Interviews
Does Decriminalization Lead to More Drugs and Crime?
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Editor's Note: The following video interview by The Real News Network (TRNN) with Sean Dunagan and Kevin Sabet provides some excellent insights on the pros and cons of drug legalization in the United States. On Tuesday, US Vice-President Joe Biden will travel to Honduras to talk with President Porfirio Lobo about security related issues, particularly with regard to the growth of organized crime and drug trafficking in Honduras and Central America. One of the specific topics that will likely come up is last month's proposal by Guatemala's President Otto Pérez Molina to legalize drugs in Central America as a possible way to curve the power of drug cartels and drug-related violence in the region. The US government remains firmly against the idea of drug legalization. Mr. Dunagan is a former intelligence analyst with the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA). Mr. Sabet is a former senior drug policy advisor in the Obama administration. Paul Jay is a senior editor with TRNN.
TRNN
Paul Jay: But what do you make of the argument that legalization of pot or other drugs leads to more use and flooding into our communities and such?
Sean Dunagan: Well, you know, there's really no statistical evidence to back that up. And there are a couple of examples. One example on the international level was Portugal, which in 2001 decriminalized possession of small amounts of all drugs—hard drugs, as well as marijuana. And Portugal hasn't seen exploding drug rates. They haven't seen drug tourism. What they have seen is declining rates of HIV infection and hepatitis infection.
Villeda: President Must Set Example for Honesty
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By Marco Cáceres
On October 1, 2011, I met Mauricio Villeda in Tegucigalpa and sat down with him for about an hour and half to talk about his candidacy for the Liberal Party's nomination for the Presidency of Honduras. The next presidential election is scheduled for November 2013. We discussed a number of issues of critical importance to Honduras and his ideas for addressing them. I found Mr. Villeda to be extremely serious, candid, thoughtful, and philosophical in his responses. Mr. Villeda, who represents the conservative wing of the Liberal Party, announced on August 30, 2011, that he would seek his party's nomination to run for the Presidency in 2014. He launched his campaign in the city of Choluteca on January 14, 2012. The following is the first part of the interview, which we have broken up into five parts. Transcripts of the other four parts will be published over the next few weeks.
Villeda Would Build on Social Legacy of Villeda Morales
-Mauricio VilledaI would only try to ensure that the example of Villeda Morales be followed. Nothing different. Simply continue with his social reforms. The Liberal Party is a party based on social liberalism. The reforms of Villeda Morales are precisely that social liberalism. And I think that we should continue to emphasize this... education, health, security, jobs are extremely important for any government.
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Honduras Weekly
On January 28, 2012, Honduran novelist and journalist César Indiano conducted an interview for Maya TV in Tegucigalpa with Liberal presidential candidate Mauricio Villeda. The interview on the program Izquierda Derecha (Left Right) focused on the history of Ramón Villeda Morales, who served as President of Honduras from 1957-1963. Mauricio Villeda is the fourth of six sons of Ramón Villeda Morales and Alejandrina de Villeda Morales. He recently launched his campaign to win the Liberal Party's nomination to run for the Presidency of Honduras in 2014. César Indiano writes a weekly editorial column for La Prensa. With his permission, Honduras Weekly occasionally translates and publishes his columns. The following is the transcript of an excerpt from the interview, beginning at the 53:26 mark on the video, in which Mr. Villeda is asked what he would do differently from his father were he to become President.
Corruption in Honduras is a Way of Life
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By Marco Cáceres
On October 1, 2011, I met Salvador Nasralla for the first time in Tegucigalpa and sat down with him for about an hour and half to talk about his candidacy for the Presidency of Honduras and his new Anti-Corruption Party (PAC), which he subsequently registered with the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE). The next presidential election is scheduled for November 2013. We discussed a number of issues of critical importance to Honduras and his ideas for addressing them. I found Mr. Nasralla to be extremely forthright in his responses and unusually confident of his chances for winning, particularly given that he has never before run for political office and will not be representing either one of the two major parties. The following is the first part of the interview, which we have broken up into five parts. Transcripts of the other four parts will be published over the next few weeks.
Falling in Love With Honduras
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By Stanley Marrder
On October 6, 2011, I sat down to talk with Kay Anderson of Dassel, Minnesota. Kay is with a non-profit organization called Vision Honduras, and she was attending projecthonduras.com's 12th annual Conference on Honduras in the town of Copán Ruinas. Vision Honduras sponsors eye care mission teams to remote villages such as Los Floras, providing free eyeglasses to hundreds of people each trip and allowing many of them to see clearly for the first time in their lives. I found Kay to be an extremely authentic and caring person who has developed an obvious passion for her volunteer work and a deep affection for the Honduran people. It was the first time that Kay had ever attended a Conference on Honduras.
The People Must Have a Stake in the System
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By Marco Cáceres
On October 1, 2011, I sat down in Tegucigalpa with Carlos Eduardo Reina to discuss his views about some of the critical issues and problems facing Honduras and his proposals for dealing with them. Mr. Reina is a member of the "Liberals in Resistance" faction of the Liberal Party and is a pre-candidate for the Presidency of Honduras. The next presidential election in the country is scheduled for November 2013. Mr. Reina is the son of Jorge Arturo Reina, who served as Honduras' Ambassador to the United States under administration of President Manuel Zelaya. He was a close adviser to President Zelaya and accompanied him during part of his sojourn in the Brazilian embassy in the fall of 2009 following his overthrow earlier that year. The following is the first part of the interview, which we have broken up into five parts. Transcripts of the other four parts will be published over the next few weeks.
US Ambassador Kubiske Lauds Volunteerism in Honduras
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By Stanley Marrder
On October 8, 2011, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing the new United States Ambassador to Honduras, Lisa Kubiske, in Copán Ruinas during projecthonduras.com's 12th annual Conference on Honduras. I found her warm and gracious. Ambassador Kubiske spoke on the third day of the conference. During her talk, she thanked the conferees for their volunteer work in Honduras and offered her views about the situation in the country and some of the ways the US government is working in partnership with the Honduran government to address critical issues and problems. Mrs. Kubiske, who was sworn in as US Ambassador to Honduras on July 26, 2011, previously served as the Deputy Chief of Mission at the US Embassy in Brasilia, Brazil.
