The registration of our party marks a departure from our past and brings hope for the Honduran people.

-Manuel Zelaya, president of Libre

Honduras Weekly
In a brief video-taped interview with El Heraldo newspaper, Honduran presidential candidate Salvador Nasralla of the Anti-Corruption Party (PAC) today characterized the newly-approved party, Liberty and Refoundation (Libre), as another "traditional party". He said that he considered to be "one more party, like the Nationalist and Liberal [parties]". Mr. Nasralla, a television celebrity and sports commentator who prides himself on mot being a politician, said that while the leaders of Libre "may have good intentions", they "are surrounded by politicians". He stressed that he has "a great deal of respect and affection for [former President] Manuel Zelaya and wife [Xiomara Castro de Zelaya], but they continue to be a traditional party". By comparison, Mr. Nasralla, noted, his Anti-Corruption Party is "a new force... we are not politicians".En cambio el Partido Anticorrupción (PAC), que lidera Nasralla, “sí somos una fuerza nueva, no somos políticos”.

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... the same members of the House and Senate that signed these letters should be pushing for more funding to investigate corruption and human rights abuses in Central America -- both by the executive branch and grants for civil society groups that do the work on the ground. Instead of looking for ways to cut aid, we should be pushing for additional aid that will be used effectively to improve citizen security.

By James Bosworth
Seven United States Senators signed a letter to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton asking that the State Department update them on investigations into human rights abuses in Honduras. Twenty percent of the US assistance is to be held up if the State Department does not certify that progress is being made. Separately, and receiving wider attention, 94 members of Congress signed a letter calling for a full cutoff of all aid to Honduras's police and military. The Congressional letter also asks for updates on specific cases of human rights violations and for information about how the US Embassy in Tegucigalpa is working to comply with the Leahy provisions [of the Foreign Operations Appropriations Act] that prohibit the US military from working with or assisting military units that commit human rights abuses.

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I work hard and obviously have to make some pretty big sacrifices, but I receive so much more than I give, every single day. To know these kids and get to share life with them is to see the face of God in a different way than I ever have before.

By Elizabeth Marie Himchak
Because of the rewarding experience Kate Mattoon is having teaching children at Farm of the Child near Trujillo, Honduras, she extended her missionary commitment from 27 months to 39 months. The 2005 Rancho Bernardo High [in San Diego, Calfiornia] graduate, San Rafael Catholic Church parishioner and daughter of Rancho Bernardans Renee and Terry Mattoon became a missionary following her 2009 graduation from the University of Notre Dame. She teaches third- and fourth-grade math, science and English -- along with duties like catechist, swimming teacher, newsletter coordinator and non-food donations manager -- at the Catholic orphanage on the northern coast of Honduras. Mattoon said it provides a permanent home to about 50 children were who abused, abandoned or orphaned without known family. They live in six houses, divided by age and gender.

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Editor's Note: President Porfirio Lobo of Honduras last week invited Colombia's President Juan Manuel Santos Mexico's President Felipe Calderón to attend a meeting of the presidents of the Central American Integration System (SICA) on March 24 in Guatemala. The focus of the reunion will be a proposal by Guatemalan President Otto Pérez Molina to legalize drugs.

By Phillip Smith
The government of Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos is preparing legislation that will set "personal dose" amounts for drugs that will allow for their possession without the possibility of arrest or prosecution, the Bogota newspaper El Tiempo reported Tuesday. The decriminalization legislation could be presented as early this week, the newspaper said in its exclusive report. Colombia was the first Latin American country to decriminalize drug possession after a ruling by its Constitutional Court in 1994. But during the presidency Santos' predecessor, Alvaro Uribe, the government amended the constitution to criminalize drug use, effectively re-criminalizing drug possession. Last year, the Colombian Supreme Court threw out Uribe's changes, ruling that the possession of small quantities of drugs for personal use was a constitutional right. This pending legislation recognizes last year's ruling and actualizes it by setting the "personal dose" amounts.

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While it's unclear how suspending US security aid to Honduras would help the Honduran system of government suddenly become more capable and efficient, given that its problems are deep-rooted and go back generations, the threat of suspending the aid may have the effect of scaring the Lobo administration to try and be more responsive.

By Marco Cáceres
The recent "Dear Colleague" letter authored by seven-term Democratic Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky of Illinois and signed by 93 of her colleagues in the United States House of Representatives may seem harsh at first glance, but if you read it carefully a few times it's actually extremely fair and justified. The letter notes the continuing human rights violations in Honduras, the widespread impunity, and the violence and land struggle in the Bajo Aguán. It asks the US State Department to suspend assistance to the Honduran military and police until it certifies that the Honduran government “is investigating and prosecuting in the civilian justice system, in accordance with Honduran and international law, military and police personnel who are credibly alleged to have violated human rights, and the Honduran military and police are cooperating with civilian judicial authorities in such cases".

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The last expedition was Vaughn's sixth time volunteering and Smith's third trip. Both are eager to return to Honduras next year and stressed that anyone can help the group by going themselves or helping the program through a donation.

By Jon Johnson
Those in the medical field often dedicate their lives to helping people in their community. A group of medical practitioners in the Gila Valley go a step beyond that aspiration and donate their time and talents to assist the destitute in third-world countries. Peacework Medical Projects is a nonprofit volunteer organization based in Phoenix, Arizona and was founded in 2000 by former Morenci physician assistant Pam Burwell. According to its website, the group's goal is to "improve the health and well-being of rural and indigent communities through the service of medical volunteer teams."

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Molina is considered -- no doubt overshadowed by the luminary Rubén Darío -- one of the greatest representatives of modernismo in Central America.

By León Leiva Gallardo
My admiration for Honduras' Juan Ramón Molina has not been due to mere antiquarian curiosity or nostalgia, but more like an ongoing interpretation, reinterpretation, and, now, translation of his work. It is not an easy task at all. His verse is metrical, intertwined, metered, and rhymed, the styles of the time in which he outlived himself. These formal aspects of his poetry can be deceiving though. Underneath the sensual, soft-spoken phrases, the extravagant similes and metaphors, and high-brow, classical allusions, are insinuations, if not manifest stands, of a mind beyond his time. Molina is considered -- no doubt overshadowed by the luminary Rubén Darío -- one of the greatest representatives of modernismo in Central America. But some of his poems and narrative pieces show the signs of the moderns, more so in content than in style. And a clarification is here necessary. European and American moderns, the constellation of avant-garde writers and artists, are known as modernos in Spanish, not to be confused with Latin American and Spanish modernists (modernistas)

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Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.

-Dante Alighieri, La Divina Commedia

By Jessica Isla
We all have different ideas of Hell. But most of us raised and brought up in the Judeo-Christian Western culture share a religious image of a lake of fire that sears hundreds, thousands or millions of people, condemned for unmentionable sins. That’s the myth. Then there’s the reality. The reality arrived this February 14th, the day we celebrate love and friendship. On this day Hell became reality when the penitentiary of the city of Comayagua -- absurdly called the “penal farm”, as if sentences, prisoners or prisons were cultivated there -- caught on fire.

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We ask you to urge the Honduran government to take immediate action to protect human rights in the Bajo Aguán region and throughout the country. This should include investigating and prosecuting those responsible for the murders, threats and other abuses, including the intellectual authors of such abuses, and immediately suspending, investigating and as appropriate prosecuting members of the military and police credibly alleged to have committed or acted in collusion with such abuses.

Honduras Weekly
United States Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky of the 9th District in Illinois yesterday sent a letter to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton expressing concern about the human rights situation in Honduras and asking her to "suspend US assistance to the Honduran military and police given the credible allegations of widespread, serious violations of human rights attributed to the security forces". Congresswoman Schakowsky, who serves in the House Democratic Leadership as Chief Deputy Whip and is a member of the Steering and Policy Committee, went to Honduras on a fact-finding trip during November 10-12, 2009 -- after the overthrow of President Manuel Zelaya -- at the invitation of Honduran human rights advocate Bertha Oliva. The "Dear Colleague" letter was circulated in the House of Representatives and signed by a total of 94 members of Congress. The following is the text of the letter:

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The nations of Central America have been victimized by unchecked or lax interdiction by those countries led by leftist regimes. In particular, Venezuela's failure to cooperate with coordinated drug interdiction and enforcement resulted in nearly 300 tons of cocaine flowing through Venezuela in a three year period.

By Jerry Brewer
The time is now for democratic Latin American leaders to stand tall and firm on addressing the true problems of the continuous deteriorating security environment within Latin America. A major part of this extraneous discourse must squarely place a large portion of the blame on those leftist regimes that continue to foster discord and demonstrate zero attempts to be part of the solution. When might these proactive government hopefuls have such a timely opportunity? The good news is that they have two major occasions approaching, and not a second too late. Free nations and democracies in the hemisphere should do all within their power between the dates of these two regional assemblies to address their leaders and government representatives, help set true agendas, and hold some feet to the fire.

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By Geoffrey Ramsey
La Tribuna newspaper reports that Honduran police have found at least 62 clandestine landing strips in the departments of Olancho, Colón, Gracias a Dios and El Paraíso. Officials say that they have destroyed 13 of these landing strips in the past several days, and plan on destroying 12 more this week. According to General René Osorio Canales, head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the Honduran military, most of them are in good condition. “This indicates that drug trafficking organizations use them frequently, maybe even as much as one or two times a week,” Osorio said. He also claimed that it is common for drug flights to have three alternate landing sites, so that if one is deemed too risky the pilot can reroute to either of the others in midflight.

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Whatever the reasons for Nicaragua's success, the world is starting to pay attention. Panama, Venezuela and Peru have sought security advice, while Granera has been invited to explain Nicaragua’s security model to the European Union. Honduran President Porfirio Lobo recently paid a visit to Managua to discuss issues of organized crime and violence, and said that he was especially interested in Nicaragua’s social policies...

By Hannah Stone
Nicaragua's police director, Aminta Granera, said recently that “mara” gangs from Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras could move south, bringing the violence of the Northern Triangle to Nicarauga. She added that the Central America border control agreement, which established free movement of citizens between these four countries without visas, could pose a risk to security. Granera’s fears about the northern frontier make sense -- Nicaragua shares a border with the most dangerous country in the world, Honduras, where at least some of the violence is driven by violent youth gangs like the Mara Salvatrucha 13 (MS-13) and Barrio 18. The fact that these groups have not made serious inroads into Nicaragua is often cited as the reason for its far lower rates of violence.

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