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<div>Forwarded by Porfirio Quintano. Yesterday was inauguration day for
the fraudulently elected president in Honduras, Juan Orlando Hernandez.
The street name for him is "Juan Robando" - "John the robber." What if
they gave an inauguration, and nobody came???</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>(Maybe everyone was in the streets protesting.)</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Charlie Hinton<br>
</div>
<img src="cid:part1.06040205.06050600@freedomarchives.org" alt=""
height="326" width="436"><br>
<br>
<br>
<b><big><big>Congress’ Last Stand: Privatizations among New Laws in
Honduras </big></big></b>
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<td valign="top"> <span class="small"> Written by Sandra Cuffe<br>
<b><small><small><small><small><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://upsidedownworld.org/main/honduras-archives-46/4668-congress-last-stand-privatizations-among-new-laws-in-honduras">http://upsidedownworld.org/main/honduras-archives-46/4668-congress-last-stand-privatizations-among-new-laws-in-honduras</a></small></small></small></small></b><br>
</span> </td>
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<td class="createdate" valign="top"> Tuesday, 28 January 2014
12:11 </td>
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<td valign="top">
<p><span style="font-family: georgia,palatino;"><span
style="font-size: medium;"><span
style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">A
new President has taken the helm in Honduras, but the more significant
developments took place in Congress, where outgoing representatives
spent their last few days passing a barrage of laws in a frantic final
dash.</span></span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: georgia,palatino;"><span
style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p>
<p
style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"
dir="ltr"><span style="font-family: georgia,palatino;"><span
style="font-size: medium;"><span
style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Dubbed
a “legislative hemorrhage,” more than 100 laws and almost as many
contracts were passed between January 17 and January 20 following two
weeks of already unprecedented activity that included Constitutional
reforms. The new laws cover substantial ground, from electoral and
police reform to shrimp farming and classified documents. The avalanche
of legislation also includes the privatization of public utilities and
infrastructure.</span></span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: georgia,palatino;"><span
style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p>
<p
style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"
dir="ltr"><span style="font-family: georgia,palatino;"><span
style="font-size: medium;"><span
style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">“In
no way do they stand to benefit the living conditions of the Honduran
people. These laws were made to favour the local groups of power first
of all, and secondly, transnational corporations,” Carlos Amador, a
teacher and resistance movement activist, told </span><span
style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Upside
Down World</span><span
style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">.</span></span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: georgia,palatino;"><span
style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p>
<p
style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"
dir="ltr"><span style="font-family: georgia,palatino;"><span
style="font-size: medium;"><span
style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The
National Party maintains control of the executive branch, following the
November 2013 elections that took place amid widespread reports of
fraud and intimidation. On January 27, Juan Orlando Hernández, former
President of Congress until he stepped down to run, took the reins from
Porfirio Lobo Sosa, who was elected in contested elections held after
Manuel Zelaya was ousted in a June 2009 coup d’état.</span></span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: georgia,palatino;"><span
style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p>
<p
style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"
dir="ltr"><span style="font-family: georgia,palatino;"><span
style="font-size: medium;"><span
style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">In
Congress, though, new political parties have disrupted the country’s
long-standing two party status quo. The ruling National Party took 48
seats, while the Liberal Party, reduced to the factions that supported
the coup, came out of the elections with only 27 seats. The Libre party
that grew out of resistance to the coup and includes both former
Liberal Party members and social movement activists gained 37
representatives in Congress, including Zelaya. The new Anti-Corruption
Party (PAC) won 13 seats, and three minor parties each have one
representative in Congress.</span></span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: georgia,palatino;"><span
style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p>
<p
style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"
dir="ltr"><span style="font-family: georgia,palatino;"><span
style="font-size: medium;"><span
style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The
last-ditch effort to ram new laws through Congress in the final days of
the Lobo Sosa administration wasn’t entirely unforeseen. Bertha
Cáceres, General Coordinator of the Civic Council of Popular and
Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (COPINH), saw it coming back in
November 2013.</span></span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: georgia,palatino;"><span
style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p>
<p
style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"
dir="ltr"><span style="font-family: georgia,palatino;"><span
style="font-size: medium;"><span
style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">“These
are the same people that passed the Charter Cities, the mining law, the
intelligence law, the illegal mining, hydro and oil concessions –
everything,” Cáceres told </span><span
style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Upside
Down World</span><span
style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">
in an interview in Tegucigalpa around election time. “What they’re
going to do is safeguard the illegal legislative framework that they
have created to guarantee the interests of corporations.”</span></span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: georgia,palatino;"><span
style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p>
<p
style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"
dir="ltr"><span style="font-family: georgia,palatino;"><span
style="font-size: medium;"><span
style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Still,
the scope and sheer quantity of legislation passed within a few days
was staggering. Decrees placing the national power and telephone
companies on a path to privatization were included in the mix.</span></span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: georgia,palatino;"><span
style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p>
<p
style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"
dir="ltr"><span style="font-family: georgia,palatino;"><span
style="font-size: medium;"><span
style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The
outgoing Congress passed the General Law of the Electrical Industry in
a single debate on January 20, literally on the eve of the transition
of Congress. The law mandates the conversion of the National Electrical
Energy Company (ENEE) into a private corporation and then into separate
generation, transmission, and distribution companies – all by mid-2015.</span></span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: georgia,palatino;"><span
style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p>
<p
style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"
dir="ltr"><span style="font-family: georgia,palatino;"><span
style="font-size: medium;"><span
style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Shares
in the new ENEE subsidiaries will be, at least initially, owned by the
State, but they won’t be the only players in the ring. The legislation
allows for other companies to participate and compete in the
transmission and distribution of electricity, and creates an Electrical
Energy Regulatory Commission (CREE) to regulate the market.</span></span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: georgia,palatino;"><span
style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p>
<p
style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"
dir="ltr"><span style="font-family: georgia,palatino;"><span
style="font-size: medium;"><span
style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">HONDUTEL,
the State telephone company, met a similar fate. On January 19,
Congress approved a contract handing the financial administration of
the company to a banking institution. Aside from managing finances in
trust, the institution will be tasked with a proposal to restructure
the company. Once a new business model has been determined, HONDUTEL is
to become a private corporation in which the government, workers, “or
other entities” may participate.</span></span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: georgia,palatino;"><span
style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p>
<p
style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"
dir="ltr"><span style="font-family: georgia,palatino;"><span
style="font-size: medium;"><span
style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">“These
companies were created to serve the Honduran people,” said Amador.
“Right now the policy of the government is to privatize any and all
State institutions, and this goes against the interests of the people.”</span></span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: georgia,palatino;"><span
style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p>
<p
style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"
dir="ltr"><span style="font-family: georgia,palatino;"><span
style="font-size: medium;"><span
style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Along
with all the laws, several new public-private partnership contracts
were passed in January 2014, some of them in closed Cabinet sessions.
They include immigration services, such as issuing passports,, the
Property Institute’s property administration system, road
infrastructure in San Pedro Sula, and the recuperation of losses in
water and sewer management.</span></span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: georgia,palatino;"><span
style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p>
<p
style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"
dir="ltr"><span style="font-family: georgia,palatino;"><span
style="font-size: medium;"><span
style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The
contracts are regulated by the Commission for the Promotion of
Public-Private Alliances (Coalianza), created in 2010 during the Lobo
Sosa administration. Coalianza’s portfolio also includes port
facilities, aerodrome construction, energy generation, stretches of
highway around the country, and more.</span></span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: georgia,palatino;"><span
style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p>
<p
style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"
dir="ltr"><span style="font-family: georgia,palatino;"><span
style="font-size: medium;"><span
style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Amador
points out that along with basic services, key strategic assets for the
sovereignty and security of the country – tax collection, passport
issuing, ports and airports – are now either privatized or in the hands
of public-private partnerships.</span></span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: georgia,palatino;"><span
style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p>
<p
style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"
dir="ltr"><span style="font-family: georgia,palatino;"><span
style="font-size: medium;"><span
style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Coalianza
commission members were determined by the outgoing Congress, months
before the existing commissioners’ terms were up. Coalianza
commissioner José Antonio Pineda’s term was renewed by Congress, but he
was caught on camera voting – as though he were an elected Congress
representative – for public-private partnership contracts managed by
Coalianza. He has since resigned, and the Public Prosecutor’s Office is
investigating what many consider a blatant usurpation of office.</span></span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: georgia,palatino;"><span
style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p>
<p
style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"
dir="ltr"><span style="font-family: georgia,palatino;"><span
style="font-size: medium;"><span
style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">After
days of almost nonstop legislation, the new Congress representatives
convened on January 21 to begin the process of transition required in
order to swear in the President the following week. Despite the
organization of an opposition bloc by Libre and PAC, the Liberal Party
supported the National Party’s steering committee nominations in
exchange for revisiting the list of products covered by an increased
sales tax. When members of Libre and PAC were not allowed to speak or
present their own nominations, a loud and energetic display of
opposition ensued.</span></span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: georgia,palatino;"><span
style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p>
<p
style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"
dir="ltr"><span style="font-family: georgia,palatino;"><span
style="font-size: medium;"><span
style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Union,
social movement, and Libre activists protested in the plaza below
Congress before and during its transition, denouncing the slew of laws
and the silencing of the new opposition. Thousands of people also took
to the streets on January 27, to protest Hernández’ swearing in
ceremony. The Libre party did not attend the official event, marching
instead with their National Popular Resistance Front (FNRP) bases.</span></span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: georgia,palatino;"><span
style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p>
<p
style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"
dir="ltr"><span style="font-family: georgia,palatino;"><span
style="font-size: medium;"><span
style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">“What’s
coming in Honduras are major struggles,” said Amador. Community
struggles to defend their natural resources from exploitation are on
the rise, he says, but the country may also reach a breaking point in
terms of insecurity and unemployment, with the impoverished majority
increasingly unable to meet basic needs for subsistence.</span></span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: georgia,palatino;"><span
style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p>
<p
style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"
dir="ltr"><span style="font-family: georgia,palatino;"><span
style="font-size: medium;"><span
style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">With
greater organized struggles, Amador expects increased repression,
possibly with the involvement of new specialized military and police
units, not to mention the new president’s campaign promise of putting
“a soldier on every corner.”</span></span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: georgia,palatino;"><span
style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p>
<p
style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"
dir="ltr"><span style="font-family: georgia,palatino;"><span
style="font-size: medium;"><span
style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">
“The country is militarized more now than ever,” Amador told </span><span
style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Upside
Down World</span><span
style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">.</span></span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: georgia,palatino;"><span
style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p>
<p
style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"
dir="ltr"><span style="font-family: georgia,palatino;"><span
style="font-size: medium;"><span
style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">If
the Liberal-National Party alliance formed to elect the new
congressional steering committee remains intact during the Hernández
administration, they will retain the majority needed to ensure the
onslaught of new laws are not repealed. With an energetic opposition in
Congress, there will undoubtedly be more debate. However, in order to
put a halt to the wave of privatizations and effect real change,
pressure from below will be more vital than ever.</span></span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: georgia,palatino;"><span
style="font-size: medium;"><span
style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Sandra
Cuffe is a freelance journalist with a penchant for coffee and geckos.
She tweets as </span><a href="https://twitter.com/Sandra_Cuffe"
style="text-decoration: none;"><span
style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: underline;">@Sandra_Cuffe</span></a><span
style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">.</span></span></span></p>
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