Honduras jail fire is sign of chaos in the original banana republic
Honduras jail fire is sign of chaos in the original banana republic
The Comayagua fire has highlighted the dysfunctional state's dismal cycle of corruption, poverty, crime and political violence
Rory Carroll, Latin America correspondent and Melissa Sanchez in Comayagua
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 21 February 2012 12.00 EST
When Honduras inspired the term "banana republic" a century ago, the description, though pejorative, had a darkly comic connotation.
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The horrific prison fire which killed 359 people last week – all of them inmates apart from one visiting wife – was just the latest sign that this once-sleepy country is enduring a crisis of state dysfunction, with tragic consequences. Last weekend, another blaze swept through three markets in Tegucigalpa, injuring 11 people and sending plumes of black smoke over the capital, symbolising for many a sense of events spiralling out of control. Then, on Monday, hundreds of relatives of the prisoners who suffocated or burned to death in the fire stormed a morgue to demand the remains. Police fired teargas to disperse them.
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A provisional government gave way to the election of President Porfirio Lobo, who has gradually gained international legitimacy, but critics say US aid focuses on military and counter-narcotics initiatives, not jobs and poverty.
Many Hondurans feel abandoned by the state, said Sanchez. "Social advances went into reverse. Faith in institutions has degenerated." Honduras, he said, was ruled by a handful of US-educated families which dominated the economy, media companies and state institutions. "They think it's theirs to run, they have a complete sense of entitlement."
More:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/feb/21/honduras-dark-days-banana-republic
