Constant State of Disrepair (Honduras)

Rumors, Maras, and Life in the Second Poorest Country in the Americas

-President Xiomara Castro (2022 - ) and husband Fmr. President Manuel Zelaya (2006 - 2009)

Traveling on carreteras (highways) CA-11 and CA-4 gives you a good idea on the constant state of disrepair within the country of Honduras. CA-11 goes west through the border town of El Florido before continuing to the frontera (border) of Guatemala and onward into its interior. CA-11 also goes east to the small town of La Entrada before merging into CA-4. From this point, you can continue going northeast until you reach the commercialized city of San Pedro Sula, which was the murder capital of the year in 2016.

Using google maps to learn the distance between two distinct points is useless due to the number of known and unknown obstacles along the route. In one lane, you may find nothing more than a few small rocks with a number of cones redirecting traffic around them. In others you will find construction, while still other areas are simply waiting for the continuation of work. In another area, a huge section of the road is missing like a huge mechanical beast bulldozed it for no reason.

Performing a few searches of highway CA-11 will bring up articles about its abysmal state. The most recent from a La Prensa 2022 article stated, “In two and a half years, the CA-11 highway leading to Copan Ruinas was damaged.” Another article written a few years ago covered the highway’s reconstruction after a 2016 storm overflowed the nearby Copan River.

A 90-minute ride can easily become three hours. Drivers race down the highway often risking their personal safety to get ahead. Yet beyond this, there is more to tell.

Stops in small towns give you a clearer glimpse of life in various communities. Children who are often told by their parents to work instead of continuing school, the elderly, and other people will either take turns or crowd into the collectivo (collective) buses provide a glimpse of the most pervasive type of jobs available in the “informal economy.” Foods, medicines, and, in one case, clothing, are held up and offered to passengers. On one particular ride, the passengers, myself included, were given a three-minute presentation on a medicine that allegedly cures most ailments.

Police checkpoints along the highway add to transit times. Starting from the back to the front of the vehicle, all IDs are collected to be verified. Passports are viewed quickly and given back. Once done, the various family names are called and IDs are given back to their owners. The procedure is fairly quick, but it happens more than once if you continue on your route for too long.

On one of my trips, after passing a checkpoint, my collectivo stopped for a long time on the side of the highway. After about 20 minutes of watching other collectivos drive by us, a bus heading in the opposite direction toward San Pedro Sula stopped. The fare-taker ran across four-lane traffic to guide some passengers across the road. He stopping traffic and signaled when the passengers could safely move again. Two families—one single parent with a daughter and the other with both parents and two children (boy and girl)—boarded our vehicle and off we went. No payment taken. The bus switch made me wonder if a coyote (a person paid to smuggle illegal immigrants across the Mexico-U.S. border) paid one of the local maras (gangs) for their transport across Honduras. I will never know their full story since the passengers who switched buses got off at La Entrada

-Long Term Road Reconstruction Project Along CA-11.

Second Poorest Country in the Americas

Current politics regarding Central America have largely excluded Honduras from the conversations. Media publications’ topics are varied, for example:

• El Salvador’s Presidente Nayib Bukele’s program of mass incarceration of gang members with a minimal judiciary process

• Various migrant groups traversing or leaving the region to go north toward the U.S.-Mexican border

• Maras (gangs) and cartels controlling and profiting from migrants

• Fourth term for President Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua

Throughout my conversations in Honduras, these topics were referenced and discussed due to how they have impacted the region, particularly Bukele, but the main focus now is the current president of Honduras, Xiomara Castro (wife of previous President Manuel Zelaya who was removed by a coup in 2009) of the newly minted Libre Party who herself was elected in 2021 against then in-term President Juan Orlando Hernandez (National Party) who, along with his brother Tony Hernandez, has been charged with drug trafficking.

If that does not give you an idea of how messy the politics are, then perhaps a map will. Honduras has Nicaragua along its southern border, El Salvador to the West, and Guatemala to the northwest. In regard to drug trafficking and narcotics, it’s a pit stop run by the maras (gangs) Calle 18 or MS-13 (Mara Salvatrucha) who act as regional muscle.

As for me, a single question brought me to Honduras, a question I asked each person I candidly interviewed: Why is Honduras the poorest country in the region?

-Map of Central America

Stuck in the Middle with You

In November 2022, President Castro declared her own war against corruption and crime. Patterned after Bukele’s war, constitutional rights in areas with a gang presence were suspended. Funding increased for various efforts to target and arrest known suspects for kidnapping, extortion, drug trafficking, murder, and more. As of July 2023, there are plans to build an island prison colony on the Islas del Cisne archipelago, which is 155 miles off the Caribbean side of the country.

Each person I interviewed stated that they had voted for Castro because they saw her as the best of two bad options. At the time, she seemed the most promising. Her failure to keep her economic promises that were the center of her election campaign is the main complaint from most people I spoke with. In contrast, her war on crime has gone over well internally, but it has also attracted the most negative attention from the world community and Human Rights groups. This negativity has resulted in the creation of an outside commission to evaluate and determine what and how this difficult situation can be remedied. To get a clearer image of what Honduras was like prior to recent events, I suggest you refer to the 2020 Human Rights Watch report:

“Violent organized crime continues to disrupt Honduran society and push many people to leave the country…. Efforts to reform public-security institutions have stalled. Marred by corruption and abuse, the judiciary and police remain largely ineffective. In June 2020, a new criminal code came into effect. It included provisions that appeared aimed at reducing penalties for politicians linked to organized crime, by lowering sentences for corruption and related offenses. The new code also includes alternatives to detention for low-level crimes, including partial prison sentences and penalties that allow for conditional release. Impunity for human rights abuses, violent crime, and corruption remains the norm, even as the prison population has mushroomed.”

Walking the streets of San Pedro Sula did not give me the impression of rampant violence. Urban sprawl, traffic, American-based fast-food restaurants, and malls are what you will immediately see. Behind these streetside businesses, you will find factories, homes that allow for businesses on the main floor, and street vendors throughout Avenidas SO (southwest avenues) 3 and 4. The narrow streets force you to confront all traffic, including other pedestrians. Your best recourse is often to walk in the street to try and avoid the crowds.

Most visitors stay for only a few hours San Pedro Sula on their way to the international airport. From there, they travel to the Caribbean Coast side to enjoy the beach and sites such as Pico Bonito or Punta Sal.

I opted to spend a few days having frank discussions with anyone willing to speak with me. Due to safety concerns, their names are omitted. The comments I share are thoughts or opinions I heard from multiple interviewees.

Thibert: “Is she a puppet?” referring to President Xiomara Castro.

“That is what everybody feels. It’s their actual opinion. We don’t know what happens in their house. It feels like the one who is really running the country is (former president) Zelaya. His wife basically shows up in public, says a bunch of stuff, and is kind of irrelevant, to be honest. And now people feel like they have been lied to because they promised a lot.”

Thibert: Here is my big question. Now the three presidents (Roberto Micheletti whose term was ruled as illegitimate in 2022, Porfirio Lobo Sosa, and Juan Orlando Hernanez) who came after the 2009 coup they say that there was an increase in violence. That a lot of people left during that time. Has this changed since the new president took office?

“Everyone is still scratching their heads, still in denial, still leaving the country, and people are out of jobs. It has really gotten worse. It is just chaos now. There is no sense of order. Unfortunately, things were much better under the cartel.”

Thibert: Referring to the tributary system that involved paying fees to the cartel, has the government regressed?

“Yes”

Thibert: But this was supposed to be your “we are moving forward President, your Obama.”

“The amounts of money that they (current government) are stealing and hiding. Taken from medicines and social security. Basically, we are living in an anarchic state.”

Side Note: While in Sula, I watched a news report that covered the lack of chemo machinery available for patients. The conclusion was that it is due to the lack of budgets. This made me take stock in what people were being told.

“People are used to this. We basically run ourselves because the government has never really figured it all out.”

Thibert: Here is the story coming to the U.S. most often. Crime is going down because, just like the President of El Salvador (Bukele), everyone is being put in prison. Due process is no longer exercised. People (mostly maras (gangs) are being taken and simply thrown into jail. Is this something people are happy about?

“I’ve observed and spoken to people on both sides of the coin, meaning people who are very privileged, have businesses and high salaries, and are educated. Those people are very happy. The average joe, a cab driver, is also happy. The concern is that Bukele is a step away from being a dictator. In the end, we have to ask do the ends justify the means because in his case he eradicated crime?”

“In these types of countries where the tree is so set that you have to shake it. I am all for it. It was only two blocks away from here someone that I know was shot. It happened because the person who stole the car was a dealer. My friend said, ‘Hey take it,’ but was shot. It was known that he was stealing, they knew that he was corrupt, they know that the area was run by a cartel.”

Interview over

Similar stories were shared in various places that I visited. Regardless of the judiciary process being ignored, it was making the country apparently safer. The ramifications were something people are able to overlook until it becomes a glaring issue.

Yet this brought another thought to mind. If the country is now safer, and one of the reasons for mass migration to the United States is crime, why has crime increased instead of decreased?

-Homes / Business on the outskirts of San Pedro Sula

The Migrants Are Coming

“They are going to the United States because they are uneducated. Propaganda makes them want to leave.” This was a comment shared by a gentleman I enjoyed a long conversation with. A much older individual who was once a laborer for the United Fruit Company and was now enjoying his twilight years. He remembers the time before President Zelaya who he refers to as “a son of a bitch” and remembers the time before him in a positive light.

People shared how migrants send pictures to friends and family stating that it is easy to reach the United States. This is a form of propaganda from the cartel who have taken to social media and private chat rooms to ramp up business.

To understand how it currently works is to think of toll booths. Each country has its own mara (gang), which is owed a piece of the pie (profits) if you cross into their territory. A good coyote will make sure their customers have ease of passage through the various territories until they reach their destination. A very low rate signals that you may be being schemed or sold into slavery. Thus, a minimum of $6,000 is a decent starting point. Flights, buses, and hotel stays can all be arranged if need be. All items I’ve witnessed being arranged or pitched on various private chat rooms.

As to the reason why so many people were leaving the country, it kept coming back to a single word answer: economics.

By early 2023, American Vice President Kamala Harris noted the U.S. had already donated more than $4.2 billion to keep migrants from leaving their country with a stern advisement not to come to the United States. According to a February 2023 CNN article was titled, “Harris’ mission to tackle migration root causes scores big money support but border crossings remain high.” The aid went to private sector commitments but border crossings still increased.

It does not take long to find where the investments went. The number of American and Canadian businesses, I encountered were huge. If Honduras was so violent, how have they sustained their businesses for so long? Typically, operating cost in violent areas surpass profits causing them to flee, but here, I noticed that there the biggest cerveceria (brewery) is owned by Pepsi, an American soft-drink company, contracting firms along the highway whose origin is in Canada.

Yet the jobs were not there. Interesting enough, I encountered a young lady who is trained as a civil engineer working in a boutique shop. When I learned this, I asked, “Why are you employed here?” Her response was that because she belongs to the Nationalist party, she will be denied better opportunities. Her brother lives in the States and she aspires to also live there but opts for a legal route. I wished her luck and went on my way.

Alternatively, while pulling together my notes, a story by San Francisco Chronicle reporter Megan Cassidy and photographer Gabrielle Lurie found a connection between San Francisco and Siria Valley in Central Honduras. The area was highlighted by the numbers of 49ers and Golden State Warrior swag, new homes, and rampant poverty that has revealed a high number of migrants who had sold drugs in the San Francisco region and found wealth doing so. This cycle going back to the mid-1990s.

“Democrats during the 2020 election cycle rallied around an old European idea dating to the 1980s. It was the notion that if European governments invested in eliminating ‘root causes’ like poverty, high crime, government corruption, and subpar education systems in poor migrant sending countries, fewer people living them would want to emigrate,” Overrun by Todd Bensman.

Under former President Trump, aid was used as a tool to force Mexican border patrol to keep migrants from crossing the Southern border in Chipas State. Simply put, the money will stop flowing if you allow them to come. Thus, economics and corruption were the overall theme of my conversation regarding migration.

“They don’t want to face the corruption. The country is full of corruption.”

Thibert: How is it corrupt?

“Corrupted people. People who use the government to make rich. They take out money on their own.”

Thibert: Didn’t Castro win? She said that she would make things better. Did you vote for her?

“Yes (to the vote question). Because the other was much worse (Orlando). He drugs people. He is the top.”

Thibert: How was he the top? There are a lot of maras, Calle 18 is one. How does he profit?

“No. It is like in the States (the maras are headed by individuals who were deported out of California in the 1960s–1990s). It is like the mafia; they use them to sell drugs”

Thibert: Do they sell them here or the United States?

“They do sell in United States. The drugs used to come from Colombia and a little from Venezuela. That was a lot of history. Now, they are starting to make drugs here. Three, four years ago, they start making them here (Honduras). Now they sell here.”

Thibert: Are there jobs here (Honduras).

“No, we have no jobs. People are starving for jobs.”

Thibert: Are people leaving for asylum because of gangs or because they want jobs?

“They going away for two reasons: gangs and jobs. No opportunity for growth.”

Why Honduras Stays Poor

Interview Cont.

Thibert: This is the second poorest country in this region. How can it improve? What needs to change?

“We need to change education.”

I attempted to speak with an ex-teacher who left the profession; the only response was “politics” when it came to why she no longer taught.

A few young teachers who aspired to help make the country better were full of optimism. Their challenges also stemmed from both bureaucracy and parents who send children to work once they have achieved a minimum requirement are the two main factors contributing to low literacy and hopefully finding better jobs.

The ongoing liberal argument when it comes to migration to the United States is the boost in tax revenue. Yet if people are leaving Central American countries what happens to the country they leave behind?

“We need more education. If the people don’t have education, they don’t know how to do away corruption. When people say it’s corruption, they don’t know. They don’t pay taxes. They should understand taxes. Paying taxes gives you rights. They take what little they give them. They don’t understand.”

Thibert: Is that how Castro became president?

“Yes. You tell the people wash the hands because on the hand you touch bad things. You get sickness. They say, ‘I don’t see nothing.’ Because they are poor. No education. They don’t understand.”

Thibert: Do people have free speech here?

“No”

Thibert: Has it gotten worse especially after the murder of Berta (Berta Caceres, an environmental activist who was assassinated in her home on March 2016 for protesting against the construction of a hydro-electric dam that would have flooded indigenous Lenca lands)?

“Yes.”

Interview over

The book Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty: Why Nations Fail written by economists Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson (2012) states, “The low education level of poor countries is caused by economic institutions that fail to create incentives for parents to educate their children and by political institutions that fail to induce the government to build, finance, and support schools and the wishes of parents and children. The price these nations pay for low education of their population and lack of inclusive markets is high. They fail to mobilize their nascent talent.”

At this point in the nation’s development, is education the solution to everything? Would Honduran migrants simply stop migrating if they were promised better schooling for their children? Highly doubtful at least as far as the main issues affecting the country today.

The main reason for migration will always be economic. The American Dollar (USD) is simply stronger. Seeing what can be built with it has an amazing allure. From fancy homes with 49er logos adorning them to current model trucks. The homes of Siria Valley and other areas of the country were built because neighbors saw an opportunity. The site of your neighbor’s home dwarfing your own is simply too much.

Republican arguments often state that they “migrants” should return and fix their own countries. Although there are a number of valid points given to the matter, the overarching question is “How?”

-Housing Boom in Honduras due to Drug Trade

Conclusion

“Authoritarian growth is neither desirable nor viable in the long run, and thus should not receive the endorsement of the international community as a template for nations in Latin America, Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa, even if it is a path that many nations will choose precisely because it is sometimes consistent with the interests of the economic and political elites dominating them,” Why Nations Fail. 2012

After spending weeks talking to various peoples throughout the Western and Northern sections of the nation, my own perspective and thoughts on the U.S. migrant crisis teetered back and forth. Although I will not share my personal opinion, I will offer the following:

The country should be allowed to manage its own affairs. Honduran politics has been influenced by the United Fruit Company and various U.S. and Canadian governments for over a century. I will not say that the blame falls solely on outside influences, yet the aid given to it makes it malleable to coercion.

Another comment that I often ran into is how the country needs the United States and thus wants to stay on its good side. This comment is especially impactful considering how President Castro has to allow for outside investigators to review current policies seeing how this may impact U.S. aid.

Unfortunately, under a corrupt government, outside aid whether used to force decisions or make course corrections rarely make any long-term changes only long-term ruin.

Although I did not speak or know if the majority of the Honduran people are in favor of Castro’s measures as far as maras, if the majority votes or opts for them, then it is up to them and only them to decide if the measures should continue or cease.

I am speaking in regard to Honduras only, although Guatemalans, Nicaraguans, and El Salvadorians are all lumped together in the migrant discussions. Haitians, Pakistanis, and other nationalities are an entirely different discussion. I believe that their long-term goal is to find a way for nationals to find a path to success. This goes back to education and affording them clear paths toward upward mobility without the current levels of corruption.

All can be considered wishful thinking but have the current methods employed by the United States made any real change? Let me leave you with one last quote from Why Nations Fail:

“Foreign aid is one of the most popular policies that Western governments, international organizations such as the United Nations, and NGOs of different ilk recommend as a way of combating poverty around the world.

“The idea that rich Western countries should provide large amounts of ‘developmental aid’ in order to solve the problem of poverty is based on an incorrect understanding of what causes poverty. Countries…are poor because of their extractive institutions—which result in lack of property rights, law and order, or well-functioning legal systems and the stifling dominance of national and, more often, local elites over political and economic life.

“The same institutional problems mean that foreign aid will be ineffective, as it will be plundered and is unlikely to be delivered where it is supposed to go.”

-Fin

-Border (Honduras/Guatemala) Patrol Office in El Florido

-News report: “Time passes and the San Felipe Hospital does not have a radiotherapy machine, they are waiting for an agreement”

-Cerveceria la 20 owned by Pepsi, San Pedro Sula

-Translated: From Ciudad Juarez to Destination Count on us 100 insurances

-Copan ruins archeological site