Honduran voters have a choice of 10 as they head for the polls tomorrow

Liberals and Nationalists prepare for primaries

By BLANCA MORENO

As Hondurans prepare to vote in tomorrow's primaries, the 10 presidential hopefuls of the National and Liberal parties spent the week in a mad rush to the campaign finish line, launching poll wars and verbal battles in the national press.

According to surveys taken by both local and international firms, Liberal party candidate Carlos Flores is not only favored to win his party's primary; he would also win the presidency if next November's election were held today.

In second place after Flores is North Coast businessman Jaime Rosenthal, a longtime player in Liberal Party politics and one of the wealthiest men in Honduras.

Meanwhile, National Party candidates Nora de Melgar and Elias Asfura are neck and neck, coming out tied in last week's polls. The Nora campaign has taken on new strength since former president Rafael Callejas moved into her corner, joining the 1993 National Party favorite Oswaldo Ramos Soto in supporting the candidate who would become Honduras' first woman president.

The effervescent race to the primaries has been marked with colorful slogans and musical jingles. The Flores campaign vies for votes to the tune of the famous dance hit "Macarena" while Nationalist candidate Roberto Martinez Lozano publicizes his own critique of the Reina administration to the tune of another popular hit, "El Venado."

The following is a look at all ten of this year's majority party presidential candidates.

CARLOS FLORES

With a campaign based on reconciliation and a message of hope, Carlos Flores Facusse, the current president of the National Congress, is making his second run for the presidency. Born in Tegucigalpa in 1950, his political career has been a long one. He held his first office in the Liberal Party at a very young age and has served in the National Congress since 1980.

His first political disappointment came in 1983, when he was launched as a Liberal Party candidate, then replaced by another. Although he lost the 1993 presidential election to Callejas, he has been pinned as next year's favorite by a large margin.

Flores is married to U.S. citizen Mary Flake, with whom he has a son and a daughter.

His political movement, la Nueva Agenda, promises the reconciliation and unification of the Honduran people.

JAIME ROSENTHAL

This is also the second shot at the presidency for prominent banker and businessman Jaime Rosenthal Oliva and his Movimiento Liberalismo Renovador.

Born in San Pedro Sula in 1936, Rosenthal studied civil engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and got his MBA at the Sloan School of Business, both in the United States. He is married to Miriam Hidalgo, with whom he has five children.

Rosenthal's political career began in 1968 when he became a deputy of the National Congress. In 1985 he was elected Vice President under Jose Azcona, but resigned after two years due to political differences.

He currently lives in San Pedro Sula and owns the daily El Tiempo newspaper and the new Channel 11 television network.

RAMON VILLEDA BERMUDEZ

The son of former president Ramon Villeda Morales, Ramon Villeda Bermudez has held a series of public offices and is the current Minister of Natural Resources.

He studied veterinary medicine in Italy and later specialized in tropical pathologies in Belgium, the United States and Brazil.

Born in Santa Rosa de Copan in 1937, he is married to Rina Martin, with whom he has two children. He currently resides in Tegucigalpa.

Villeda's political movement is called Movimiento Liberal Villedista.

JORGE ROBERTO MARADIAGA

This is Dr. Jorge Roberto Maradiaga's second run for the presidency after serving for three consecutive terms in the National Congress.

Born in Jacaleapa in an unspecified year, he is married to Yadira Ortega, with whom he has three daughters.

Maradiaga currently lives in Tegucigalpa.

ANIBAL DELGADO FIALLOS

Criticized for his "revolutionary tendencies," economist Anibal Delgado Fiallos has been involved with the Liberal Party since 1960. He also boasts a lengthy resume of participation in Cold War social movements, including the Integrated Liberation Movement of 1963, the Honduran Patriotic Front in 1979 and Popular Unity in 1986, and has served as president of the Committee for the Defense of Human Rights (CODEH).

Professionally, Delgado Fiallos is a prominent political critic in the local press.

He was born in Siguatepeque in 1936 and is married to Edenia Elvir Batres, with whom he has six children.

Delgado Fiallos' political movement is called Nuevo Liderazgo.

TITO LIVIO SIERRA

This Tegucigalpa dentist is the leader of the Movimiento Reforma y Justicia. Forty-three-year-old Tito Livio Sierra served as a consultant to former president José Azcona and has held several other public offices. In 1987 he was named director of Information and Propaganda Institute of the Liberal Party Central Committee. His campaign enjoys the support of former president Azcona.

NORA DE MELGAR

After serving as First Lady from 1975 to 1978 and Mayor of Tegucigalpa from 1989 to 1993, National Party stronghold Nora de Melgar is making her second run for the presidency. In 1985 she was a National Party vice presidential candidate and n 1993 she cut her own presidential campaign short to back Nationalist favorite Oswaldo Ramos Soto.

The widow of former president Juan Melgar Castro, de Melgar, whose movement is known simply as Nora, was born in San Marcos de Colón in 1941.

Her campaign is backed by both Callejas and Ramos Soto.

ELIAS ASFURA

A professional pharmacist and successful businessman, Elias Asfura was a National Party vice presidential candidate in 1994 and directed the Ramos Soto campaign from 1990 to 1992.

Joining Nora de Melgar as one of this year's National Party favorites, Asfura is also president of the Karnel group, which owns a series of pharmacies and drug manufacturers, and owns a successful South Coast shrimp farm.

He is married to Diana Mahomar, with whom he has three children.

HECTOR RENE FONSECA

With a military career that spans three decades, Hector Rene Fonseca is a newcomer to the National Party, a fact for which he was nearly eliminated from this year's primaries. A veteran of the 1969 war with El Salvador, he holds a degree in management and is married to Deborah De Moss, herself of political renown for her service as a U.S. Congress consultant for Latin American affairs and supporter of ultra-conservative U.S. congressman Jesse Helms. The couple has two children and another on the way. Fonseca was born in San Pedro Sula in 1947.

ROBERTO MARTINEZ LOZANO

Roberto Martinez Lozano has served on the Permanent Contingency Committee (COPECO), has worked for the Municipality of the Central District (Tegucigalpa and Comayagüela) and has served as Chief of Engineering for the Attorney General's Office. He has also worked as an assessor for the Ministry of Communication, Public Works and Transportation (SECOPT).

Born in Arenal, Yoro in 1951, he is married to Gloria Maria Castellanos, with whom he has two children.