Can this be happening?

Swords into plowshares

Can this really be happening?

The special police forces, the COBRAS, and several other groups of the National Police are refusing to take part in any repressive measures against their fellow Hondurans. Some of them are calling it a strike of ‘brazos cruzados” – arms crossed. (Correction: brazos caidos - arms down. Basically a stand down.)

Significantly the first reading in the Catholic lectionary today is Isaiah 2: 1-5, which includes this promise:

They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not raise the sword against another, nor shall they train for war again.

This morning I posted, in Spanish, part of Blessed Monseñor Oscar Romero’s last Sunday homily, on 23 March 1980, the day before he was assassinated:

I would like to make a special appeal to the men of the army, and specifically to the ranks of the National Guard, the police and the military. Brothers, you come from our own people. You are killing your own brother peasants when any human order to kill must be subordinate to the law of God which says, "Thou shalt not kill." No soldier is obliged to obey an order contrary to the law of God. No one has to obey an immoral law. It is high time you recovered your consciences and obeyed your consciences rather than a sinful order.

I had no idea that Honduran police would take this message so seriously.

I hope and pray that this is true, that this peace revolution grows, and that those opposing the charges of fraud continue seeing the police as their brothers and sisters.

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Here is a report from The Guardian on the police action.

More US aid for Honduras - for what?

AP reports today:

The Obama administration has certified that Honduras has taken "effective steps" to improve human rights conditions and reduce corruption despite ongoing concerns of abuse. The move frees up millions of dollars in U.S. aid to the Central American country. 

$55 million to be exact.

But for what?

The country is militarized. Military police and the military staff highway checkpoints. What they really do there I do not know. We can expect more militarization.

Yes, the police and military are supposed to respect civilians. A young soldier on leave told me that they should be held accountable if they do something wrong or ask for bribes. But police have beaten demonstrators in northern Honduras protesting the establishment of toll booths on highways.

Crime continues but the government says that there are people being imprisoned for these crimes. Yet I know of at least three cases where people who did not commit crimes are in jail and have not come for trial for several months.

Human rights workers experience threats. In March, prominent environmental indigenous activist Berta Cáceres was murdered. Another member of the organization she led was killed a few months later. Recently two leaders of that organization escaped assassination attempts.

Journalists experience pressure, death threats, and assassinations.

Corruption continues, though under new guises. I have heard reports of some medical workers being compelled to work for the ruling party in order to get and keep a job.

Investigation of crimes is minimal. Even worse is that people fear to report crimes because impunity is so rampant that criminals with connections get released and can take revenge against their accusers.

And so $55 million US dollars will arrive.

I weep.

Out of control

To calm any concerns, I am not out of control, nor do I feel in danger. I am as committed to being here as I ever have – and perhaps more so. I am seriously looking forward to moving out to the countryside so that I can work more in the parish of Dulce Nombre.

But the “authorities” here are out of control. As a result the people, especially the poor, suffer.

Yesterday I wrote on the blog of my experiences with police and soldiers, here. 

This morning I told a priest friend of mine about my encounter with the armed police. He told me that last night, returning about 6:30 pm from Mass in a village a car pulled over in front of him blocking the road and three guys jumped out with guns pointed at the car.

They were police. And even though the car had red and blue flashing lights on the top of the cabin, they were not illuminated. Who would have known they were police, especially in the dark?

A policeman told him to get out of the car. He told them that he was the priest of the parish and they let him go.

That is not the way to promote confidence in the police or give people a sense of security. It provokes fear, since one doesn’t know if they are police or robbers, or police who will rob you. This is no way to provide for greater security for the people of Honduras. It is another way to inculcate fear – in the common people, not in the criminals.

But that’s now the only way the country is out of control.

Someone told me that someone in Dulce Nombre denounced car thieves to the Fiscalía – the prosecutors office. The men were arrested and put in jail. But they were released shortly – after money exchanged hands, perhaps 50,000 lempira ($2,500). But what’s worse is that the name of the person who made the denunciation was given to the thieves who were released.

What a great way to undermine any hope for denunciation of crimes in the future. Who will have the courage to denounce a crime when the authorities will give the criminals your name?

All this is happening as Holy Week begins. As Padre German said at Mass this morning, the Passion of Christ is continuing in the suffering of the people here - and in many parts of the world: "While a man or woman is suffering, Christ is still suffering His Passion."

Stopped by police and soldiers

For Holy Week the Honduran government is putting more soldiers and police on the streets. A show of “force” that they say will make things safer.

I am not convinced. And my experiences today make me doubt this even further.

I go out to the parish of Dulce Nombre at least three times each week. At the turn off to Gracias there is almost always a police checkpoint . In the last year and a half it has been manned by both police and military – often about 4 policemen (occasionally one woman) and 6 or more soldiers. Now there seem to be two police and six to eight soldiers.

I get stopped about once every six times I pass. Usually they just ask for my license and car registration. Occasionally when they see me, a gringo, they wave me on. A few call me padre, thinking I’m a priest.

Today was quite different. I was pulled over at the Gracias turnoff checkpoint. and had to show my documents.

Then when I turned into the road to Dulce Nombre I was pulled over again by the military there. One claimed I was going too fast. I thought he was going to give me a ticket (but, as a soldier, I don’t think he can). He had me get out of the car and he and another soldier looked into the front and back seat. I then was asked if I had a weapon. “Only a bible,” I said, probably to his confusion.  Then he let me go on.

I felt that he was rather rude. I also wondered whether he was subtly hoping for a bribe.

After a meeting with the council of zone 3 of the parish in El Zapote de Santa Rosa, I headed back to Santa Rosa, partly because there was a strange sound in the motor.

Between El Zapote and Plan Grande, there is a road on the ridge of the hills – with exquisite sites. But it’s very isolated, with no houses anywhere nearby.

Near where I was stopped by the police

I saw a car coming and noted the police markings. As I approached the police car moved to the middle of the road and stopped. (The road is so narrow that you have to get over to the far right to have two cars pass.) 

The police car stopped and several police came out – one with his rifle aimed toward the window of the car. I remained very calm, calmer than I thought possible. One policeman came and asked where I was coming from. Finally I was allowed to go forward.

As I stopped, even before the police came toward my pick-up, I felt a bit uneasy. Just a few weeks ago a priest in the south of Lempira was beat up by police after they fired on his vehicle.

And so I, like many Hondurans, have little confidence in the police. In some places, they are involved in crime and in drug trafficking. I also seldom see them really involved in activities that protect the people.

All this is after major investment in the purification of the police forces in the last year or so and in the light of the current president’s plan to obtain security by using more military in police functions.

There is, though, an interesting end to today’s encounters.

As I approached the Dulce Nombre turn off, leaving the area, I was pulled over again. This time a different soldier came to the car and asked where I was going and then asked for my documents. As I reached for them, he told me to go on. Then he said, “Gracias por ser amable.” – “Thanks for being friendly.”

As I drove on, I wondered how often he had encountered persons who were very angry and rude to him. 

Several things come to mind as I reflect on today’s experiences.

I, with my white skin, don’t experience the hassle that many Hondurans experience at the hands of the authorities.

                        

In the US we white men usually see the police as our friends and protectors. Not so here. Sadly, because of the system, that is not the experience of most poor Hondurans.

The Honduran government is trying to show force instead of working on the real changes needed to provide more security for the people. The police and soldiers are poorly trained and are sent to places where their actions may be misunderstood and where they may experience the disdain of the people.

Finally, on a personal note, I was, somehow, able to maintain calm, even when I saw a rifle pointed at me. I also thank God that I was able to treat them with respect (despite what I might be thinking.) 

God is good.