So I was going to try and give an actual educated and informed report of some of the controversial political decisions that have been made in the past week or are in the process of being made. But all I have time for is my very limited and biased perspective of what is happening with the government. My completely unbiased reliable sources (cough...sarcasm) are my host family and my Spanish teacher, and how I understand what they tell me in Spanish. If you want a more informed version of the political news in Honduras, though probably not less biased, I suggest doing your own research on the internet. So here goes with what I think I know: President Manuel Zelaya, nicknamed Mel, has made changes in the government leadership; such as the leaders of the Police department and the Health department. He is also proposing to reform the election law so that he can extend his term of presidency, which will be completed by 2010--in two years. This apparently isn't enough time to implement the changes that Mel has planned out for Honduras. Obviously you could see how this could create waves among the people of Honduras, particularly with those who do not agree with Mel's style of leadership and decisions.
Also, for a reason I haven't learned yet, the U.S. embassador in Honduras is leaving. I believe he is going to Spain. This has also been on the news a lot, but I'm not exactly sure what the implications of this change are.
We have learned that even small countries like Honduras keep up with the politics of the States. Especially with the anticipation of the upcoming presidential elections this year. Though it certainly isn't a necessity for me, I hope that I can keep myself somewhat informed of what's happening with the possible candidates. And I think it would be good to learn how such a change in our country affects other nations, such as Honduras of course.
One last thing: Honduras has been graced with the presence of Hugo Chaves. Today Chaves, the president of Venezuela, arrived in Honduras. Aparently he and "Mel" are good friends, or at least allies. And the two of them are also allies of Fidel Castro in Cuba. Depending on who you talk to here in Honduras you will find people who really do not like this trio and those who do support them. We are particularly interested in Mel's relationship with Chaves because one of the YES teams is there right now doing there outreach. We got to know and hang out with the YES Venezuela team in particular because we studied Spanish together. It will be interesting to see what happens, if anything, within the government here and it's relationships to other nations, and nations' leaders.
Join us in prayer for the government of Honduras.
1 comment:
So our team all guessed that Josh wrote this post because it was political, and about fell out of our chairs when we heard it was karen. But Alyse said as the bunk buddie, she wasn't surprised.
It's good to know that Hondorous and Venezuela are connected in more than one way via the Yes-Step teams, that the presidents are friends too.
You guys have really been putting some time in with spanish and other stuff, nice work.
Miss you guys and language study. Keep up the good work
Brett
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