Honduras Background Paper

Some people hear the country Honduras and immediately picture the incredible diving offered, others feel pity and fear as they imagine the incredibly high rates of violent crimes. While both perspectives are true, Honduras has a plethora of fascinating traits. Located in Central America, Honduras’ major language spoken is Spanish, and the capital is Tegucigalpa. It also holds many historical stories leading up to what it is today, incredible geography, culture, economics, and fascinating relationships with other countries.

Honduras has the highest homicide rate in the world. (worldatlas.com) It’s a country that has been affected by imperialism multiple times throughout its history. In the early parts of the country's history, Honduras was imperialised by Spain and went through a couple of different political powers before becoming independent. During more recent times the U.S. used military force to gain control of the country in hopes to help the political uproar and failing country using imperialistic tendencies. Imperialism shaped Honduras into the country it is today by creating unnecessary wars leading to political tension, hindering the country’s economic and modern development and is continuing to shape the country by trying to reverse the adverse effect that imperialism had before.

There are many reasons why the poverty population in Honduras is exorbitant. These reasons can be explained in a macro, micro, and mezzo way. According to Gamble (2013), the practice of macro social work involves intervening in large systems to help clients (Gamble, 2013). Honduras has an extremely corrupt government. The country is as poor as it is violent. In the film, The Other Side of Immigration (2009), citizens were interviewed and asked about their feelings on their government. One man said that he does not trust his government. He also stated that he will not take part in any strikes against the government because he feels that it will do no good (Germano, 2009). Sadly, it is apparent that the majority of the population feel this way. How is a country supposed to flourish without the backing and the security of their own government?

Since 1992 the El Salvadorian economy has been trying to recover from a bitter war that left many wounds open. Between 1991 and 2002 poverty levels in the country declined significantly and many social advances were seen as school enrolment and access to health and water services increased. Therefore someone can assume that since the traumatic civil

Compounding this lack of care, Haitians also lack clean drinking water and proper sanitation systems. Less than half the population has access to clean drinking water, a rate that is only surpassed by civil war-torn African nations. Even worse, half the population of Haiti can be categorized as “food insecure,” and this malnutrition has created a generation where half of all Haitian children are undersized (IFRC, 2010). In addition, this poor sanitation and hygiene, coupled with inadequate nutrition, have contributed to exceptionally high levels of individuals with chronic, yet often at best ill-treated, conditions.

Central America has been plagued in the past with drugs, violence and poverty. This is a concerning issue because it have affected the lives of many people who now want to move away because of the death rates that has risen up because of the violence in the area. Due to the thousands corruption, poverty, and violence occurring in Central America, the Central American Government has allowed the immigration crisis to exceed in its country.

Since the early days of Central American independence, Honduras has had the tragic fate of being frequently used as a transit point or launching area for troops attacking a neighboring country. For example, Honduras played a vital role in the overthrow of President Jacobo Arbenz Guzman in Guatemala in 1954 when Honduras served as training ground. Therefore, US influence has been more noticeable in Honduras than the other countries in the region. Additionally, the long history of the US fruit companies and their control of the banana republic’s economic benefits, opened the doors to capitalism in the US and Central America, which set a solid foundation for the US government to constantly protect and advance their economic and political

Furthermore, Daniel goes on to explain that this is often a common occurrence in Southern and Central America. He also explains how this migration and the fact that many people that are sending money back to their families are hurting the economy of Honduras rather than help the economy.

A reason that the people of Honduras should be supported is because the average annual income is around a meager 580 American Dollars. According to the CIA World Factbook, “Honduras is one of the poorest countries in Latin America and has the world’s highest murder rate.” This means that most Hondurans don’t have money to buy food, let alone personal transport,

Another example, that points out this fact about the rich taking everything away “the land being grabbed in the Aguán is being taken piece by piece as part of a long-standing class project of Honduran elites” (Foreword). There is a main difference between the land grab of Honduras and the land grab of other countries is that this one factor. The land grab of Honduras was “is the extent bloody violence by Honduran elites and the determined, militant resistance on the part of the peasant movements in the Aguán” (Foreword). The land grab of

1. There are seven countries in what is considered to be Central America. Honduras is among them and possesses much history and myth, economics and resources that through time have enabled US interest in its government.

The military coup was launched by the country’s handful of ultra-wealthy families who control most of the nation’s economy. Thousands of Hondurans protested the coup, but they were physically beaten by the Honduran military. It was an indicative onset as the coup launched a dramatic shift towards brutal fascism under the “Pepe” Lobo administration. Honduras had a serious problem with violence and corruption long before Lobo took over, but his response made the problems much worse by militarizing the police force. The former Police Commissioner María Luisa Borjas admitted, “It’s scarier to meet up with five police officers on the streets than five gang members.” Mind you, Honduras has by far highest murder rate in the world with gang violence

Unemployment is considered a social problem in which has affected every country in the world. This social problem cause others issues such as poverty, drug trafficking, delinquency, economic decrease in families because millions of people are unemployed and this makes a cycle of problems in a community. In Honduras, this problem is considered the mother of the social issues occurred in this country in which is making it one of the poorest countries in the world with a high rate of unemployment. People that are the most affected in this social issue are the young, women, elderly, and people who has no experience or studies. As a social problem there are many cases of unemployment and one of those is from a woman named Raquel Nazareth.

Furthermore, the fruit companies attained massive power in Honduras by receiving concessions from government officials by offering infrastructure, improved productivity, and sometimes bribes to the government. The concession of railroads to the fruit companies gave them power over Honduras’ natural resources. Many government officials believed that giving generous concessions to lure international investors would positively transform Honduras, and that the railroads were crucial in linking the coast to the highlands while also generating revenue for other projects. Unfortunately, this sensible assumption by the government didn’t foresee the problems in allowing the fruit companies to control the infrastructure.

Para que Honduras se encuentre entre los 12 países más desarrollados debe tener un crecimiento en su producto interno bruto de al menos un 8% anual en los próximos años, y para lograr este crecimiento Honduras Debe ejercer un control gubernamental de la economía: