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Honduras Air Force Has Problems

The comments made by the FAH that it needs the funds to fix the jets because they are "noble" aircraft or because their institution is losing its top status compared to other Central American air forces are ridiculous and lacking in strategic vision.

By James Bosworth
The commander of the Honduran Air Force, General Ruiz Pastor Landa, says that over half of the country's military planes are currently out of service. Five of their nine F-5 jets need repair before they can fly. All of their Tucano T-27s are in need of reconditioning that will cost about US$10 million dollars. Last month, the Fuerza Aérea Hondureña (FAH) also admitted it lacked the capabilities, radar and legal authority to shoot down drug trafficking planes that invade its airspace. A few comments on this:

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Prison Fire Capital of the World?

The story has now become so familiar that there's almost nothing more to say. We are now entering that dangerous point where we may be starting to become immune to it. After all, how many times can you yell fire before eventually no one bothers to pay attention anymore.

By Marco Cáceres
Another prison fire in Honduras yesterday. The penitentiary in San Pedro Sula this time. Thirteen (or more) dead prisoners. The story is already making the international headlines. Newsday: "13 Dead in Honduran Prison Fire Amid Inmate Riot‎". MSNBC: "13 Dead in Prison Riot in Honduras". Irish Times: "Honduras Prison Fight Kills 13". Atlanta Journal Constitution: "13 Dead in Honduran Prison Fire Amid Inmate Riot". Detroit Free Press: "Several Dead in Honduran Prison Fire Amid Riot". CNN International: "At Least 13 Dead in Honduran Prison Fire". Sydney Morning Herald: "14 Dead in Honduran Prison Riot". TIME: "14 Dead in Honduran Prison Fire, Riot". Washington Post: "Honduran Authorities Say at Least 14 Dead in Prison Fire Following Riot". CBS News: "Fire Starts at Honduran Prison Amid Inmate Riot". Des Moines Register: "Several Dead in Honduran Prison Fire Amid Riot"...

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Honduras Considers Blurring Military-Police Role

Much of the concern surrounding the permanent deployment of the military onto the streets is due to the nature of their training. Unlike the police, the military are not trained to protect civilians or conduct criminal investigations. Other lawmakers in Honduras have argued that involving the military in domestic policing could expose the army to “contamination” from the drug trade...

By Tatiana Faramarzi
The Honduran government last week extended an emergency decree, first declared in November 2011, allowing the military to conduct arrests and carry out searches without a warrant for another 90 days. Now, President Porfirio Lobo has proposed a constitutional reform that would give the military permanent policing powers. This implies that the prospect of comprehensive police reform is so hopeless in Honduras that it is more effective in the long-term to shove the military in a permanent policing role. United States interests may disagree. A large bloc of US lawmakers earlier this month signed a letter calling for a pause to all security aid to Honduras unless the country demonstrates progress in confronting human rights violations committed by the military and police.

The Huge Cost of Employer Negligence

If employees don't get paid when they expect to be paid, you're asking for trouble and, ultimately, you're bound to lose more money in the long-run -- in the form of lost time and production and destruction of property -- than your negligence is worth.

By Marco Cáceres
One of the principal weaknesses of underdeveloped nations like Honduras is their wage payment systems. Whether it's the government or a business or a household, there is often a problem with paying employees on time... every time. It's kind of like a shell game... sometimes it's there, not there, there... oops, wrong again. Putting aside the issue of paying fair wages (which is another huge problem), there is a seemingly constant struggle in Honduras for employers to meet their basic obligation to reimburse their employees for time and services rendered. Putting aside the issue of inadequate job performance of workers (which is another huge problem), all too many employers in Honduras simply do not place a high enough priority on ensuring that their people receive the money they are owed punctually so that they can then proceed to pay their bills, buy the things they need, and repay their debts. The reasons for this negligence include poor administration and record-keeping, insufficient funds, corruption, and just plain forgetfulness or lack of caring.

Cronyism Alive and Well in Libre

We have fought to have a party founded on liberty in order to refound Honduras, but we cannot do this with the same bad habits of the past.
-Edgardo Castro, Libre

By Marco Cáceres
Salvador Nasralla apparently knew what he was talking about last week when he referred to the new Liberty and Refoundation Party, or "Libre", as another "traditional party". He said that while the leaders of Libre "may have good intentions", they "are surrounded by politicians". Mr. Nasralla, who is the founder of the recently-registered Anti-Corruption Party (PAC) and will be its candidate to run for the Presidency of Honduras in 2013, was essentially voicing what many others in Honduras have strongly suspected -- that there's nothing particularly unique about Libre, aside from its political platform, which is based on refounding the country by convening a National Constituent Assembly to review and rewrite the Constitution. While Libre prides itself on being a grassroots organization where power and decisions emanate from the bottom (the people) and move up through the system in a transparent, fluid, and all-inclusive manner, thereby serving as a model for a direct democracy form of government, the reality of how the party operates may be entirely different.

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Santorum and Science

Mr. Santorum realizes that the less educated people are, the more likely they will be to agree with his feelings about science and, even more important, the more likely it is that they will enthusiastically support his candidacy.

By Christopher Brauchli
Now that it appears that Rick Santorum is more than a flash in the hot (albeit not globally warmed) evolutionary pan, I confess to an oversight that occurred in this space in 2011 when I suggested that Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry were the only ones among the Republican presidential candidates who believed that evolution was nothing more than a theory. I did Mr. Santorum a disservice by failing to acknowledge his long-standing support of creationism and his contempt for the idea of global warming. His support for creationism in the classroom goes back at least as far as 2001.

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Obama is No Gandhi

President Obama recently justified his drone attacks inside Pakistan by saying that they “have not caused a huge number of civilian casualties.” It is impossible not to interpret this as an admission that drones do kill and wound civilians. But it is a minor matter in the President’s eyes.

Editor's Note: US warfighting strategy increasingly relies on the use of surveillance and attack drones (also known as unmanned aerial vehicles or "UAVs"). The Obama administration is preparing to expand its "War on Drugs" in Central America, and specifically Honduras.

By Deepak Tripathi
First the video of United States Marines urinating on bodies of Afghans who had been killed. Then the revelation that copies of the Quran had been burned at Bagram Air Base, which also serves as an American prison camp in Afghanistan. Nearly thirty Afghans and several NATO troops died in the violent reaction. The BBC Kabul correspondent described these events, and the violent public reaction to them, as the tipping point for NATO in the Afghan War. Just as the US commander General John Allen and President Barack Obama hoped that apologies from them would help calm the situation comes another disaster. If official accounts are to be believed, an American soldier left his base in the middle of the night, entered villagers’ homes, woke up Afghan families from sleep and shot his victims in cold blood. The soldier was reported to have turned himself up to US commanders, and was flown out of the country. He has since been named as Staff Sergeant Robert Bales.

Yes, Impunity Reigns in Honduras

There is a tremendous amount of impunity in Honduras. Almost no one who commits a crime is ever caught, much less taken through an orderly judicial process that may or may not result in a conviction. This is one the country's many great flaws, injustices...

By Marco Cáceres
More than 6,750 people were murdered in Honduras last year -- including six journalists. This means that just under 20 are losing their lives to some sort of willful violent act each day. I learned today that a nephew of a close friend of mine in Honduras was killed just this past weekend. It appears the motive may have been robbery. A police officer arrived on the scene hours later and scribbled down some notes, but the chances are slim that there will ever be anything resembling an investigation, and even slimmer that whoever committed the crime will be captured, brought before a court, tried, convicted, and imprisoned. The police officer's role was really nothing more than to take note of what happened and record the homicide. That is what most of Honduras' 15,000 police officers do, because that is all most of them are trained, equipped, and expected to do.

The War On Drugs Is A War On Crime

As it applies to a "drug war," much of the drug cartels' power is now centralized in low-level decision-making, and not consolidated in hierarchy or top-down accountability as was most prevalent before the aggressive enforcement interdiction. This fragmented nature has unleashed and relaunched traditional crime gangs in Honduras and Guatemala, and in some neighboring nations, where gang members have stepped-up acts of murder for hire, extortion, human trafficking, kidnapping, and other violent actions.

By Jerry Brewer
It has taken many years for the United States to answer a wakeup call to the Mexican border. As far back as 2005, when the sophistication of Mexican and other transnational organized criminals graphically manifested their superior tactics and armament on the streets of Nuevo Laredo, a nation scrambled to demand walls and fences regardless of the associated costs. The "gang" culture of violence from Latin America had long since penetrated the US border and set up shop in many major US cities. As well, these gangs had been building personnel infrastructures for years, assimilating with US prison gangs -- particularly in southwestern states and California. People were later shocked to learn that there were well over 300,000 gang members in California alone.

The Better Half

So in many ways, Mrs. Zelaya is the default candidate for Libre. But it's more than only that. Mrs. Zelaya has immediate face and name recognition, and people sincerely like her.

By Marco Cáceres
Former First Lady Xiomara Castro de Zelaya will likely be the candidate to represent the new Liberty and Refoundation Party, or "Libre", in Honduras' presidential election next year. Mrs. Zelaya, who is the wife of former President Manuel Zelaya, is the choice of the largest and most powerful faction, or "current", within Libre -- the Popular Refoundation Force (FRP), led by Juan Barahona, Rafael Alegría, Gloria Oquelí, Wilfredo Paz, and Óscar Rivera. The other four, smaller currents are the July 5 Movement, the June 28 Movement, the Progressive Resistance Movement (MRP), and the People Organized in Resistance (POR) -- each with its own unique ideology or governing philosophy. The FRP, for example, is socialist and the farthest to the left, while the June 28ers are liberal and actually anti-socialist. Interestingly, the June 28ers are led by Mr. Zelaya's brother, Carlos Zelaya, which means that the socialist Xiomara might not be so appealing -- ideologically -- to Mel's relatively more conservative sibling. Carlos, however, may just quietly go along for the sake of peace in the family.

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