NATIONAL

Monday September 29, 1998 Online Edition 125

TEGUCIGALPA -- Nearly 200 friends, family members, sympathizers as well as members of the Olancho Ecological Group on Thursday (Sept. 17) traveled from Catacamas, Olancho to the capital to protest the government's failure to solve the murder of Catacamas councilman and noted environmentalist Carlos Luna earlier this year.

Protests were staged at the Presidential Palace, the National Congress and the Supreme Court. At the Presidential Palace, a special commission presented a letter to President Flores that was received by presidential advisor Jorge Reyes Diaz, who promised that the president would receive it.

Luna died on the way to a Juticalpa clinic after being shot as he was leaving the Catacamas city hall where he had attended a council meeting on May 18. His secretary also received a bullet, resulting in the loss of an eye.

According to the group's spokesman and legal counsel, Marco Ramiro Lobo, protesters are seeking presidential support for the case that is obviously the subject of a political cover-up.

Lobo stated that five days before Luna's murder, Jorge Chavez, the son-in-law of National Congress President Rafael Pineda Ponce, was arrested on charges initiated by Luna for illegal logging, only to be released within three hours on orders from higher authority. According to Lobo, witnesses allege that Chavez paid the sum of Lps. 100,000 for Luna's murder.

Lobo also said that the questioning of a nurse who apparently treated one of the assailants whom Luna managed to injure before losing consciousness has so far produced no results.

The National Congress last Friday (Sept. 18) decided to make Gen. Raul Mario Hung Pacheco the last Chief of the Armed Forces, overwhelmingly approving legislation to reform 17 articles in the Constitution that calls for the elimination of the post and the end to military autonomy, the daily La Tribuna reported.

With the reforms, the Chief of the Armed Forces will be replaced with a Ministry of Defense to be headed by a civilian or military official who fulfills the post's requirements. The highest military post will now be chief of the joint staff.

Meanwhile, Gen. Hung on Tuesday (Sept. 22) denied reports that there is widespread discontent and acts of insubordination within the ranks due to the reforms. This counters earlier statements in which Hung admitted that the 12th graduating class had attempted to conspire against the military high command.

Between January 1994 and June 1998, 10,170 people were killed by firearms, according to the Committee for the Defense of Human Rights in Honduras (CODEH) in a La Tribuna report published Sunday (Sept. 20). During the same period, 12,150 people received gunshot wounds.

Honduras is the third most corrupt nation in the world, according to the organization International Transparency, the daily La Prensa reported Wednesday (Sept. 23). In the report prepared by the German-based private institution, Cameroon was the most corrupt nation followed by Paraguay and then Honduras. The least corrupt of the 85 countries examined in the report are Denmark, Finland and Sweden.

Monday September 21, 1998 Online Edition 124

The Flores administration has decided not to go ahead with plans to build the El Tigre hydroelectric dam on the Lempa River, a binational project that would have been conducted by Honduras and El Salvador, the daily La Tribuna reported Wednesday (Sept. 16).

According to Elvin Santos, Minister of Natural Resources and the Environment, the project implies "legal situations" that require very careful and lengthy study. As a result, he said, the project will not be undertaken during the administration of President Flores.

Honduran Indians and peasant farmers living near the site of the proposed dam have strongly protested its construction, claiming that the reservoir would flood their lands. The project, which would cost an estimated US$1.2 billion, would generate 700 Mw.

The Honduran Council for Science and Technology on Monday (Sept. 14) announced that it has drawn up a plan to prepare computer systems in Honduras for the year 2000, the daily La Tribuna reported.

Gerardo Zepeda Bermudez, the council's director, said the government and private sector must take immediate actions to prevent the disruption or collapse of their computer systems.

The problem stems from the fact that many computers use the last two digits to keep track of the date and, on Jan. 1, 2000, may read the last two zeros not as 2000 but as 1900.

Zepeda said the nation's banks have already begun to revise and correct their computer systems. He added that all systems built before 1995 use just two digits for the date and therefore must be corrected.

As many as twelve men armed with AK-47 assault rifles, shotguns and grenades participated in the robbery of the new BANHCRESER branch bank on Boulevard Juan Pablo II last Friday (Sept. 11), the daily La Tribuna reported. The robbers, who stole an undisclosed amount of money, escaped in two pick-up trucks. The robbery was the fourth in less than a month.

Counterfeit 100 and 500 lempira bills are circulating in Tegucigalpa, the daily La Tribuna reported Tuesday (Sept. 15). Although the counterfeits are high-quality photocopies printed on paper similar to genuine bills, they can easily be detected because they do not have the corresponding watermarks. Counterfeiters have been passing the bills at gas stations and other establishments that are open at night, taking advantage of low light and increased carelessness by tired employees.

Monday September 14, 1998 Online Edition 123

Indigenous groups say no to dam

Donaldo Allen (right) of MASTA answers reporters' questions at last Friday's press conference. LEFT TO RIGHT are Hector Portillo of the National Environmental Commission, Benjamin Morales, president of MASTA; Oswaldo Munguia, executive director of MOPAWI; Edgardo Benitez, coordinator of Asang Launa Tawahka Association; and Ernesto Moya, coordinator of the Olancho Ecological Group. (Photo by Hauke Hoops.)

By MARIA FIALLOS

TEGUCIGALPA -- Indigenous groups of the Mosquitia officially announced their opposition to the Patuca II hydroelectric project in a press conference held last Friday (Sept. 4) at the office of Mosquitia Pawisa (MOPAWI), a non-governmental organization (NGO) based in the Mosquitia and dedicated to sustainable development and biodiversity conservation.

Participating in the press conference were Oswaldo Munguia, executive director of MOPAWI; Edgardo Benitez, coordinator of Asang Launa, the Tawahka association, and also representing the Honduran Tawahka Indigenous Federation (FITH); Ernesto Moya, coordinator of the Ecological Group of Olancho; Benjamin Morales, president of Moskitia Asla Takanka (MASTA); and Hector Portillo, representing the National Environmental Commission (CNA), an association representative of 28 national environmental NGOs.

Moderator Donaldo Allen began the conference by expressing the coalition’s concern for the rapid destruction the proposed Patuca II project would bring to the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor. The corridor is comprised of the Patuca National Park, the Tawahka Biosphere Reserve, the Rio Platano Biosphere (UNESCO World Heritage Site) in Honduras and the Bosavas National Park in Nicaragua. Allen stated that Patuca II endangers the last area on the isthmus containing broad-leaf forest as well as native Mosquitia indigenous cultures.

MOPAWI representative Oswaldo Munguia said one of the reasons the coalition opposes the project is that the environmental impact study (EIS) is not being conducted properly by the firm that U.S.-based project developers Harza Engineering and Panda Power hired, the Honduran company Bioconsult.

Munguia said that the projected six month period of conducting the EIS is inadequate according to environmental experts who have informed him that these studies should take at least 18 months, thus enabling the assessment of plant and wildlife cycles throughout the different seasons.

He also stated their grave concern over rumors that the EIS will be completed this month after a mere six weeks of data collection. Although just rumors, distrust stems from the complete lack of candor on the part of project developers in providing detailed information about the proposed dam. Harza and Panda have refused to reveal the names of possible international financial partners and have not provided the public with the project feasibility study or even feasibility data.

Munguia said that if the EIS were to be conducted by a neutral company (not hired by project developers), in a serious manner, the results would most assuredly not recommend the construction of this project.

The coalition’s main opposition to Patuca II is the infrastructure it would require:

• A 53 km road from Olancho to the construction site on the Patuca River, which would aggravate even more the existing problems of illegal settlement and logging;

• Double transmission lines needed over 100 km to transport electricity to urban populations;

• A human settlement of approximately 2,000 workers during site construction. Most workers, their families and friends would probably not leave upon project completion;

• Construction of the 105 meter high and 43 meter wide wall, damming up the Patuca River.

MASTA President Benjamin Morales expressed his concern that an unnecessary project is even being considered given that national and international laws would be violated.

He stated that apparently in Honduras laws are just written and not enforced, nor are international agreements such as the protection of the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor (signed by Honduras) respected.

Morales said that government interest in a project promising economic gains for just a few people should not outweigh negative impacts to the entire population. What would be the end result for the Biosphere, the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor and the traditional rain forest subsistence of indigenous peoples?, he added.

Edgardo Benitez, the Tawahka Asang Launa representative, stated that the credibility of environmental technicians will surely be disproved if Patuca II is constructed.

He said it is incomprehensible how a project obviously supported by corrupt government officials seeking personal gains can even be considered.

Benitez reminded everyone how during a during a visit of Natural Resources Minister Elvin Santos to Batalla, a sector of the Mosquitia, in May, he stated that in spite of any opposition the Patuca II project would be approved in the best interests of all interested parties.

Ernesto Moya from GEO said given the fact that citizen participation has not been promoted by project developers, his organization cannot possibly support their effort.

GEO has hosted several informative seminars concerning the project in the Olancho/Patuca National Park region and can attest to the population’s total ignorance of any details concerning Patuca II. The purpose of these seminars was to provide local people information, thus enabling them to make an informed decision concerning the project, a step project developers failed to take.

He also said that projects of this size invariably bring negative impacts to society because of the economic interests involved, as in the case of Carlos Luna, an environmentalist and councilman of Catacamas, Olancho who was murdered earlier this year because of his opposition to illegal logging.

The son-in-law of Rafael Pineda Ponce, president of the Honduran Congress, was a prime suspect. Moya stated that the Catacamas judicial system is so obviously corrupt that investigations into Luna’s case have gotten nowhere.

Hector Portillo of the National Environmental Commission expressed his organization's opposition by comparing industrial development of fragile tropical rain forest ecosystems to a cancer that slowly eats up the bodies it invades. He stated that the Mosquitia region can be developed in a sustainable manner conserving its priceless value without hydroelectric facilities, mining and logging activities.

Munguia closed the conference in the name of all its participants stating that the coalition considers the proposed Patuca II Hydroelectric Dam project noxious and dangerous to the Mosquitia peoples and resources due to the fact that in so far as can be known, the project is unnecessary for the development of Honduras and offers no real benefits to the urban population, and even less so for the Mosquitia.

Thirty-five people were injured last Sunday (Sept. 6), 16 seriously, when a bus plunged into a deep ravine near the village of San Juancito (about 35km north of Tegucigalpa), the daily La Tribuna reported.

According to passengers, the bus skidded off the road on rounding a tight curve near the entrance to the village, plummeting approximately 30 meters. Numerous trees on the side of the ravine broke the fall of the bus, saving the lives of the 60-odd passengers on board. Passengers, who stated that the driver was going slow when the accident occurred, blamed the accident on poor road conditions and rain.

Passengers in serious condition were taken to the Hospital Escuela in Tegucigalpa by Red Cross ambulances while persons with lesser injuries were brought to the hospital in private vehicles.

The Special Prosecutor's Office for Human Rights claims there are strong indications that death squads are responsible for the murder of more than 100 juvenile gang members since 1995, the daily La Tribuna reported Monday (Sept. 7).

Special Prosecutor Juan Carlos Diaz said that just last year in San Pedro Sula approximately 40 minors were the victims of execution-style killings.

According to the Committee for the Defense of Human Rights (CODEH), there have been 157 extrajudicial murders of alleged delinquents since 1994 and 180 since 1990. A recent report conducted by UNICEF revealed that more than 10,000 Honduran youths belong to gangs.

Taking advantage of lax security, five gunman on Friday (Sept. 4) stole as much as Lps. 100,000 (US$7,400) from the FICOHSA branch bank in Comayaguela, the third bank robbery in nine days. According to the daily La Tribuna, the robbers entered the bank around 12:30 p.m. while one of the two security guards was having lunch. The robbers were in the bank for about seven minutes before fleeing on foot to the nearby San Isidro market.

To help fight juvenile delinquency, Mayor Cesar Castellanos announced last Friday (Sept. 4) that a curfew will be imposed on children under the age of 18 in the capital city, the daily La Tribuna reported.

In a municipal decree passed last week, children will be prohibited from entering bars, night clubs, video arcades, brothels and any establishment that sells alcoholic beverages between the hours of 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. Moreover, minors will not be allowed to rent rooms in hotels or motels unless they are accompanied by their parents or guardians. The new ordinance also prohibits minors from bearing fire arms and prohibits the sale of weapons, ammunition and explosives to children.

The parents or guardians of infractors will be fined between Lps. 30 and Lps. 90 while establishments that violate the new ordinances will be subject to fines of up to Lps. 50,000.

Gabriel Garcia Marquez, winner of the 1992 Nobel prize for literature, will attend the celebration of the 420th anniversary of the founding of Tegucigalpa later this month, the daily La Tribuna reported Saturday (Sept. 5). The Colombian novelist, whose most famous work is "One Hundred Years of Solitude," will take part in literary dialogue at the Manuel Bonilla National Theater.

Other participants in the celebrations, to be held Sept. 24-29, include Mexican pop singer Mijares and merengue music star Wilfrido Vargas of The Dominican Republic.

Monday September 7, 1998 Online Edition 122

Special to Honduras This Week

TEGUCIGALPA -- The concerns of the Honduran people over security have incited President Carlos Flores to take action by announcing a war against crime.

In a nationally televised address to the nation Sunday (Aug. 30), Flores announced that for this year alone, Lps. 324 million have been assigned to law enforcement agencies and that police officials will receive a 14th month salary bonus.

Flores also said he will create a special unit to protect those areas most affected by gang violence. He stated that the creation of a fire arms possession law is urgent, as well the ratification of the reforms bill that would establish longer prison sentences including life imprisonment.

The president also recommended the implementation of a "National Strategy for the Safety of the Citizens," so that during the National Convergence Forum (FONAC) the safety of individuals is given priority.

As he announced these measures, the president asked the Honduran people to support government and police efforts and any other initiatives in the fight against crime, also urging them to take preventive measures at home, at work and on the street and to collaborate with the authorities to bring down "the lowlifes." Flores assured Hondurans that, "We will not let a bunch of thugs bring society to its knees. Our government will not give antisocials any leeway whatsoever."

The president reminded everyone in his message that delinquency is worldwide but that criminal rehabilitation is still possible; but at the same that the National Strategy for the Safety of Citizens will be implemented without improvisation even though many measures will take time to execute. For this reason, he emphasized that the civil society, private enterprise, churches, schools, professional associations, communities and politicians do their part in forming a common front against crime.

The latest criminal acts in Honduras have been widely repudiated, forcing the government to take quick action against crimes that have in themselves led to the decision to create the Civilian Police Force and Laws, which went into effect recently. Also, it has been announced that in a few months the new Ministry of Security will start functioning with a Crime Prevention Police Force. A Minister of Public Safety has already been named as a guarantee that the fight against crime continues until the last criminal is behind bars.

An international authority on the AIDS epidemic, Dr. Carlos Mazin, was in Honduras last week where he led a conference at the Ministry of Health on the "actual situation" concerning the disease in the hemisphere.

According to a report in El Heraldo, 40,000 Hondurans have been infected by the AIDS virus, of whom 30,000 actually have the disease. Mazin also reports that 6,500 children have been orphaned by the disease in the country, and that in the last year, 3,100 individuals have died. There was no mention of how many have died from AIDS in Honduras since the epidemic began. These statistics are vital and particularly shocking because they are almost three times higher than the official estimates of Honduran authorities.

Mazin warned against false expectations that a vaccine against AIDS either exists or is about to be developed, and said that the community needs to develop strategies designed to change the values of people, to help them make better decisions, as well as providing better information about the disease and how it is transmitted. If these actions are not taken now, the projections for the next few years are very grim. He warned of the possibility of a "hecatomb," which could make the loss of 3,000 a year seem modest.

According to Mazin, it has become evident that women are much more susceptible to the disease than men, and when women are infected and bring the virus into the home, the possibility of infecting others is intensified. And, if a pregnant woman is infected, the disease is readily imparted to the baby in the womb, during labor, or through the milk of the mother.

Mazin said that people should not become discouraged about the potential of community efforts to slow the epidemic, because he pointed out that previous and existing efforts along those lines have been partial and generally inadequate.

For the second time in less than a week, a relative of Hernan Corrales Padilla -- president of the commission overseeing the transfer of the police from military to civilian control -- has killed a burglar during a robbery.

According to the daily El Heraldo, last Friday (Aug. 27) two thieves broke into the residence of Jesus Francisco Corrales Adad, a cousin of Corrales Padilla, and overpowered its occupants. After ransacking the house for jewelry and other valuable items, the two men then attempted to make their getaway. Now armed, Corrales Adad pursued the robbers, killing one and seriously wounding the other.

Previously, Corrales Padilla's grandson Arthur Warren Banegas Corrales on Aug. 21 killed a man who was robbing his residence.

Upwards of 22,000 cases of malaria have been diagnosed through August of this year, the daily La Prensa reported Friday (Sept. 4). Of this amount, said health officials, approximately 2 percent were caused by Plasmodium falciparum, the most deadly of the four species of protozoans that cause human malaria.

The areas most affected by the disease are Health Region 6, which consists of the Bay Islands, Atlantida and Colon departments, and Health Region 7, which consists of El Paraiso, Olancho and Gracias a Dios.

Dangerous fugitive killed, second wounded

Nahun Bustillo Padilla, one of three brothers who vowed to take revenge on authorities after escaping from prison, was gunned down last Saturday (Aug. 28) while attempting to assault some businessmen near the community of Urraco Pueblo, Cortes department.

According to the daily El Heraldo, six members of the Bustillo Padilla gang held up a businessman near the Guanacastales bridge to steal his pickup truck. At that moment, another vehicle appeared and was also stopped by the gang. However, the driver of the second vehicle, Froylan Almendarez, was able to pull out his gun and shoot at the delinquents, who returned fire before fleeing.

Almendarez, who was accompanied by his son, pursued the assailants to Campo Mucula where in the ensuing gunbattle Nahun was killed and his brother Adonay wounded. However, Adonay and the other gang members managed to get away.

Five gunman on Monday (Aug. 31) held up the Banco del Comercio (BANCOMER) branch in La Entrada, Copan, making off with Lps. 140,000, the daily La Prensa reported. The theft comes just five days after five robbers were killed and two more wounded while attempting to rob the Sogerin bank in Siguatepeque.

In what could be considered prime material for Ripley's Believe It or Not, the San Pedro Sula Court of Appeals this week sentenced a dead man to 15 years in prison. According to the daily La Prensa, Crisanto Alfredo Alvarado was murdered by Jose Reyneiro Rivas in 1994. However, due to a mixup in the two men's names, the final written court document has Alvarado sentenced to 15 years hard labor and Rivas absolved of any wrongdoing. The blunder was noticed by Rivas' attorney Ruth Fidelina Pailla, who is demanding the immediate release of her client.

While some legal experts claim that the court must comply with the verdict, others say that the Supreme Court has the option to review the case and annul it.