HONDURAS

Presidential Primary Elections Held

The ’05 presidential elections in Honduras are approaching and the primary election results show signs of what could be an aggressive campaign. On 20 Feb, with the Organization of American States monitoring the primary elections at the request of the Honduran government, the two ruling parties appointed their candidates. Porfirio “Pepe” Lobo, the president of Congress, won the candidacy for the National Party (PN) and former congressman Manuel “Mel” Zelaya was chosen as presidential candidate for the National Liberation Party (PLN). The PN continues to be the party of choice for conservative sectors of the business class, state bureaucracy and the more conservative lower-income groups. In contrast, the PLN has maintained a broad base of support including a sector of conservative landowners, the rural middle class, and progressive professionals residing in the urban areas throughout the country.

After a somewhat dirty campaign, Lobo defeated Tegucigalpa mayor Miguel Pastor in the internal party elections. Lobo came out ahead despite his opponent’s failed attempt to link him to the recent “Gasolinazo” scandal (Vol. 23, No. 12). This scandal involved the smuggling of contraband gasoline by public and customs officials. Prosecutors from both Honduras and Guatemala have agreed that, during ’04, carriers smuggled more than 500 tanker truck loads of gasoline from Mexico into El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala. Prosecutors are remaining close-mouthed regarding the release of new information until they have captured “the big fish” involved in the scandal.

Lobo’s counter-attack against Pastor involved the distribution of propaganda that suggests that Pastor received campaign donations from Mara-18, one of Honduras’ most feared street gangs. The campaign mud-slinging came to an end and Lobo surpassed his principal opponents by obtaining 62% of the first 154,000 of the PN votes. Zelaya, a prominent rancher, defeated his contenders by earning 58% of the PLN votes.

The death penalty will be a leading issue in both candidates’ campaigns for the presidency. Lobo hopes to reinstate capital punishment, which was abolished in Honduras in ’57. The perpetual fear of gangs and violence has led many Hondurans to support Lobo’s conservative ideas. Zelaya, on the other hand, is opposed to the death penalty and plans to continue campaigning with prudence, as he believes that Hondurans are intelligent and do not get carried away by propaganda. The 28 Nov presidential elections may become an all-out battle as the two candidates compete for the same home constituency in the department (state) of Olancho. It is the first time in 20 years that the two leading presidential candidates are from the same department.

Suspect in Bus Massacre Detained

Two months after a notorious bus massacre in Honduras (Vol. 24, No. 1), Anibal Rivera Paz, also known as “El Culiche” (The Tape Worm), was arrested by the Texas Highway Patrol after he and fellow gang leader, Alvaro “El Snoopy” Acosta, reportedly escaped from a Honduran prison on 23 Jan.

Rivera Paz, a member of the “Mara Salvatrucha” (MS) and one of the alleged masterminds behind the armed attack against a city bus in San Pedro Sula that resulted in the death of 28 people on 23 Dec, was attempting to cross the US-Mexico border with illegal immigrants, when he was captured and detained. Acosta remains at large.

The detainment of Rivera Paz came at an appropriate time, as Central American countries and the US are uniting against gangs and the violence that they perpetuate. On 21-23 Feb a conference was held in El Salvador to strengthen ties and communication between Central American and US officials to help combat the increasing influence of gangs throughout these regions. Authorities from Panama, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Guatemala and the US spent time “talking to reformed gang members, visiting jails, and receiving behind-the-scenes look at El Salvador’s so-called super-hard hand against gangs” policy (see El Salvador).

Human rights groups and religious organizations throughout Honduras have expressed their concern regarding the reinstitution of the death penalty as a means of reducing the violence committed by gang-members, because the aggressive policies and new laws implemented to curb gang activity have yet to show successful results.

Honduras Ratifies CAFTA

The National Congress officially ratified the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) on 3 Mar. Honduras is the second country in Central America to officially approve CAFTA, following the 17 Dec ratification by the Salvadoran Congress.

The final decision in Honduras was supported by 124 of the 128 members of Congress including the PLN, PN, the Christian Democrats and the Innovation and Unity Party. The four legislators who were in opposition to the ratification were part of the Democratic Unification Party.

Those in favor of CAFTA believe it will provide increased employment, development and exportation, while decreasing prices for certain products and services. However, many Hondurans remain in strong opposition to the implementation of CAFTA because they believe it will not benefit everyone. There is great concern that if CAFTA goes into effect, it will further increase the unemployment rate, poverty and privatization, while disregarding respect for human rights in maquila industries and for environmental protection laws (Vol. 24, No. 1).

Tough Road Ahead for Maquiladoras

Last year proved to be problematic for the maquiladora industry (assembly plants) in Honduras, with the lay-off of 8,000 employees. According to the Honduran Association of Maquiladoras, 19 textiles businesses located in the central and northern regions of the country discontinued their operations. Some of the larger lay-offs included the Canadian company Gildan Activewear, which was forced to terminate 2,200 jobs, most of which were held by women; and the US company QR Fashion, which laid-off 1,314 employees.

According to the Guatemalan firm Vestex, in the first 45 days of ’05 at least 18 companies closed their doors in Honduras, Costa Rica, Guatemala and the Dominican Republic. The loss of jobs and company closures throughout Honduras and the rest of Central America is attributed to the opening of the US market to Chinese products. The 1 Jan termination of textile and apparel quotas, under the WTO Agreement on Textiles and Clothing, now permits China and 39 other countries to ship unlimited amounts of clothing and other textiles to the US and other nations.

Remesa Update

Hondurans living in the US provided family members in Honduras with remittances (remesas) totaling $1.1 billion during ’04. The National Bank of Honduras reported that the remittances received in ’04 surpassed those in ’03 by $274.6 million. Companies responsible for the transferring of funds from family members in the US to their kin in Honduras made $100 million in ’04. Private banks and cooperatives have capitalized on the remittance phenomenon, and they earned almost $100 million in commissions in ’04. For example, Western Union charges $22 for every $150 remittance and Money Gram charges an 8-10% service fee for every $100. These two money-transfer agencies dominate the competitive market for the electronic transfer of remittances and provide service to more than 50% of Honduran workers living in the US.

Continued Deforestation in the Río Plátano Region

In early Feb, authorities discovered 5,000 board feet of mahogany piled along the side of a road in the department of Colón. The wood was illegally extracted from the protected area of Río Plátano in the heart of the Honduran Mosquitia.

This region is located in the Northeast of Honduras, between the departments of Colón and Gracias a Dios. It represents almost seven percent of the country and is considered to be the very first of more than 700 “World Heritage Sites” recognized by the United Nations Educational Scientific Organiza-tion. Not only is this protected area flush in its biodiversity, it is also home to five important ethnic groups: Miskitos, Garifunas, Tawahka, Pech and native Mestizos. The protected region spans over two- million acres that include extensive mangrove forest, coastal-marine areas and rainforest.

Authorities discovered the exploitation of the mahogany just two weeks after the Public Ministry uncovered an intricate network of people involved in illegal logging. It remains to be officially determined whether or not the individuals who took part in this particular incident are linked to these organized crime groups. Authorities are deeply concerned about the continual deforestation in this region and have developed plans to protect the areas non-renewable and renewable resources. Government agencies have formulated strategies to vigorously patrol the Río Plátano area with the help of the Honduran military. The issue of deforestation must be addressed now, because, in the last few months alone, poachers illegally harvested over two-million board feet of hardwood worth $10.6 million from the Mosquitia region.

—Katie Gilman