Flores Lanza is No Aung San Suu Kyi

The sense one gets from watching the Flores case unfold is of a circus, rather than a persecution.

By Marco Cáceres
The case of Enrique Flores Lanza is fast turning into a spectacle; not yet approaching the heights of O. J. Simpson, but dangerously close to the ballpark. Mr. Flores is the former Minister of the Presidency under the Zelaya government who on June 15 was found guilty by Judge Claudio Aguilar of four counts of misappropriation of Lps 107 million (US$5.6 million) in public funds, including Lps 50 million carried off in wheelcarts from the vault of the Central Bank of Honduras -- which was caught on film by one of the bank's cameras. The charges had been issued by the Public Ministry. Mr. Lanza was sentenced to house arrest and a fine of Lps 27 millon (US$1.4 million). He was required to pay his fine within 30 days or else face continued confinement... which is where he remains.

In an attempt to politicize, and thus sensationalize, his personal legal problems, Mr. Flores yesterday accused the government of failing to live up to the Cartagena Accord which President Lobo signed in Colombia on May 22, opening the way for the return of Manuel Zelaya and former members of his administration to Honduras. Mr. Flores argues that the charges against him are bogus and merely part of a conspiracy by the Lobo administration to persecute him and other Zelaya loyalists.

The accusation by Mr. Flores was made during a press conference that he was allowed to stage at the home of his father where he is serving his sentence -- something which, in and of itself, would appear to diminish the credibility of his allegations. After all, if there were an authentic government conspiracy against Mr. Flores, why would it permit him unfettered access to the media? The sense one gets from watching the Flores case unfold is of a circus, rather than a persecution.

Although Mr. Flores might like to think of his house arrest as something akin to what Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi went through when she was kept under house arrest for 15 years by her country's military government, the two are not even remotely comparable. Different ballparks. Aung San Suu Kyi is a national hero for bravely speaking out against a seriously brutal and repressive regime. She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 and countless other similar international awards.

Mr. Flores is sitting around in his father's house because there is at least some evidence to show that he may be a crook. (8/26/11) (photo of Aung San Suu Kyi courtesy Internet)

Note: The author is the editor and cofounder of Honduras Weekly. He is also the cofounder of projecthonduras.com, an international network of volunteers involved in humanitarian development projects aimed at empowering the people of Honduras. He directs the annual Conference on Honduras in the town of Copán Ruinas in northwestern Honduras. He was born in Tegucigalpa.