such a sad thing. honduras has always suffered greatly from its primal sin, that of proximity. their mere closeness to nicauragua, their dreams of occaisional reform (only to be shattered again and again by our marines keeping the world safe for united fruit), throw in a healthy dose of having the poor judgement to keep a northern border with a volitile southern mexico...
costa rica is also never much help, in their position as central america's banker they always seem to side with the money, that money, concentrated as it is in so few hands, has always had a corrupting influence.
only to be shattered again and again by our marines keeping the world safe for united fruit
Ah, someone who actually reads history! What a pleasure.
It really is about wealth polarization. And what happened (and keeps happening) in Honduras could one day happen here, if we're not eternally vigilant and committed to uphold the rule of law--not just for one, but for all.
(Obnviously I'm still holding my breath about war crimes investigations. Holding my breath and crossing my fingers.)
I remember the backlash to the take-over by the military in Honduras in 1974. There were several organized protests by students etc. in downtown Tegucigalpa, one of which I was caught up in when shopping. (Ha!) The clothes "boutique" owner warned me that I should hide out in the dressing room until the protests were over which I did. The sentiment was anti-American and I did not want to become auntie Samantha. I remained there for quite a while wondering if the big Ford Taurus station wagon was still in tact in the street.
Same coup, different occasion, the American Embassy was "attacked" Someone destroyed their electric generators and a bottle bomb was thrown through the high windows and burnt all the drapes. Que lastima!
As far as remaining calm, it was pure ignorance of the situation at hand. Knowing then what I subsequently learned over the years, makes me believe I would have been truly scared and even possibly more involved. It was, however, amazing how quickly life returned to "normal" when for the poor, the most important, if not the only struggle was to get something to eat. Via con Dios Honduras.
Commenting by HaloScan
