The job that is being given to the Truth Commission is an unenviable one, because it is an impossible one. It assumes that you can put together a neat summary of the facts that led to June 28, 2009 and all the events afterward. It assumes that facts are absolute, and thus that so is truth.

By Marco Cáceres
Perhaps the most difficult challenge facing the Honduras Truth Commission, led by former Guatemalan Vice-President Eduardo Stein, will be distinguishing between facts and interpretations that have been deemed to be facts. It is precisely this chasm between the "reality" of what led to and happened during the overthrow of Manuel Zelaya and the "perception of reality" of what transpired that divides Honduran society.

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Former Vice-President of Guatemala Eduardo Stein has been nominated by President Porfirio Lobo to coordinate the formation of a Truth Commission to detail and analyze the actions leading up to, during, and since the overthrow of Manuel Zelaya as president on June 28, 2009. The primary goal of the commission will be to determine and clarify the facts of the events that created and escalated the political crisis in Honduras, under the assumption that the information will contribute to the process of national reconciliation. According to Mr. Stein, one of the outcomes of the commission's work might be to recommend certain "institutional changes that could strengthen [democratic institutions in Honduras] and help avoid the recurrence of the kind of serious political acts that took place". Mr. Stein noted that the commission will not be an investigative body, in the judicial sense. Although the issue of alleged human rights abuses will be addressed, the commission will not be tasked with assigning blame or prosecuting anyone. The Honduran Congress recently passed a general amnesty for all political offenses associated with Mr. Zelaya's ousting. (photo of Eduardo Stein courtesy AP)

The cost of a gallon of gasoline in Honduras decreased Monday by Lps 0.46. The average price of a gallon of high-test gasoline in Honduras went down to Lps 69.55, while regular dropped to Lps 65.08. Diesel fuel decreased by Lps 0.77, to Lps 58.25. The price of kerosene dropped by Lps 0.25, to Lps 46.57. In January 2009, the price of a gallon of high-test in Honduras stood at Lps 48.61; regular, Lps 45.24; and diesel, Lps 45.34. Honduras consumes more than 52,000 barrels of oil per day. About 20,000 of those barrels had been coming from Venezuela, on preferential payment terms, under the Petrocaribe energy alliance established in 2005. The government of Manuel Zelaya subscribed to Petrocaribe in August 2008. Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez suspended Petrocaribe oil shipments to Honduras in July shortly after Mr. Zelaya was ousted as president. Crude oil prices closed Monday on world markets at US$71.89 per barrel. (photo courtesy La Prensa)

Spain's Secretary of State for Ibero-American Affairs, Juan Pablo de Laiglesia, will travel to Tegucigalpa on Tuesday to meet with President Porfirio Lobo to discuss the normalization of relations between Spain and Honduras, as well as between the European Union (EU) and Honduras. The visit is part of a broader trip, which includes stops in Guatamala, El Salvador, Costa Rica, and Nicaragua by Mr. Laiglesia to strengthen Spain's political and economic ties and brief governments about its interests and priorities in the region. Mr. Laiglesia's arrival in Honduras will come barely a week after Spain's ambassador, Ignacio Rupérez, formally returned to his post in Tegucigalpa after a seven-month absence to demonstrate Spain's condemnation of the ousting of President Manuel Zelaya on June 28, 2009. Mr. Laiglesia is the former director of the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID). (photo of Juan Pablo de Laiglesia courtesy Internet)

The political crisis sparked by the overthrow of President Manuel Zelaya on June 28, 2009 has fueled public interest in Honduras' Constitution like never before. Many bookstores in Tegucigalpa are reportedly running out of copies of the Constitution due to a sudden increase in demand. While traditionally only lawyers and law students tended to purchase the document, now the public at large is shopping for copies in record numbers. According to estimates by booksellers, sales of the Constitution grew by 80-85 percent during the final months of 2009, compared to the same period a year earlier. Copies of the document are being sold at prices ranging from Lps 90-150 each. Interest in the Constitution has also awakened a general interest in Honduran history, particularly as it relates to military coup états. (photo courtesy Internet)

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There are different kinds of justice. Retributive justice is largely Western. The African understanding is far more restorative - not so much to punish as to redress or restore a balance that has been knocked askew.

-Desmond Tutu

By Marco Cáceres
US Congressman Dana Rohrabacher's opposition to the establishment of a Truth Commission to determine the facts surrounding the events that led to the overthrow of Manuel Zelaya may not be as outlandish as I initially thought, although our reasoning for sharing this position was probably arrived at differently. Mr. Rohrabacher believes that the "book is closed" on Honduras' political crisis, and thus that there is no need for such a commission. I sense his position is based on wishful thinking and a less than superficial understanding of Honduras. I have a problem with the commission because I think that the primary motivation behind it is political, specifically to fulfill another key provision of the Tegucigalpa-San José Accord. The ultimate goal is to check off as many provisions as possible to show that Honduras has faithfully complied with the agreement and, consequently, deserves to be fully re-integrated into the community of nations.

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The overthrow of Manuel Zelaya as president on June 28, 2009 was unanimously condemned by the United Nations (UN). The UN adopted a resolution by acclamation, calling on all 192 member states not to recognize any Honduran government other than Mr. Zelaya's. During the proceeding months, the interim government of Roberto Micheletti was isolated in the world. It was not until the signing of the Tegucigalpa-José Accord on October 30 and the election of Porfirio Lobo on November 29 that some of the roughly 100 nations with which Honduras maintains diplomatic ties began to normalize relations. The process of normalization has accelerated since Mr. Lobo's inauguration on January 27. Honduras has re-established normal relations with a total of 19 countries, including Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Panama, Peru, and the United States in the Western Hemisphere; Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and Turkey within the European Union (EU); South Korea and Taiwan in Asia; Morocco in Africa; and Israel in the Middle East.

It is cliché to say that the youth of a country represent its future and its hope. But it's true. And it is especially true in Honduras, where approximately 45 percent of its population of more than 7.2 million is under 15 years of age. President Porfirio Lobo has emphasized education as one of the central elements of his plan for governing Honduras over the next four years. He wants as many Honduran students as possible to learn English and to master computer skills that will allow them to keep up and surpass students from any country. He sees this as the basis for Honduras having well-informed and wise leaders and a better trained workforce in the future.

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As a young citizen of Honduras, I would like to see my nation improve. I want to be able to go out at night and feel confident that I will not end up being kidnapped or robbed. I want the citizens of my country to have enough money for what everyone deserves: a home, clothing, education, food, and a family.

By Teresa Isabel Romero
Dear President Lobo: First of all congratulations on your new job! I didn´t vote for you, but I hope you can prove me wrong for not voting for you. I hope you can do a better job than did our last president and try to make Honduras a better place, a place where people would want to live because they feel safe, because they can feel free and can find a good home and job.

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Minister of Health Arturo Bendaña announced Thursday that the government of Taiwan has donated more than Lps 42 million to pay for the repair of the electrical and water systems of the Hospital Escuela in Tegucigalpa. The systems, built 45 years ago, have only occasionally received superficial maintenance and are now at the point of near-collapse. The Hospital Escuela and the Hospital Mario Catarino Rivas in San Pedro Sula are Honduras' two largest public hospitals. The Escuela is a teaching hospital. It faces ongoing shortfalls in funding, medications and supplies, and functioning equipment, as well as frequent strikes by its physician and nursing staff. Reform of Honduras' public healthcare system is among one of the Lobo administration's top priorities. Mr. Bendaña intends to meet with the directors of all the public hospitals in Honduras to understand the technical needs of the centers, particularly those that pertain to patient care.

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By Denia Hernández
There are approximately 28,000 people living with HIV or AIDS infection in Honduras, 1,900 of which die each year. These estimates correspond to 60 percent of the registered cases of HIV in the region of Central America. The statistics represent the harsh reality that is Honduras and its people, most of which consider sex and AIDS taboo, a topic to be buried under the ground forever. But the truth is that ignoring the problem doesn´t mean it’s going to go away. This is the battle that Samaritan´s Purse has been trying to fight in Honduras ever since they arrived in 1998 as a response to Hurricane Mitch. Samaritan´s Purse is an international relief program funded by CHF International that has many branches spreading their work throughout the world.

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