Something new in Honduras?

Is something new happening in Honduras?

For about a week the National Congress has been trying to elect a new set of fifteen magistrates for the Supreme Court. As of this morning, only eight have been elected.

The blog "Honduras Culture and Politics" has a good analysis here of why it’s not a good process

In former years the process would have gone very quickly, carefully arranged by the two traditional parties that “shared” control of the government – the National Party and the Liberal Party. In previous years the party that controlled congress would have its way. In many ways this is what the National Party, which controls the Presidency and has a plurality in Congress, hoped for.

But some things are different this year.

On the one hand the US government is very interested in who are elected and the US Embassy has expressed it concern about some of the original list of candidates.

But there is another change, this time within the Honduran National Congress. There are now two parties that don’t accept the two-party monopoly, as noted by Leticia Salomón in an article (in Spanish).

LIBRE, established from the Resistance that grew up in response to the 2009 coup, and PAC, the Anti-Corruption Party, founded about 2013 by a former sports journalist, refused to go along with the machinations of the two parties. They have forced the process of elections in Congress to be more transparent and they have been more forthright in opposing certain candidates.

It’s not that theses parties are without their problems and continue the process of party control. As I understand it, LIBRE is trying to force all LIBRE congressional members to vote as the leadership tells them and has castigated at least one member who opposed this procedure.

But something new is happening even as some see the presidency and his National Party as trying to control all the organs of government and establish this control for the future by their appointments to the Supreme Court and other government institutions.

But my question is always, “What is happening at the grass-roots?” Are the parties, even LIBRE, really listening to them and responding to them?

Here come the elections 1

On November 24, Hondurans will go the polls to elect a new president, all the members of Congress, and municipal authorities (mayors, etc.)

In previous elections, two parties have dominated the scene – the National Party and the Liberal Party. Both have their roots in the classic liberal theory of the nineteenth century. In the early twentieth century there were serious conflicts between members of both parties, leading in some cases to killings. Partly as a result of this people have had a tendency to adhere passionately to the party of their families.

During most of the twentieth century, except for military coups, political power in Honduras alternated between the two parties. For many reasons, the parties often ruled with a strong patronage system.  Vote for me and I’ll see to your wellbeing. Tammany Hall had little on Honduras.

But something happened in 2009 when the elected President, Mel Zelaya, was overthrown by a coup and escorted out of the country. Zelaya, a Liberal Party president, from a rich cattle-ranching family, moved to embrace more populist positions which made him unpopular with the economic and political elites who ruled Honduras.

Whatever you may think about Zelaya, the coup unleashed something that was unthinkable – the break-up of political system which had assured the sharing of power between the two major parties.

People used to vote for their party, maintaining a devotion that rivaled their adherence to their faith. A friend once said that a Honduran was more likely to change her religion than her political party. 

After the coup, a Resistance movement arose – with a wide participation of people including the traditional left, but not limited to them. It attracted some members of  Zelaya’s Liberal Party as well as indigenous groups, gay and lesbian organizations, as well as many people who were dissatisfied with the system, especially from the poor sectors of the country.

A political party was eventually formed from the Resistance, despite some disagreement from some sectors of the Resistance. I, personally, think the move may have been premature, since it seems to have cut short the important consciousness-raising and organization of the poor that the Resistance and sympathetic organizations had been promoting.

But the LIBRE [Liberty and Refoundation] party was formed and has candidates all over the country. Their presidential candidate is Xiomara Castor, the wife of Zelaya.

The polls show that a large number of people are undecided or refuse to give their opinion, but that Xiomara Castro has – until recently – had a small edge over the National Party candidate, former president of the Honduran national Congress, Juan Orlando Hernández.  The Liberal Party has fallen far behind. A new Anti-Corruption Party has shown some strength, but still behind the two main parties.

What strikes me is that whatever the results of this election, Honduras may be seeing the breakdown of the monopoly of the two parties and the religious adherence of people to their parties.

Various people have commented on this but I saw what I think is an example. Yesterday, in Santa Rosa de Copán, I saw this taxi which has bumper stickers for three different parties – a generic sticker for the Anti-Corruption Party on the Bumper, a sticker for a LIBRE congressional candidate on the trunk, and a sticker for the Liberal Party mayoral candidate on the back window. (I whited out the taxi’s number and license plate to assure anonymity.)

Whatever the results of the elections, this example of someone who is not tied to one party is somewhat hopeful.

We’ll see, in a little more than a month, what actually happens.

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If you want good background and coverage of the elections and more, check out the Honduras Culture and Politics blog, here.