| Honduras
Newsletter Fifteen September 15, 2005 Dear Friends, The streets were gloriously clear driving back into Tegucigalpa from the Canada tonight. Remnants of the last two chaotic days are in the streets…boulders are pushed out of the intersections into the gutters, trash (more than usual) litters the intersections, and the vestiges of burned tires are glued to the streets. Everyone is still certainly edgy and a little tense. This morning marked the end of one of the biggest protests Honduras has seen in years. Fuel prices are a hot topic everywhere internationally recently, but the 17 lempira (about $1) gas tax increase almost sent Hondurans through the roof. The average taxi driver, for example, rents his taxi. He is required, daily, to impart a sum to the owner. With the tax increase, many taxi drivers could not even afford to pay the daily quota, let alone contribute money to the family earnings. Elevated fuel prices eventually lead to inflated transportation costs and the general population is quickly affected. Tuesday afternoon, the taxi drivers took over the city center. Congress met the next morning in an emergency meeting to discuss lowering prices. They negotiated with transportation leaders. They agreed to drop prices seven lempiras. The people were not satisfied. They began to seize more streets. They blocked street intersections with busses and cars parked in zigzags across the roads. They dragged tree branches and rolled boulders across the asphalt. The entire city slowly clogged to paralysis. Professionals and students, mothers with their children, and the elderly walked miles through the streets trying to reach their jobs. Businesses closed. Schools closed. The government didn’t respond. The nurses struck in the biggest hospital in the country leaving patient care to the medical students…anything to get the government’s attention, other cities began striking, la Ceiba, Danli, la Esperanza…and still nothing. The fuel tax had been on the slow rise for several months: one lempira one week, two the next. Food prices had also been increasing and families were stretched thin. Some say that after all the violence and police corruption, desperation and just general feeling of insecurity, the voice of the people exploded in one single irate roar. The final decision, most will say, was not motivated by compassion for the people and their dire reality, but by the upcoming presidential elections in November. Many say that if the Nationalist Party (which is in power) had ignored the cry of the people in this moment, it would have cost them the election. Thus, negotiations were fought out and in the early morning Thursday hours, a decision was reached and the fuel tax was lowered 17 lempiras. Historically in Honduras, the voice of the people has been quiet and passive. Many of the other Central American countries have much more organized worker movements and students movements that express a unified voice of the people. This week’s protest was an uncharacteristic and passionately desperate cry of the poor. Yesterday afternoon, I drove out to the Canada to lead worship in the community. We worshiped and then sat together long into the evening discussing the events from the last few days. These rural farmers, thin and weathered, argued and shared their opinions in the safe space of the church. I write about this protest and this reality because it affects all Hondurans, especially the poor (with whom the Lutheran church works). The church here, our Church, accompanies people in their fight for justice. Please pray for economic justice for the Honduran poor. And know that the poor in Honduras remember the horror of Hurricane Mitch and pray for those affected by Hurricane Katrina. With Hope, Lindsay Lindsay Mack Iglesia Cristiana Luterana de Honduras Apartado Postal 2861 Tegucigalpa M.D.C. Honduras, C.A. |