An Anti-Corruption Charade in Honduras

 Many Honduran people are protesting with torches because they claim the president, Juan Orlando Hernandez, is corrupt. They want Mr. Hernandez to resign. These protests began last year when a journalist revealed that millions of public health system dollars were used in the president’s campaign.

The reaction of the president was to invite protesters to have a dialogue. However, some of the protest leaders did not attend the meeting. Subsequently, Mr. Hernández proposed a government investigation to stop the protests, but it failed. As a result of this failure, the Organization of America States (O.A.S) stepped in and designed a plan to fight against corruption and criminal impunity in Honduras. However, Honduran protesters claimed that the O.A.S plan was not as strong as the recent Guatemala intervention plan for corruption. Therefore, the protesters rejected the O.A.S. as a helper to fight Honduran corruption.

Fifty four members of the Honduras Congress wrote a letter to the U.S Secretary of State, John Kerry, asking for support. After this request by the Honduran Congress, the United States government continues supporting Honduras and others countries from Central America with money for increased military and police services. The mission of these services is to decrease the criminal impunity in Honduras. Protesters assert that they are going to double their protest efforts and to ask for support from the United Nations. The Honduran protesters will not give up until they receive answers.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/16/opinion/an-anti-corruption-charade-in-honduras.html?ref=americas