Honduras: A misunderstood country fighting for democracy

Ralph Waldo Emerson once said:

“To be great is to be misunderstood”

Honduras is a great country and we are being misunderstood.

If you wish to understand our great country, you have to see us with a different set of eyes ,or to the degree of just going blind. Then you will see and feel the real Honduras. Yes, it is difficult, especially with all the media giving us bad press and stating how undemocratic and brutal the process has been. But, if you try harder, you will be able to see, how great we are and why: what happened, happened. It may take you so much effort, that you will give up, as a result the only way to fully understand what is happening, is to live Honduras [as "La Gringa from Ceiba" did].

We are not experienced as many countries of the world, especially in the topics of democratic and international affairs. The fact of the matter is, we’re still a young democratic state, but we are growing. As a result of our inexperience, [I guess] every four year we [the people of Honduras] make a mistake by electing individuals to mange our country. Many of these individuals are not the best for that job and is why they can only stay four years. As a result, we hope that we can move on from our mistake (and maybe by chance), find somebody mediocre enough to do a couple of good things and keep us floating. This way, “we can hold the fort” until we are enough to fight back and not depend on a government and foreign help. Enough to organically fix what many think is unfixable, with one eye to the present and another to the future, while starting to move forward. Jose Manuel Zelaya Rosales, was one of those mistakes and he wanted to stay, indefinably and suck up the life out of our country and turn it into a narco state. All this, with the help of his homologous from Venezuela, Cuba, Bolivia and Nicaragua.

By 2006, we were almost on the right course, our debt was becoming less of a burden, inflation was stable and public expenses were controlled. Also, we had recovered from the banking crisis from some years ago, to put it simply: the future looked a bit brighter than usual. Fast forward to 2009 and we went back 10 years, congruent to the days after Hurricane Mitch. Not because of what happened on the mourning of the 28th of June, but because Zelaya refocused to stay in power indefinitely. In the process he was using any resource available of Honduras, to achieve his goal. In his change of focus, a transformation occured: from being a parasite (organism that takes resources from the host, without the host receiving nothing) to a parasitoid (same as parasite, but eventually kills the host in the process). Zelaya staying in power, will eventually mean: death to Honduras, as we know it and as democracy.

The treatment that Zelaya received was not the best and was more a result of panic and inexperience. I will not like to be treated that way, however I’m NOT Zelaya and Zelaya is not me: because every human being is unique. Still, we tend to mirror the actions of those that are around us, and Zelaya made ties with people, that also became parasitoids in their countries, thus becoming one himself. There is a saying in Spanish:

dime con quien andas y te dire quien eres

Translation: tell me who you hang out with and I will tell you who you are. Well, to see who Zelaya really is, just look around him.

Source: El Heraldo

Again, we are an inexperienced country in many political and international affairs, but we are not dumb. Eventually we had enough with Zelaya and yes we made some mistakes on how we handle the situation, but our intentions are good. We want to turn the ship and stop it from sinking. Even if the process is a bit messy and still make more mistakes, gives us time, because who else will do it? Everybody is already busy with their problems, that is why the international community and media is just talk (and talk is cheap). At the end of the day “what doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger” and as you can see, Honduras is becoming stronger everyday, to the dislike of many.

Source: La Prensa

To the International Community  and the Media.

Leaders of the International Community, that condemn the actions toward Zelaya and don’t accept the current government as valid.

Has your country has never made a mistake, even when others warn you? Remember the days when you where scrutinized, for every word and action by the international community? Or remember when you felt alone and misunderstood?

To the media, that only shows sensationalist images ad ask “Why” to everything, instead researching: WHY this really happened. So, now I ask:

WHY your interest is to criticize and sell, when your duty is to inform? WHY don’t you stop pointing and screaming, and start listening to what we have say? Why mold the news to your advantage? Why don’t you look with other eyes, instead of judging us?

As the bible says: “Let he without sin, throw the first rock”

A demand

We are inexperienced, we made mistakes and that is why we need and demand more time. We ask for the same treatment you will like and had, when in a crisis. We are misunderstood because we did something unusual. We figured out that the real face of democracy is not in a figure called president, is not in a book called the constitution full of blind spots, or neither in the “leader of the free world”. The real face of democracy is when the majority of a country come together to have one voice.

and we just have spoken, please listen.