their own certified seeds, when in the past, this service had to be provided by DICTA...  This is part of the privatization measures undertaken by the Honduran government... to make this sector more competitive and profitable," said Wilfredo Sabillon and Napoleon Discua, DICTA's coordinator for the central region and the National Rice Program coordinator, respectively.

One of the problems that has often occurred in the past is that when producers don't have seeds available when needed, they buy poor quality grains from other sources with poor results.

"With this new practice, we expect producers to increase yields and get more income, while consumers should be able to buy a much better quality grain at fair prices," he added.  "In Valle del Aguan, producers are very excited about the project, too," he said. 

Although 300 million pounds of rice are consumed every year in Honduras, national production has fallen during the last decade to only 50 million pounds per year.  The government has to spend approximately $13 million on imported rice to make up the difference.

By continuing this measure, Honduran authorities hope that in four to five years the country will once again be self-sufficient in rice production.  For more information about the Chinese Technical Mission in Honduras, call 239-3237, Fax 239-3238.

Maduro third most popular public figure 

In a recent CID/GALLUP poll questioning the popularity of public figures, presidential candidate Ricardo Maduro placed third, just after President Carlos Flores and his wife, Mary.

Projected results of the primary elections showed Liberal hopefuls Jaime Rosenthal and Rafael Pineda Ponce virtually in a dead heat, while National Party candidate Maduro would have easily won with eight out of 10 votes for his candidacy. - La Tribuna

Pineda Ponce declared non-grata in Catacamas 

Liberal presidential hopeful Rafael Pineda Ponce was asked to leave the town of Catacamas last week by members of the Democratic Unification Party who protested his presence during his campaign stop there.

Protestors handed out a public letter prior to Pineda Ponce's arrival denouncing Jorge Chavez's alleged involvement in the assassination of Catacamas councilman and noted conservationist Carlos Luna.  Chavez is the Pineda Ponce's son-in-law.

The letter stated disbelief over the fact that while Pineda Ponce claims to be a justice loving Christian, he covers up for such a cowardly scoundrel, and asked the candidate whether it is true he ordered the Catacamas judge to revoke an arrest warrant for his son-in-law on charges of illegal logging.

 However, Pineda Ponce did not directly the address the issue in his speech, but just reiterated his position as an honorable citizen worthy of being his party's presidential candidate, after which he was heavily escorted by both soldiers and police to ensure his safe departure. - La Tribuna

Gang assaults evangelical congregation 

The Evangelical Church, El Redentor, located in the Colonia Villanueva in Tegucigalpa was held up on Sunday by a group of approximately 50 gang members carrying pipes, rocks, machetes, knives and other homemade weapons.

Apparently a group of parishioners were returning to their church after a religious campaign at which time the gang entered the church, stealing musical instruments and holding up all the people in the church. - La Tribuna

Dulce Nombre de Culmi police station held up 

The police station located in the town of Dulce Nombre de Culmi, located in the department of Olancho, fell victim to burglars last week when police officers stationed there closed office to make a trip to Juticalpa.  Apparently, the robbers stole one rifle after trashing the entire office. - La Tribuna

Monday, November 20, 2000 Online Edition 47

Maduro says there's no independence among branches 

If elected, National Party presidential candidate promises sweeping reforms in education and the judicial and legislative branches   

Presidential hopeful Ricardo Maduro says that his adversaries are using their influence and power to keep him out of the elections.  (Photo by Mario Gutierrez Minera.

By BLANCA MORENO

(First of two parts) 

TEGUCIGALPA -- Amid the political crisis generated by the "war of nationalities," Ricardo Maduro Joest, a 54-year-old industrial engineer and economist, is caught in a dilemma.  He knows that he has the greatest possibilities of winning the National Party's presidential primaries, but he fears being disqualified from running by his political adversaries in the Liberal Party who claim he is Panamanian, not Honduran by birth.

Just two weeks before the primaries, his participation is still uncertain, although President Carlos Flores, in good faith, promoted a "Patriotic Agreement" to resolve the crisis.  The situation worsens as those who began it continue to throw hurdles in the path toward a solution.  Uncertainty aside, Maduro is confident that one thing above all has been made apparent to everyone: the desperate need to reform the judicial and legislative branches of the government.

If he comes to power, he will also be able to realize his dream: a true educational reform that would give access to this precious resource to all Hondurans.

Born in Panama, Maduro acquired his Honduran citizenship by birth according to Article 23 of the Constitution, because his mother had claimed and been granted that right by the Ministry of Government.  He has previously held the posts of president of the Central Bank and representative to the Central American Parliament.  He is the founder of the Ricardo Ernesto Maduro Foundation for Education (FEREMA), a non-profit organization established in honor of his son, a victim of crime.

Maduro defines himself as a true public servant who is, without a doubt, passionate about education and resolving the problems that exist in Honduras.  "I like talking about education," he says, smiling.  And so he does, as he spent over half his exclusive interview with Honduras This Week discussing it.

He did not linger much on the structural adjustment program begun during the administration of Rafael Leonardo Callejas, when he was head of the economic cabinet and president of the Central Bank.  "We'll talk about it the next chance we get, and with a blackboard, because it is a very complicated subject," he promised. 

Following is the dialogue Honduras This Week reporters had with Ricardo Maduro Joest:

HTW: What do you think about the U.S. elections? 

MADURO: The good thing [about the U.S. elections] is that everyone trusts the results.  The economy favors the party in power, wear and tear favors the Republicans and Bush's choice for vice-president turned out to be an error because he lost the Black vote.

HTW: Is the Nationalist Party the same as the Republican? 

MADURO: They are members of the same international political organization, but in truth there are no significant differences and, ideologically speaking, we are similar.  The U.S., as well as Honduras, has a functional bipartisan system, even though there are five parties here.  The differences between the two major parties don't run deep.  The range of political persuasions in the United States, in which there are communist, socialist, social Christian and right-wing parties; is much more reduced in the U.S. than in Europe.

HTW: Is there something we can learn from the way the U.S. chooses its legislators? 

MADURO: There are good and bad things.  I'm in complete agreement with, and have proposed, that Honduran congressmen should be elected by the areas they represent.  That would make them more responsible and eliminate many problems like party subordination.  John Kennedy wrote a good book about a politician's loyalty to a party and responsibility to the people who elected him.

We propose this potential model: first, reduce the number of congressmen from 128 to 90.  Among these 90, eliminate their alternates because these are the ones who end up going to Congress, the actual elected deputies don't go because they don't care.  We have unnecessary costs and a low level of actual representation.  There should be 20 congressmen elected nationally who hold the more global interests of the country, and 70 congressmen should be elected locally and have a more focused approach.  This would be a good way to use the U.S.'s bicameral system in just one chamber. Most important is that they do not feel like subordinate pawns of a party, but instead answer to the voters.

Our system has another problem.  When slates of candidates are used, the first deputy on the list for a department feels that he or she is the chief, while the deputies in the second and third positions are treated as subordinates when, in effect, each of them is elected by the same number of votes: 40,000.  Originally, it was established that there would be one deputy per 40,000 people.  For this reason, the number of deputies reached 128 when it was estimated that the population was between 4 and 5 million.  One of the things to change will be eliminating the feeling that the first congressman of a department is worth more than the second.

The internal rules of the National Congress are a disaster, they give the president of Congress enormous autonomy.  I wish reforms were made now, along with those to the judicial system.

Currently, the president of Congress decides what goes into its agenda, who will be in the commissions, when bills will be discussed; and the system of voting is such that it hides the way each legislator voted.  They should have an electronic screen in Congress, it is simple and not very expensive, but no one is interested in doing so.

Then, it is stated that such-and-such bill was passed by a majority vote, and there have been cases when [most] congressmen weren't present and there wasn't a quorum.  And since there is no record of individual voting, it is a disaster.  When the president of Congress does not want a motion presented, he does not give the word to anyone.

I insist that what has happened in my case is evidence of the centralization of power that exists in our country.  Then again, a group of analysts and journalists determined that the Constitution of 1982 was written with the almost explicit purpose of keeping the military from coming to power.  Therefore, they concentrated power in the civilian sector.  This concentration of power is leading us into problems of transparency in all government processes.  The fact that a president wins an election as well as the majority of seats in a legislative branch that names the Supreme Court justices gives enormous power to the executive branch, but the transparency and realistic participation of the other branches is debilitated.

HTW: So, there is no independence among the branches? 

MADURO:  Very little, if any.  I have the best chance of becoming president, if I'm allowed to register my candidacy.  Many people in my party have told me, "if you want to talk about the independence of the judicial branch, say so, but [it would be better that you] don't, because if you win, you will be able to do it."  But I tell them, "No, one moment, reforms to the judicial branch must begin now so that they can be ratified next year and take effect."

When my registration was denied, we viewed this as the consummation of a threat that [my adversaries] would keep me out of elections through the use of power...  That decision, any serious lawyer will tell you, could not have been made by the National Tribunal of Elections (TNE), which has no jurisdiction or authority to determine a person's nationality.

If the Liberal Party and its leaders really wanted to take away my nationality, they should have gone to court.  This is something that cannot be done, nor decided, by the TNE or the Ministry of Government...

When we went to the Supreme Court to file a motion against Lisandro Quesada, because he is a magistrate and had previously expressed an opinion about my case, the court rejected the legal writ -- they did not even want to receive it.

And look what happened on Tuesday, November 7, they registered [President of Congress, Rafael] Pineda Ponce.  Pineda Ponce had his second identification card annulled because it conflicts with the original entry in the books.  It turns out that was not even his real name because his father never legally recognized him.  His father recognized him last week, they make another writ and register him in the census even though the period [for doing this] ended over a month ago!

So, I ask myself, what type of equality is there?  How is it possible that he, who did not have a valid ID, has his candidacy registered and I, who have valid identification card, is not?  If I were the only person who said that the judicial system was not impartial, I would be doubted.  But it is the private sector, the Catholic Church and everyone, and we are determined to back what we are saying with actions.

To be continued next week.

Medicines with dangerous ingredient still available 

Although it was recently discovered that some medicines, namely Adelgadina, Wcontrol, Tabcin, Contac and Alka Seltzer Plus, contain the ingredient phenylpropanolamine, which can cause strokes, many pharmacies and pulperias in Honduras are still selling these products.  Apparently, the Ministry of Health has not recalled these products and they are still being widely distributed throughout the country. – El Tiempo

Two more deaths attributed to dengue 

A San Pedro Sula health official informed the press on Monday that two more people admitted to the Mario Catarino Hospital in that city died last week.  Although lab tests had not yet been returned from Tegucigalpa and the cases cannot be confirmed, both victims, a young boy and girl, had symptoms characteristic of those of hemorrhagic dengue.

To date, 73 suspected cases of the disease have been reported, 10 confirmed, including the death of another child. – El Heraldo

SPS hospital running out of workers 

Due to low salaries and lack of support on the job, 108 workers from the Social Security Hospital in San Pedro handed in their resignations in October and plan to leave for new jobs in the private sector.

Aside from labor problems, the hospital is also lacking in such basic necessities as gauzes, aspirin and other medicines.  A representative stated that the only solution to this institution's troubles is breaking the low fixed quotas that affiliates now pay. – El Heraldo

Honduran convicted of illegal lobster harvesting in U.S. 

WASHINGTON, D.C. - A federal jury in Mobile, Alabama, has found four individuals guilty of multiple felony counts related to the illegal harvest and importation of Caribbean spiny lobster tails, the Justice Department announced today.

David Henson McNab, a citizen of Honduras, was found guilty of one conspiracy count, 11 smuggling counts and 16 money laundering counts.  Robert D. Blandford, of Coral Springs, Fla., was found guilty of one conspiracy count, 11 smuggling counts, 10 felony Lacey Act counts, two misdemeanor Lacey Act counts and 13 money laundering counts.  Abner J. Schoenwetter, of the Miami area, was found guilty of one conspiracy count and six smuggling counts.  Diane Huang, of Englewood Cliffs, N.J., was found guilty of one conspiracy count, one felony false labeling count, and 15 Lacey Act misdemeanor counts.  The Lacy Act prohibits import, export, transportation, sale, receipt, acquisition or purchase of fish, wildlife, or plants that are taken, possessed, transported or sold in violation of any federal, state, tribal or foreign law.

The convictions carry maximum statutory penalties of five or 10 years in prison and fines of up to $250,000, or twice the value of the pecuniary gain by the defendant.  The lobster tails at issue had a wholesale value of more than $4 million.  Sentencing is scheduled for March 2, 2001 for Huang and Blandford, and March 16, 2001 for McNab and Schoenwetter.

According to the indictment, from 1995 through May 2000, the defendants conspired to import into the United States Caribbean spiny lobster tails harvested in Honduras, in violation of Honduran regulations designed to preserve a sustainable lobster fishery.  Once in the United States, the conspirators sold the illegal lobster tails to U.S. seafood companies.

McNab owns one of the largest fleets of lobster-fishing vessels in Honduras, and the indictment charged that workers on his vessels harvested lobster that were under the legal size limit set by Honduras.  They also harvested egg-bearing lobsters in violation of Honduran regulations and harvested lobster and shrimp during the closed seasons set by Honduras.  To conceal the catch of egg-bearing lobsters, the parts of the lobster tails to which the eggs were attached were clipped off.

Documents introduced at trial indicated that McNab properly reported and processed approximately half of his harvest, and, unbeknownst to the Honduran government, exported the other half to Blandford's company, Seamerica.  Blandford, one of the largest U.S. importers of Honduras lobster tails, and his associate Schoenwetter agreed to buy the illegal lobster tails from McNab's company.

The lobster tails were primarily imported into the United States through Bayou la Batre in Alabama, a state that has no significant lobster fishery and therefore no regulations governing the harvest or possession of lobster.  On occasion, undersized lobsters were transported through from Alabama into Florida, which has laws prohibiting the harvest and possession of undersized and eggbearing lobster.

Once the lobster was in the United States, Blandford or Schoenwetter sold the lobster tails to American seafood companies, particularly the company that employed Huang.  Blandford, Schoenwetter and Huang often received commissions or agent fees for their roles in the illegal importations.

"The prosecution of this case was a truly cooperative effort between the United States, Honduras, and the State of Florida.  These international enforcement efforts are increasingly effective and necessary to protect the global environment," Assistant Attorney General Lois Schiffer said.  "These convictions should send a strong message that illegally harvesting seafood for immediate personal gain will not be tolerated, wherever it occurs."

The Caribbean, or Florida, spiny lobster (Panulirus argus) is found in salt waters from Florida to Brazil, including the waters off Honduras, comprising one of the world's largest commercial lobster fisheries.  Biologists believe that the offspring of lobster populations off the Western Caribbean coast, including Honduras, are key sources for replenishing the lobster stocks in the Southeast United States.

The spiny lobster is one of Honduras' most important natural resources and is the most valuable marine species along the entire intertropical area of the western Atlantic.  Honduras regulates the commercial fishing of spiny lobster to prevent the over-exploitation and collapse of this valuable resource.  The United States, as the largest importer and consumer of Honduran spiny lobster, also has a significant interest in a commercially sustainable harvest.

Spiny lobsters must mature to a certain size and/or age, typically at least 5.5 inches in tail length, before they are able to reproduce.  To promote reproduction, both the State of Florida and Honduras, as well as many other Caribbean nations, have established a size limit for spiny lobster of 5.5 inches in tail length.  For the same reason, both the State of Florida and Honduras prohibit the harvest of female lobsters that are in the eggbearing stage of reproduction.

The investigation of this case was lead by Special Agents of the National Marine Fisheries Service, with close cooperation and assistance of Special Agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service.  Significant assistance and support also was provided by the government of Honduras, particularly the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, and law enforcement officers with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (commonly known as the Florida Marine Patrol).  The case was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of Alabama, with the assistance of the Wildlife and Marine Resources Section of the U.S. Department of Justice.

Monday, November 13, 2000 Online Edition 46

By BLANCA MORENO 

TEGUCIGALPA -- Due to the political crisis caused by what is being referred to as the "nationality war" and the inability of the National Elections Tribunal (TNE) to overcome the impasse, President Carlos Flores met with high-ranking party leaders last week to resolve the problem in an expeditious manner.  Flores' solution to the situation was to conform a "Commission of Honorable and Qualified Witnesses."

After six hours of negotiations on Nov. 3rd, an agreement was reached to guarantee constitutional order, transparency and the legitimacy of the electoral process and to peacefully resolve the matters related to Constitutional Article 238.

Four of the nation's five political parties -- Liberal, Nationalist, Christian Democrat and Innovation and Social Unity -- agreed to initiate dialogue about the discrepancies that have arisen with regards as to whether three of the candidates running for president meet all the requisites.

The event that sparked the crisis was the request to disqualify the candidacy of Ricardo Maduro of the "Arriba Honduras" faction of the Nationalist Party.  The Liberal Party, which presented the motion, claims that Maduro is Panamanian and not Honduran by birth.

Immediately afterward, two more motions were filed for the disqualification of Liberal Party candidates Jaime Rosenthal Oliva and Rafael Pineda Ponce.  Rosenthal was born in San Pedro Sula, but his parents were not legal residents at the time.

The most difficult case is that of the current president of the National Congress, Pineda Ponce.  It was discovered that he had allegedly usurped a last name to which he had no right, because his father never legally recognized him.  According to reports, his real name is Rafael Ponce, the son of Maria Ponce (now deceased) of Guatemala.  Ponce's (or Pineda Ponce's) birth was also first recorded in Guatemala.

To facilitate a solution to this legal maelstrom, the parties created a commission made up of four honorable witnesses.  Along with the presidents of the parties, this commission must agree on the procedures to obtain an independent legal opinion of the highest quality.

Orlando Iriarte, the general secretary of the National Forum for Convergence (FONAC), is coordinating the meetings of the Commission of Honorable Citizens, composed of Ramon Velasquez Nazar, Miguel Andonie Fernandez, Pedro Arturo Sevilla and Emin Barjum.

The jurists they have selected are Cesar Batres of the Nationalist Party and Ramon Valladares of the Liberal Party.  Both agreed to bring in a third jurist of international origins and with the highest recommendations.

Meanwhile, TNE President Lisandro Quesada has insinuated that he will not accept the jurists' decision.  He coincides in this with Pineda Ponce, who aims to become the Liberal Party's sole candidate after the primary elections, and backs Maduro's disqualification.

Primaries for both major parties are scheduled to take place on Dec. 3.  Still, all signs point to the postponement of the primaries unless a solution is found soon.

In Trujillo

Garifunas take legal actions against sewage project 

By WENDY GRIFFIN 

TRUJILLO -- Last month the Garifunas filed complaints with the Special Government Prosecutor's Office of the Environment and for Ethnic Affairs regarding a sewage project being built in Barrio San Martin and funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development at a cost of more than Lps. 33 million.  The Garifunas charge the project is illegal, violating the Honduran Law of the Environment in several aspects.

In Honduras, it is illegal to build without a construction permit.  It is also illegal for the municipality to extend a construction permit until the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment (SERNA) has approved an environmental impact study and mitigation plan.

The company that is working day and night on the project began construction before the initial assessment was finished.  No approval by SERNA has been given for this site, which includes or is bordered by wetlands, a national park, guanacaste trees from a virgin forest, beach and water in a protected bay.

The Garifunas also note that the whole planning process of the project is in violation of Convention 169 of the International Labor Organization.  Article 7 requires that ethnic groups be part of the planning, approval and evaluation of the project.  The environmental impact statement states that the Garifunas know nothing about the project.

The land where the construction crews have already begun work has been under dispute since 1993.  The Garifunas filed suit in Trujillo courts about the sale of the land three weeks ago.  The USAID/FHIS contract states that there can be no disputes about land ownership, so the Honduran Social Investment Fund (FHIS) is currently in violation of its contract.  The land ownership dispute was known at the time of the contract's signing.

This project is being financed with post-Hurricane Mitch reconstruction funds, in spite of the fact that Trujillo never had a sewage treatment plant before Mitch.  Moreover, the project will only benefit 7 percent of the population of Trujillo, those in the center of the town, not the Garifunas who live around the project.  The environmental impact study states that 25 percent of the people do not have any sanitary facilities, including latrines, a problem not addressed by this million-lempira project.

The Garifunas said they are not opposed to the project, but to its location and to the lack of respect for their rights and their health.  For example, in an area with two meters of rain a year, most of it in November, the chances of an overflow are high.  Even the report indicates that human waste will flow out onto the sidewalks and into people's homes, causing a serious health hazard.  The nearest house is only five meters from the project.

Ironically, there are no funds to rebuild Barranco, a Garifuna community completely wiped out just four kilometers away.  Nor is there funding for a water project for the Garifunas of Santa Rosa de Aguan, who have had to move to La Planada since Mitch wiped out part of the town and other parts are at high risk due to changes after Mitch.

The Trujillo project is not the only one where environmental impact statement studies were done in a hurry or not at all for post-Mitch projects.  Amarateca residents outside of Tegucigalpa are finding out that rivers that exist only in winter now flow past the doors of their newly built homes.  Houses in construction were destroyed as a river overpowered a contention wall.  The area around the houses is swamp, yet more houses are being planned.

Both projects raise the question of how are they offering less risk to vulnerable populations affected by Hurricane Mitch?

Alleged U.S. pedophile skips the country 

Casa Alianza Honduras denounced last week that Daniel Gary Rounds, a North American accused sexually abusing two street children in Honduras, fled the country after receiving conditional liberty in March.

According to Casa Alianza, Rounds is in Philadelphia and is still licensed as a teacher there.  Apparently, it was discovered that Rounds had left the country after he failed to show up in court where he was supposed to report on a monthly basis.  Casa Alianza also said they have informed the FBI and are looking into the possibility of accusing him of child abuse in the United States. – El Heraldo

Ambitious program to save street kids 

The Honduran Institute of Children and Family announced this week the creation of a Street Child Attention Center and rehabilitation program that will be inaugurated in December.  The program, which will include municipal authorities and civil organizations, also plans to form an inter-institutional committee that will establish a legal base under which it will operate.

Representatives stated that the program will carried out in different phases beginning with the initial street contact followed by individual attention at the center, where basic needs will be meet and counseling given so that children can regain hope in life and the opportunities it presents.

The Center will be open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. – El Tiempo

1.92% of population HIV positive 

During a recent U.N. forum held in Brazil last week concerning HIV/AIDS in Latin America and the Caribbean, it was revealed that 1.3 million people in the region are HIV positive.  According to Piter Pitio, head of the U.N. AIDS program, the increase of AIDS in epidemic proportions in the area can be attributed to homophobia, sexual discrimination and the machismo culture.

According to the study, Haiti has the highest rate with 5.17 percent, followed by the Bahamas with 4.13 percent, Guyana with 3.01 percent, the Dominican Republic with 2.8 percent, Honduras with 1.92 percent, Guatemala with 1.54 percent and Panama with 1.38 percent. –El Tiempo

Abductions, murders attributed to vigilantes

The president of the Committee for the Defense of Human Rights in Honduras (CODEH), Andres Pavon, denounced last week that security committees are responsible for the rising number of kidnappings and murders that are taking in place in Honduras. 

According to Pavon, more than 500 security committees now exist and have been legitimized by the Ministry of Security, which extends the members of the committees special identification cards that allows them to carry guns.

He also stated that many of the committees are for hire, some for murder and others for kidnapping.  He added that CODEH has recorded more than 60 of these cases and has officially denounced 20, but that no action has been taken on the part of the Ministry of Security because many of the committees reputedly work together with the preventive police force. – La Tribuna

Monday, November 6, 2000 Online Edition 45

By BLANCA MORENO 

TEGUCIGALPA -- The political crisis set off by the refusal of electoral authorities to register the candidacy of Ricardo Maduro has become so polarized and partisan that some sectors are now asking for international arbitration to resolve the matter.

The crisis began when Liberal Party leaders Jorge Arturo Reina, Rafael Pineda Ponce and Jaime Rosenthal requested that the National Tribunal of Elections (TNE) not register the candidacy of Maduro, the most popular presidential hopeful for the National Party.  They claim that Maduro is Panamanian and not Honduran by birth.

As an immediate reaction, the followers of the "Arriba Honduras" movement headed by Maduro hit the streets in protest.  They demonstrated their indignation at the actions of their political adversaries and asked solidarity from the international community to prevent an arbitrary ruling.

The Liberal Party argues that Maduro, who was born in Panama, is son of a Guatemalan mother and Panamanian father.  Nevertheless, in 1982, the Ministry of Governing extended a birth certificate to Maduro because in 1981 his mother, Cristina Joest, was extended the same courtesy.  Her right to nationality was granted based on the fact that her mother, Lucrecia Midence, was born in Honduras.

All the allegations and actions have caused further division between Nationalists and Liberals to such an extent that officials of some countries believe civil war will break out unless a solution is found quickly.

Nationalists reject TNE's decision because this institution has a Liberal majority.  Out of five members that compose the Tribunal, one is Nationalist, two are Liberal and the other two belong to the "smaller" political parties.  These latter, one from the Christian Democracy and the other from the Innovation and Unity Party, are openly allied to the political party currently in power.

Some sectors have asked for the intervention of Carlos Flores, who as president of all Hondurans, has maintained himself at the sidelines.  Others have requested the intervention of a committee of notable jurists to resolve the dilemma.

In the past few days, it has come to be known that the executive branch is proposing the creation of an international arbitration committee.  This action is also supported by the U.S. Embassy in Honduras.

In the meantime, there is a serious risk that the primaries will not be held as scheduled.  These elections are scheduled for Dec. 3 in order to select the presidential, congressional and municipal candidates of both major political parties.

The leading candidates in the Liberal Party are Rosenthal, Pineda Ponce, Manuel Zelaya, Esteban Handal, Vera Rubi and Tito Livio Sierra.  The two "strongest" candidates are Rosenthal and Pineda, who are also have questionable nationality origins.

In the National Party, the contenders are Maduro, Elias Asfura, Carlos Kattan and Hector Rene Fonseca.  Maduro is greatly preferred, according to polls, but may not achieve his goal unless this situation is resolved soon.

TESU program has university students working in rural areas

 By WENDY GRIFFIN 

When the National Teacher's College (ESP-FM) was in the process of converting to the National Teaching University (UPN-FM) in 1991, it was a time of reflection about the problems of university education in Honduras.  One of the most notable problems was that it took an average of seven years to graduate from full time classes and 10 years to graduate from weekend classes taught through the Distance Education program.

However, many of these students never graduated at all.  After completing all the course work they received a "carta pasante," meaning they had completed everything except their thesis.  Most of these students were never heard from again.  So when the UPN was created, it was decided that students would complete "Trabajo Educativo Social Universitario -- TESU (University Social Educational Work) instead of a thesis, so more students would actually graduate.

Honduran students studying through the Distance Education program pay only Lps. 150 (US$10) per semester regardless of the number of classes they take.  Obviously, much of the cost of a university education is paid through subsidies from the Honduran government to the university.  TESU is an opportunity for the students to give something back to the people.

At the UPN, these student-work projects are principally oriented toward women, small businesses, minority ethnic groups and the environment.  Students work under a TESU advisor and receive both initial training and ongoing supervision.

WIDE AREA OF INFLUENCE

Through the Distance Education program students, the UPN has projects in a wide area of influence, including the Chorti areas of Ocotepeque and Copan, the Lenca areas of Intibuca and Francisco Morazan, the Garifuna areas of the North Coast, as well as working with Nahuatl and Pech communities in Olancho.  Students of UPN's Choluteca campus work with Ladinos in the areas of the environment and small businesses.

One interesting project started by TESU students is a handicraft store of the Alcaldia de la Vara Alta, a Lenca organization in La Esperanza, Intibuca.  They sell Lenca baskets, weavings and ceramics.  Currently, students in Copan Ruins are working with Chorti ceramic cooperatives in Carrizalon and Corralito to help them start small souvenir, sewing and bread- making businesses.

To open a small business in Honduras, you need a license from the mayor's office.  Then you have to have by-laws and rules.  There is legal paperwork to create a company with a legal charter, "personaria juridica."  This is a lot to ask of women who on the average have a second grade education or less.  UPN students in the TESU program help them through all the paper work.

Bilingual-intercultural education is a project that struggles.  The national coordinators of many ethnic groups have less than a 12th grade education.  TESU students have worked to train teachers and parents how to write bilingual-intercultural curriculum, how to write in Garifuna, how to teach the history of the Maya-Chorti and how to implement intercultural education in Miskito high schools.

If students can get funding from elsewhere, this is good.  Otherwise, the cost of giving these seminars comes out of the students' own pockets, which can run into the tens of thousands of lempiras.

In general, participants see TESU as a positive program, especially because of the "convivencia" -- the chance to live together with very poor ethnic people of Honduras.  "Con estas experiencias prácticas uno aprende."  (With these practical experiences, one really learns.)

POSITIVE EXPERIENCE

In terms of the goals of the university, the TESU experience is also positive.  The soon-to-graduate students prepare planning documents.  They write materials for their seminars using computers.  The students carry out complicated logistical plans and learn how to apply for financing from local and international projects.

Students who have studies about small businesses really start businesses and geography students help communities evaluate and deal with post-Hurricane Mitch flooding risks.  These are the types of jobs people with licenciaturas are hired to do, so TESU actually functions like unpaid internships.

For local people, the principal complaint is that the students conduct their workshops for a semester and then leave.  No evaluation of TESU projects is done to see if they have any permanent impact.  A number of initiatives started by students end when the students graduate.

A student concern is safety.  TESU students accept tasks like training the Chortis about their land rights under ILO Convention 169.  Once the students arrive in the area, they realize that many people have died over the question of Indian land rights and they pray they will not be among them.

Another major drawback to TESU is the cost to the students.  However, many internationally-funded projects find it difficult to find highly qualified people for positions like health promoter or small business promoter.  Agencies may wish to see how university students doing practicums can be included in their field programs.

For additional information on TESU, contact the UPN TESU coordinator Dr. Lazaro Flores, UPN, Depto. Educacion a Distancia, Col. Miraflores, Tegucigalpa, Tel. 239-0489.

By WENDY GRIFFIN 

Honduran political parties are currently preparing for the eleciones internas, as Hondurans call their primaries.  However, Honduras has not always held primary elections.

The last major crisis regarding how to select the presidential candidates was when Roberto Suazo Cordoba was president.  Suazo was backing Oswaldo Mejia Arrellano as the Liberal Party's candidate.  However, this "caudillo" from Intibuca did not have popular backing within his own party.  So another option was worked out.

The two parties went to the general election without primaries.  This meant that all of the "pre-candidates" for the presidency in both parties ran in the general election.  However, the agreement was not that the candidate with the most votes won --Rafael Leonardo Callejas actually received the most votes, but Jose Azcona Hoyo became president.

This is because the agreement was that whichever party got the most votes won, and the candidate of the party that had the most votes won.  The Liberal Party got more votes than the Nationalist Party, and Azcona was the candidate in the party who got the most votes within the party.

Honduran newspapers have written that Option B is being discussed for this election in which the candidacy of the leading Nationalist candidate Ricardo Maduro has been challenged because he was born in Panama and his father was Panamanian and his mother Guatemalan-Honduran.  Candidates for president must be Honduran by birth.  One possibility that is being discussed in this case is to postpone the primaries.  Option B is also being mentioned.

This year would be only the second time in the history of Honduras that the Nationalist party participates in primaries for a presidential candidate.  The Nationalist party has traditionally appointed a single presidential candidate chosen by party leaders, rather than go through primaries.  Other Nationalist presidential hopefuls have strongly fought against that way of choosing their candidate.

Choluteca to finally pave streets 

The Mayor of Choluteca announced last week that the municipality has been able to procure a bank loan in the amount of Lps. 38 million to pave some of the city's main streets that are in desperate need of repair.  The Ministry of Public Works will provide machinery to complete the public work. – La Tribuna

Troops fight drug trafficking 

In an attempt to reduce rising crime, the police, the army and the Attorney General's office last Sunday began the Trujillo Joint Operation to seek out, capture and prosecute persons involved in drug trafficking now rampant in Honduras.

The operation was headed by new Security Minister Guatama Fonseca who stated, "the government is set upon fighting rising crime no matter what the cost..."

Forces took to the road, sea and air in the departments of Colon, Gracias a Dios and Olancho, as well as the Las Manos border crossing in El Paraiso.

Other objectives of the operation included deterring vehicle theft, illegal logging, carrying and use of illegal weapons, and the robbing of distribution vehicles. – La Tribuna

Hand grenade kills 14-year-old youth 

Wilson Pineda, a resident of Talanga, Olancho, died Monday when a hand grenade with which he was playing exploded.  Two younger siblings, 13 and 1 years of age, also seriously injured during the fatal accident are now hospitalized in Tegucigalpa.

According to witnesses, no one knows where Wilson acquired the "little, black ball" the children were playing with.  Apparently, Wilson threw the grenade against a rock, causing it to explode. – El Heraldo