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"Ghost in the Machine: The Poverty of Honduras that No One Created"

- continued

A lighter shade of red
In San Pedro Sula, police and security forces used tear gas and violence to physically remove hundreds of people - victims of Hurricane Mitch - who were occupying a property to protest that they were not included in housing projects. 120 people were detained; 12 injured. Group leaders were detained because they "illegally directed meetings that violated the internal security of Honduras." To live and die in poverty [systematic violations of economic, social and political rights] is not a crime, but to protest poverty violates the national security… Damn communists.

"New Capital"
In one of the highest points of Tegucigalpa, 5000 families live in conditions of absolute poverty. Most are Mitch victims, who have come from other parts of the country and created this new neighborhood, Nueva Capital, that has an extraordinary view of the city, and not much more. Before Mitch, 700,000 families did not have adequate housing; now, 1,000,000 families don't.

Ungrateful lot
The search continues for the causes of poverty, though at every turn we come back to the same old conclusion that it is the poor themselves that work all the time, as hard as they can, to keep themselves in poverty.

"Food for Work Projects"
A UN World Food Program study concluded that Honduras' food deficit will increase from 200,000 metric tons of food in 2000, to 500,000 metric tons in 2005. "Food security" is a bizarre concept, agreed upon by "development" experts, which has to do with avoiding death by starvation; it does not mean three square meals a day, decent housing, work, health and education. "Nevertheless," the article continues, "the international community of donors will continue with its policies of giving food products to the poor in exchange for work, while promoting the diversification of producing foods for export."

The plan: Rich countries send surplus foods (i.e., foods overproduced in the north and paid for by northern governments to the farmers) to the poor in Honduras. These government-subsidized imports from the north undermine local markets and production. As a reward for being poor, the poor must work on public projects [road-construction, for example] in exchange for a bag of food every day. Meanwhile, the northern governments will still pressure Honduras to use more and more of its best lands to produce food products for export to northern markets. Why oh why are there so many impoverished people in Honduras? [LaPrensa, 00-04-01, p13]

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Ghost in the Machine
Not to be left out, the UNDP (United Nations Development Program) opines that "bad administration is often the principal obstacle in the way of implementing sustainable initiatives to end poverty." The UNDP has put what they call "good governance" at the top of their list of obstacles to poverty alleviation. "Without good governance, reliance on trickle-down economic development … will not work," the report concludes.

There it is. Crystal clear. Trickle-down economic development is the correct model; no questioning that. The essence of the economic development model is to create lots of wealth amongst the wealthier sectors; the more the better. Then, the solution to poverty lies in what trickles down … . Good governments are needed to guarantee the wealth accumulation at the top, and the supposed trickle.

Yet there is no discussion in this report of how it is mostly poverty that trickles down; of where these bad governments came from. No mention that the US government pumped over 1 billion dollars of military support into the coffers and bunkers of the Central American military governments in the 1980s alone. No mention of the billions of dollars in "development" aid that the World Bank, IDB and the UN pumped into the coffers and private accounts of these oligarchic governments over the past 50 years. Billions of dollars that never "trickled down." [elHeraldo, 00-04-05,p24. Miami Herald, 00-04-05, p6]

Good News & Bad News
The good news is that the Central American Bank of Economic Integration will lend Honduras $251 million dollars. The bad news is that this loan will be for Honduras to pay off the interest of previous loans. Well, not even. It will be to consolidate numerous short-term loans with one long-term loan.

Trickle Down Birthing Complications
Every 31 hours in Honduras, a woman dies of pregnancy and birth complications. Some 280 women die every year of mostly avoidable complications. And these are figures of births that take place in hospitals. Most women don't give birth in hospitals. Honduras' rate of 150 deaths per 100,000 births compares with 10 death, per 100,000 in the "wealthy" countries, and countries like Cuba that have strong health systems. [elHeraldo, 00-03-29, p18]

Pre-Mitch, Post-Mitch, Perma-Mitch
Thousands of Hondurans still live in refugee centers, "temporary" homes the size of a small bedroom. Entire families (and some cousins and others) live together, on top of one another, as many as 8 per box. As before Hurricane Mitch, now after: their lives are characterized by poverty and no opportunity.

As before Mitch, now after: male violence against women and girls (more often than not their wives, girlfriends and daughters) is widespread. And the NGOs can barely keep up; documenting a few of the cases; a "lucky" few girls and women get refuge in shelters. Most have no one to talk to (though their screams are heard), no place to go, and nothing to do, but wear the bruises.

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