Dear Readers,
This posting is to apologize for not keeping up with my blog. I had several urgent personal and work related issues which precluded me from actually posting comments on my blog. During this time I have re-evaluated my commitment to you, my faithful readers, and my family/work and have decided to post on Monday, Wednesday and Fridays only, although if there is anything pressing or important I may post smaller articles on those alternate days, mostly to reflect and showcase other people's opinions regarding my beloved Honduras.
Once again my apologies for this gap in my writing.
Yours truly,
José Falck Zepeda
Estimados Lectores,
Esta nota es para disculparme por no haber publicado mis artículos en este blog desde hace un buen rato. He tenido que enfrentar asuntos personales y de trabajo urgentes que me han impedido publicar comentarios en mi blog. Durante este tiempo he re-evaluado my compromiso con ustedes, mis fieles lectores, y con my familia/trabajo y he decidido publicar solamente los Lunes, Miercoles y Viernes, aunque si hay algun asunto urgente y/o importante podré publicar articulos mas pequeños en los dias alternos, mas que todo para reflejar y apuntar las opiniones de otras personas acerca de mi amada Honduras.
Una vez mas mis disculpas.
Atentamente,
José Falck-Zepeda
Glad to read this, Jose, and I just read your piece over at LG's blog. I'm wading through Euraque's book on the influence of political developments in northern Honduras on the rest of the country. I use the word "wading" advisedly because it's densely written with almost too much detail (and acronyms!). Anyway, onward with that...
ReplyDeleteRe: your guest piece over at LG, your ideas are logical, but as I've mentioned before (and with all due respect to you), they don't get at the root issues that afflict Honduras and which have given rise to the brain (and labor) drains that you mention.
Root issues include state and personal corruption, lack of vision and national self-esteem at virtually all levels of Honduran society. Worst of all is a chronic, pervasive, and corrupt cynicism, especially amongst the political/economic elite, that has pretty much kept Honduras unchanged over the years. It remains one of the poorest and most corrupt (corrupt, as assessed by Transparency International and similar groups) countries in LA, which is tragic, and unnecessary, in my opinion.
Again, as I mention, above, your ideas are good ones, but they don't have a chance in hell of succeeding unless Pepe Lobo (and his key team members) represent a true, true, true, change in the way Honduran politics and government are going to operate.
To be clear, I don't know the new crew at all, so I can only hope that we'll see real change. If there is, if the new guys really learned anything at all from the events of the past year (and they act on lessons learned), maybe we - Honduras - have got a fighting chance.... I sure as hell hope so.
Feliz Anio, Jose, and saludos desde Quito, T
Hi T. You are so right. In fact, the piece on the diaspora is really talking about a band aid -albeit one that may help a lot of people- and one that does not get to the root of the problem...which is larger than the list you have written above. If you look at one of my earlier posting on "killers of growth" you would see all of the issues listed apply to Honduras.
ReplyDeleteIn a way I agree with you in terms of the need for a leader (be it Pepe Lobo or somebody else) to actually facilitate the process of moving forward, see the examples of Mr. Jose Figueres in Costa Rica or even the case of Pinochet in Chile who did just that...jump start the process. On the other hand, the moving forward does need the will of the people to actually move forward.
At this point, everybody needs to support Pepe Lobo with ideas, suggestions, proposals and hard criticism when appropriate. I qualify this even further, we have to demand that he succeeds. There is no other option. Although, I tend to view this government as a transition one, with the understanding that for the next elections we will have the opportunity to change things for the better by doing the "political" process better.
I hope that Pepe Lobo is indeed different and will be looking forward for him to demonstrate the country that he is indeed different. We have no other choice.
Pepe,
ReplyDeleteYou're right about needing the will of the people to move forward.
This causes me to wonder about the nature and attitudes of civil society (which I define as anyone/any group that's not the government, including ngo's, the various gremios, sindicatos, universities, businesses, think tanks, etc.).
Who in Honduras is doing any serious thinking about the sorts of things you discuss here in your blog (i.e., structural/institutional blocks to equitable economic growth, employment, etc.) and what are they doing about it?
Again, it remains very much to be seen as what the incoming government will do - or can, for that matter. "Transition", to me, signifies "nothing much is going to happen", and in that Pepe, with all do respect, I hope you're wrong (or perhaps you give it another significado).
In any event, I don't think we should let another four years slip away without having someone, either in the government or without (civil society, I mean) trying to something to reduce poverty, increase gainful employment and wages based on increases in production and/or productivity...