Today Honduras, with the other Central American republics,
celebrates Independence. Fire crackers went off at 5:15 am here in Santa Rosa
and parades marked the day in many cities throughout Central America.
I was supposed to participate in a call-in, social analysis
program, Dando en el Clavo. on the
diocesan Catholic Radio Station on Politics and Catholic Social Thought. But
about an hour before the start I got a Facebook message from the radio staff
member that he’d like to reschedule the event since he had a cold and could
hardly talk. And so we’ll do the program next week.
So I have a day off.
I decided to go see the parade here.
Walking there I encountered a neighbor who teaches in a
local high school. As we talked he said that Honduras is not really independent
since it is religiously, politically, and economically dependent. Religiously, he said it’s dependent on
the Vatican – or, with the evangelicals, on their leaders. Politically it’s
dependent on the United States. Economically it’s dependent on the great
powers, especially the US and the European Economic Union. I proceeded to
mention the power of the large multinational corporations who often have more
economic power than countries like the US.
As I left him I recalled the short conversation I had with
another neighbor, who is a candidate for congress in the November primary
elections. Somehow he mentioned that he had a visa when the coup happened but
hadn’t used it. But he didn’t call it a coup and referred to the events of June
2007. Interesting, but understandable. He belongs to the branch of the Liberal
Party whose presidential candidate held a role in the coup government.
The parade was mostly local schools with their marching
bands [often called bandas de guerra – war
bands], kids dressed in traditional dresses or as indios [Indians], floats, and classes walking down the main street
in town.
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| The band of Instituto Poligono |
At one point on the parade route members of the Resistance
were there with their signs – mostly notably one that said “No to Model
Cities,” a proposal that would hand over large sections of Honduran territory
for cities to be run by an administration independent of the Honduran
government.
 |
| No to the Model Cities |
Even here the divisions in the country can be seen.
I walked past them and ran into the group of more than 300
students from the Instituto Poligono, founded by a Belgian and retired bishop,
Monseñor Luis Alfonse Santos, which provides education to young people from
several poor communities. The young people listen to radio programs and study their
books and then come to the Institute for a four hour session every weekend to
review the material – and to take the necessary exams.
 |
| Monseñor Santos |
Bishop Santos was there, helping some young women arrange
their costumes.
Among the schools, Poligono is the only one that I know that
makes a serious commitment to the poor. There is one public high school, a private Catholic high
school, one private Evangelical school, another private school, and two private
bilingual schools.
As I stopped on the street to talk to a friend, I heard one
of the Resistance members talking about the school that had stopped in front of
their banner. He talked about the privatization of education and, even more
pointedly, at the “mercantilización”
– the commercialization – of
education. Though he may be overstating the situation, he does refer to the
fact that good education is at a price here, and the poor usually do not profit
from it.
And so the economic divisions in the society continue.
That is how Honduras faces “independence Day” this year –
with inequality, violence, and repression.
But US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton cannot see this.
She sent greetings to Honduras, “for the enormous progress” of its people “in
the construction of a democratic future,” and assure the country that the
United States is “on the side of Honduras while they work to attain a more
prosperous and secure future for Honduras.”
Forgive my cynicism but I fear that US economic and
political policies are not really helping Honduras, especially as it often
turns its eyes away from the human rights violations and as it supports the
militarization of security – including sending US Drug Enforcement (DEA) agents, and insists on the economic
policies of CAFTA.
In some ways, then, I have to agree with the high school teacher
and the sign of the Resistance members, “What democracy?”
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