Caridad on the Goascorán

Caridad sits like a jewel on the banks of the Goascorán. From the nearby peaks of Cerro Credo and El Bejuco, the village takes the form of a skinny white dog drinking at the river.

By Guillermo Yuscarán
Of the eighteen departments which comprise Honduras, Valle is one of the most desolate. It has been called the Estremadura of the south; the 'badlands'. Located in the southwest corner of the country, it stretches like the back of a giant reptile over miles of dry desert terrain. There is nothing of the lush and verdent tropics, so often associated with Middle America. Much of Valle is an inferno. During the so-called "winter months" (June through January), great waves of dust blow down from the north, caking the air and blurring the vision. the most prominent mountain peak in Valle is called "La Peña".

Still, the mountains which rise out of this vast, stifling maw in various configurations are magnificent -- jutting spear-like peaks; rounded, coffee-brown mesas. One is reminded of the topography of the southwestern United States, the land of the Apaches and the Navajo.

The lifeline of Valle, however, is its river system. For only along the banks of its rivers -- the Aramecina, the Apazapo, the Nacaome, and the great Goascorán (without which the feeding of livestock and the harvesting of maizillo, rice, and beans would not be possible), have nomadic communities grown into towns: Langue, Aramecina, Lauterique, Alianza, Goascorán, and Caridad. Surrounded by ranges of mountains which rise beyond endless vistas of desert, these villages, like parasites, cling to the riverbanks to make their gardens grow. Rain is sporadic. The most conspicuous wildlife are the garrobo (lizard) and the zopilote (buzzard). What the sky yields most in Valle is the pounding heat of the Honduran sun.

Caridad sits like a jewel on the banks of the Goascorán. From the nearby peaks of Cerro Credo and El Bejuco, the village takes the form of a skinny white dog drinking at the river. Founded by the Spaniards in the 1720s (criollos from Guatemala), Caridad became the property of a family named Maldonado, who converted income from small farms into manufacturing leather goods, cloth and straw hats. The town itself, however, did not take shape until the mayor (alcalde), Casmíro Martínez, ordered the uprooting of trees so that new streets could be built fronting the cathedral. For a time, the town belonged to the department of Comayagua, and later to La Paz. Not until the 1860s did it become the last official municipality of Valle.

While Caridad's history, for the most part, has been pacific, if not idyllic, there have been periods of extreme violence. In 1871, a group of bandits led by Eusebio García and José María Barahona, entered Caridad and shot up the village, killing several innocent citizens, including the mayor, before being driven out by the populace. García's desire to seize control was based not only on petty family rivalry but on disputed land claims. But he was never successful, and historians refer to the episode simply as, "the time of García".

Over the years, border skirmishes and wars between El Salvador and Honduras have tainted the relative tranquility of Caridad, but always, when the dust has settled and the combatants from both sides have gone home, Caridad has returned again to its bucolic, slumberous islolation -- the methodical routine of the campesino at work on the silent land. (10/26/11) (photo of Caridad courtesy Proceso Digital)

Note: The author is a North American writer and artist in Honduras, living part of the time in the town of Tela and the other in Santa Lucia. He is originally from California. His books include "Beyond Honduras: Tales of Tela, Trujillo, and Other Places", "Blue Pariah: Inside Honduras", "Canto al Mar: Canto to the Sea", "Conociendo a la Gente Garifuna", "El Dia de la Cruz", "Gringos in Honduras: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly", "Juan Felix Sanchez: Journey to the Andes", "Northcoast Honduras: Tropical Karma, and Other Stories", "Points of Light: Honduran Short Stories", and "Velasquez, the Man and His Art". His latest book is "Dream Journey". Purchase inquiries can be e-mailed to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .