The following interview was conducted by delegation
member Rick Sterling outside a
Tegucigalpa polling station on November
18, 2012. The photo shows the interviewee, a 79 year old retired accountant and Honduran patriot.
WHAT IS THE SITUATION
IN HONDURAS?
There is a hope with
the LIBRE Party. There is an awakening of the people because of how much they
have suffered. Honduras is a country where there is almost no respect for human
rights. It is a country where there is
very little employment. Due to this lack
of work a lot of young people resort to stealing, assaulting.
Food is scarce and expensive. Our small farmers including those in the
Aguan have no land of their own. They have to work on other people's lands and
are paid very little. Others have
nothing to do.
CAN YOU COMMENT ON
THE PREVIOUS DECADES LEADING UP TO THIS POINT?
In 1963 we were
governed by Dr Ramon Villeda Morales. He was in office for six years.
At the end of his term he made an agreement with the armed forces,
effectively resulting in a self-coup.
Because of the agreement between Morales and the armed forces, the
Liberal Party candidate Modesto Rodolpho Alvarado who was an intellectual and my teacher could not ascend to the presidency
And then there was Ramon
Ernesto Cruz who was in power for just 14 months in 1972 before he was overthrown in a military coup. For most of two decades we had military governments. Since then the power has alternated between
the Liberal and National Parties. But
the people have been denied any real change or improvement.
WHAT ARE HOPES FOR
PERIOD BETWEEN NOW AND THE ELECTION IN ONE YEAR?
The government of Pepe
Lobo will continue and the economic and human rights situation in the country
will continue in the same way as the past two and a half years. The hope is that things will change when the
LIBRE Party comes to power in one year.
In that case there will be a new constitution. Then there will be more
consideration what the Honduran people really need: work, security, respect for life,
respect for human rights. Then the children and youth will be able to study and
get a good education.
WHAT IS THE
IMPORTANCE OF MODIFYING THE CONSTITUTION?
The country is held
back because there are some constitutional articles which cannot be changed. We
call
them "articles of
stone". Anyone who tried to change these was branded a traitor and could
even be imprisoned. With a new constitution, people who want to govern the
country well can rise to power and begin
to make real changes. That is our hope.
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