Politics and People in Honduras

Nobody on the road
nobody on the beach
I feel it in the air
the summer's out of reach." (Don Henley, "Boys of Summer")

I am in Tegucigalpa, Honduras for a couple of days. You have probably noticed I don't write much about politics; not because I'm afraid of people disagreeing with me, but because I just don't like politics. My general view is that the Far Left think they are smarter than everyone else, and the Far Right think they are better than everyone else, and everyone in the middle could care less until it starts to affect their pocketbook. But I do want to take a moment to give you my impressions of the situation here in Honduras.

There has been much written about how Honduras got to this point. You can read about that from articles and blogs from people much more knowledgeable than I. I am commenting on what I see here and now.

There is a conspicuous absence of North Americans here. There were about 28 people on my flight here, and about half of those were illegals being deported. On my past visits there has always been a plane full of church teams coming for short-term trips, as well as the typical tourists. Same situation at the airport on arrival: very few travelers--almost no gringos.

I am staying at a very nice hotel, the Humuya Inn. It is owned by a North American who has invested a considerable amount of money to offer an affordable, safe place to stay. It is virtually empty. Has been for weeks now. The owner lays off workers and tries to hang on.

Our friend Laurie who is a missionary here was kind enough to drive us around yesterday. We went to two very beautiful towns just outside of Tegu: Santa Lucia and Valle de Angeles. I had been to Valley of Angels before. Although there are some very fine artists and craftsmen there, my overall impression on the previous visit was that it is a "tourist trap" (kind of like the "Gatlinburg" of Honduras, on a smaller scale). There was almost no one there. I saw two other gringos. No one in the shops or on the streets except locals, and not many of them.

We stopped in one shop owned by a friend of Laurie. This lady is Honduran but has also lived in the States. She was gloomy. Her mood is understandable--no tourists equals no customers equals no dollars. As the political impasse drags on, the economic crisis here continues to deepen. We throw that phrase around a lot in the States: "the economy." Let me translate it for you: "people". People suffer. Especially in a poor country like Honduras, where currency is as scarce as a hen's teeth even in the so-called good times.

There is an election in November that could return the country to some sort of normalcy. The so-called "coup" and the ousted president could become a moot point. The problem is that the international community (especially the U.S.) has so far threatened not to recognize the legitimacy of whoever becomes the democratically elected president. If this occurs, the crisis will likely deepen. Civil war is a possibility, as desperately poor families may have to choose between starving or becoming hired-gun soldiers. There are rumors that guns and money are already flowing into the country from the south.

I have a book at home written for people who are considering relocating to Honduras. One of the author's main contentions for moving here was that Honduras is so beautiful yet so poor and backward that no other country would ever bother to invade. Therefore you would always at least be safe from war. I'm not sure I agree with that any more. Honduras seems to be a pawn in an international chess match. Venezuela, Cuba, and the U.S. (among others) are moving the pieces. I am afraid the game is about to get out of hand for this poor little country.