Better a full color one, then a hundred without color

A saying quoted by one of my favorite columnists, Mrs. Gloria Leticia Pineda, is to the point about our need to strongly put our position as Honduras to the world. My translation  is quite bad but could not do better..."mejor un colorado que cien descoloridos"

I agree with many things in Mrs. Gloria Leticia Pineda article in La Prensa of today where she argues that President Lobo should start governing and trust our national capacity to produce and make it as an independent country. Certainly, President Lobo needs to send messages to national and international investors that Zelaya is gone from our life and that the uncertainty introduced by Zelaya and his followers is being addressed through appropriate policies including that of respecting the Constitution, law and order, respect for the separation of powers, and equal protection under the law. This message has to be acted on with concrete steps to create the investment climate.

Please President Lobo do not dismiss our voices who are giving you constructive and well meaning advice. We want you to succeed as we know that your success as President will shape the future of our country for years to come. We want your strong leadership, that will steer the country to prosperity. We do not need, nor want, the future that Mr. Zelaya was promoting, that of a tyrant wannabe, who sought to destroy everything that a free, democratic and independent country, like Honduras, aspires to be as soon as possible.

We cannot ignore the examples of those that support Zelaya, who are blatantly demanding a return to "democracy" in Honduras, but some of them are not even remotely close to one. If anybody can tell me that Cuba and Venezuela are democracies...well I guess there are people out there who are delusional...

One needed political development...power to municipalities

We desperately need true decentralization and power devolution to the true stakeholders in the political process...we the people....

This starts by returning power to the smallest political structure we have in Honduras: the municipalities.

As written in an article by former Minister of the Presidency, Mr. Luis Consenza Jimenez, a person I respect a lot due to his capacity:

"In the end, the courageous action of our country-kin who presented the unconstitutionality lawsuit (against the "Estatuto del Docente") makes me think that not everything is lost. That we can still wake up and demand that justice is done and respect to the Constitution and our Rights, including those of municipalities. If we strengthen our families and municipalities, surely we will later be able to strengthen our national entities."

Well written, Mr. Consenza, well written.

Four very strong opinions regarding President Lobo's administration

My strongest belief is that Honduras needs to move on and become a prosperous nation. This process had to start with the success of the administration that took over after the Zelaya debacle. It really does not matter whether it was Lobo, Santos, Martinez or Avila; who had won the elections, what we needed was a successful administration that would allow us to rebuild and plan for the future riding on the belief and conviction of respecting the Constitution and having (finally) entered the era of law and order in Honduras.

Thus my expressed commitment to the current administration to ensure its success, whomever it where, to succced as the constitutionally appointed president arising from our elections in November 2009. I am however quite puzzled at the current actions from President Lobo, as I am having a great difficulty seeing this administration having the vision and will to move the country forward. Rather I am seeing more of the same vices slowly creeping into the actions and reactions of the Executive and the President himself. I honestly think (desesperately) that I need to be proven wrong in this perception.

Here are four very strong criticisms of the current administrations actions, especially with regard to Mr. Zelaya. These are from Juan Ramon Martinez (article in La Tribuna ), from Gaspar Vallecillo (article in El Heraldo), from Armando Cerrato (Article in La Tribuna), and that of Carlos A. Medina http://www.latribuna.hn/web2.0/?p=138086

Please, Mr. Lobo, although we hope that your actions are part of a strategy that we are completely ignorant for being outside the loop, or that these actions have a purpose, please do not ignore the many voices that are building up. Remember, we cannot sacrifice the Constitution, the separation of power, law and order, trying to obtain short term gains. Let stand strong as we have the moral ground as we respected our constitution.
If we are wrong please prove us wrong...

The Rule of the Law - Michael P. Fay's caning in Singapore

In case you do not remember, Michael P. Fay is an American who's brief shot to fame came from his sentence to caning in Singapore as an 18-year old who was convicted of theft and vandalizing private and public property. Mr. Fay, a student at the Singapore American School was convicted for vandalizing cars in addition to stealing road signs to four months in jail, a fine of 3,500 Singapore dollars (US$2,414) and six strokes of a cane in the buttocks in a public place. After requests for leniency  by the US government, the Singapore President of the time, Ong Teng Cheong, reduced the number of strokes from SIX to FOUR, as a sign of good will to President Bill Clinton. The sentence was carried out May 5th 1994 at the Queenstown Remand Centre. After his sentence Mr. Fay left Singapore for good.

What does Mr. Fay's conviction and sentence in Singapore have to do with us in Honduras? Plenty. This is a sign of unwavering respect for the law and the un-ambivalent carrying out of justice in a country, in spite of external pressures. You may disagree that the penalty was excessive in Mr. Fay's case, but the matter of fact is that the rule of the law was respected and carried out without hesitation.


We, in Honduras, need to learn this lesson from Singapore, especially now that President Lobo is apparently considering putting ours laws to the side in order to gain international acceptance, and allow Mr. Zelaya to roam free in Honduras without facing justice. The Supreme Court, Congress and the Ministerio Publico, need to stand together in one voice and say "Yes, Mr. Zelaya is free to return anytime he wants. This is constitutional right. However,once he sets foot in Honduras he will be arrested and put under the jurisdiction of the legal system, unless his attorneys organize his voluntary presence in front of a judge - which by the way has to be approved in advance by a judge- an the submit to eventual judgement by the legal system. This process is contemplated within Honduran law.

Anything less, sends the message that the executive branch dominates other branches of government. This is a break from the idea of separation of powers and independence of the branches of government, which are the pillars of constitutional democracies. We cannot allow this to happen.