Dear readers, as usual during February, I will be away in Honduras most of the month with my usual volunteer projects, the International Health Service of Minnesota medical brigade in villages around La Esperanza, visits to the blind school in Tegucigalpa and the Teleton rehab center in Choluteca, assistance to my scholarship students, a pat on the back for my village health promoters, and others, so please stand by for a report in March. A few items to mention before I leave.

Last night, on the way to meeting a friend for dinner, I happened across a big party featuring formally-dressed guests, valet parking, and purple strobe lights taking place in the north hall of our neighborhood’s venerable Eastern Market. Fortunately, it was an unseasonably warm evening with clear skies, facilitating functioning of the outdoor cooking in tents set up in the alley behind the market. So what was the occasion? A party celebrating the newly formed Purple Strategies bipartisan lobbying firm, one that caters to issues and their supporters across party lines, hence the purple blending of red and blue. Certainly such issues exist and many citizens are frankly tired of the extremes of partisanship now hobbling the political process. It will be interesting to see what issues this organization undertakes.

Riding by downtown DC, I saw the Occupy tents in Freedom Plaza, looking orderly, but placed very close together and filling up all the space, leaving no room for anyone else to enjoy the park. Supposedly, the National Park Service, which is in charge of the area, prohibits sleeping there. However, that’s been said for quite a while now, but the prohibition has not been enforced so far. A judge has apparently ruled against some of the Park Service’s attempts to prohibit sleeping.

In another blow against Honduras, Indiana University has cancelled a 10-year exchange program with the Honduran National Autonomous University over security concerns.

An article entitled “Stateless” in The Economist (Dec. 31, 2011), points out that Dominican-born individuals of Haitian ancestry are not considered Dominican nor does Haiti claim them, hence are considered stateless. They cannot get birth certificates or passports and, as consequence, often cannot enroll in school, get married or have a driver’s license, or travel outside the country.

Here is a recent statement from Amnesty International, where I swerve as volunteer coordinator for the Caribbean for AI-USA:

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL

PUBLIC STATEMENT 27 January 2012

AI Index: AMR 19/002/2012

Brazilian Government must defend the rights of Yoani Sánchez, Cuban blogger and all other dissidents, journalists and human rights activists

The news that Brazil has issued a visa for Yoani Sánchez, the Cuban blogger

and human rights activist, to visit the country for a film festival is an important

step in recognising her right to freedom of movement. The Cuban authorities

must now grant her permission to travel to Brazil to attend the screening of a

documentary by Brazilian documentary-maker Dado Galvão in Jequié, Bahia

State, on 10 February. The film features the story of Yoani Sánchez and other

bloggers.

Amnesty International is calling on the Brazilian government to intervene with

the Cuban authorities so that Yoani Sanchez is given permission to travel freely

to and from Cuba. On 20 January 2012 Amnesty International wrote to Brazil’s

Foreign Minister Antonio Patriota, calling on the Brazilian government to

intervene in this case and to discuss human rights violations in Cuba. (see

letter http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/AMR19/001/2012/pt)

President Dilma Rousseff will be visiting Cuba on 31 January 2012. Amnesty International urges her to raise Yoeni Sánchez’ case with the Cuban authorities as well as the issue of freedom of expression, association, assembly andmovement which is of serious concern. The case of Yoani Sánchez and her

visit to Brazil gives the Brazilian authorities an opportunity to engage on those

issues with the Cuban government.

The Cuban authorities continue to severely restrict the freedom of expression,

assembly, and association of political dissidents, journalists and human rights

activists. Dissidents, journalists and human rights activists are subject to

arbitrary house arrest and other restrictions to prevent them from carrying out

legitimate and peaceful activities. In addition, the Cuban government is using

the denial of exit permits as a punitive measure against government critics and

dissidents.

Amnesty International trusts that President Rousseff will use her upcoming

visit to Cuba to reinforce Brazil’s increasing global influence in the promotion

and protection of human rights.

Hello folks, I will be leaving soon for my annual trip to Honduras, but will try to post another letter beforehand,

Just heard that Honduras has raised its fees for tourists, which does not seem like such a wise move, given the country’s unfortunate fame as a dangerous place with the highest murder rate in the hemisphere. Instead of just an exit fee of $37, now there is an entrance fee of $23 and an exit fee of $54, so they get us coming and going.

Our DC local Spanish-language press has an article about the departure of Peace Corps from Honduras. I have wondered since if PC might not have overreacted in the Honduras matter. Of course, since a volunteer was shot, even though she is now recovering, that is very serious and PC would not want to chance any such further incidents. But it's also true that PC service has never been entirely safe, although the murder, suicide, and rape stats are fairly comparable to those on US college campuses, which, unless murder is involved, rarely come to media attention and colleges like to keep it that way. I couldn't help thinking that after almost 50 years, throughout CA's civil wars, through hurricanes and Zelaya's ouster and return, through other incidents of gunshot wounds, rapes, and robberies, PCVs have remained in Honduras. At what point do you pull the plug and take preventive action? Certainly, no one wants a PCV to be killed or seriously injured. But I couldn't help wondering if the fact that the Honduras country director involved in this decision had never been a volunteer or PC employee before might have played a role? It's regrettable that the country has become more violent and that volunteers may be in greater danger, but it's also a tragedy that volunteers are leaving Honduras and may soon leave neighboring countries.

In an op ed in the LA Times, (Jan. 16, 2012), a current Peace Corps volunteer in Guatemala, commenting on all the recent negative publicity about the dangers faced by volunteers in Central America, assures his mother and readers, that “Guatemala is not Afghanistan. Not even close.” For the full article, go to http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-metzker-peace-corps-in-central-america-20120116,0,5317022.story.

For more on the Peace Corps departure from Honduras in The Miami Herald see article below.

On a more positive note, an article (“Hong Kong in Honduras”) appearing in the December 10, 2011 issue of The Economist discusses President Porfirio Lobo’s plan to establish semi-autonomous “charter cities” with their own security and rules, along the lines advocated by New York university economics professor Paul Romer. The first such city may be developed in the area of Trujillo, on the northern Caribbean coast.

Members of our local Amnesty International group got this good news about the the letters we have bee sending to Patrick, our Nigerian prisoner:

We have spoken to Patrick's brother. He told us that at the end of last year, Patrick received over 1,000 cards and letters from Amnesty International activists, which he was pleased about. The solidarity cards and letters have made huge positive impact on his situation in prison. He feels proud among his fellow inmates. He's regarded as "the big man" in the yard. The cards and letters he receives from Amnesty members globally have led to him being given special treatment by the prison warders. He's not maltreated and his condition in the prison has improved positively since the start of his campaign. Patrick's brother told us that the solidarity cards made him feel human again and he feels special knowing that there are people all over the world showing concern for his life and safety.

My son Jonathan, now in his 30s and living in Honolulu, has gone back to college full-time. He was adopted from Colombia at age 1 and I have told him that if he learns passable Spanish, we’ll take a trip back his birth country together. We last were there in 1985 when he was 11. Now he tells me that his Spanish teacher in his first semester of Spanish is from Japan, which doesn't sound too promising. I hope she has the right accent, because members of the Japanese Peace Corps I knew in Honduras had a heck of time pronouncing Spanish. Well, at least he will get the grammar. I'm sorry my kids resisted learning Spanish when they were young, when it would have been so much easier. My daughters are also in college part-time, adding to previous coursework, but not studying Spanish.

The Boston Globe reports that Joe Kennedy III, a 31-year-old prosecutor and son of former Rep. Joe Kennedy, might run for the Democratic nomination of the redrawn Barney Frank district seat. Kennedy, a Harvard Law School graduate, was in the DR as a Peace Corps volunteer. If he runs and wins, he would be the fifth former volunteer in Congress. He would also be the first in the fourth generation of Kennedys to thrust himself into electoral politics. And he is the only one of the Kennedy/Shriver clan to have joined the Peace Corps.

Forgot to mention last time that The Washington Post, on its editorial page on New Year’s Day, reminded readers that a local resident, Alan Gross, was starting his 3rd year in prison for having brought electronic equipment into Cuba, equipment cleared by Cuban customs, which charged him duty on the items, For that, he was sentenced to 15 years. Of course, he was arrested precisely to be used as a bargaining chip for the release of the Cuban Five, four of whom are still in prison in the US and one is out on a three-year parole, but not allowed to leave the country during that time.

Meanwhile, a dissident hunger striker has died in Cuba. Arrested in November after a peaceful protest in the eastern town of Contramaestre, he was 31-year-old Wilman Villar Mendoza, a human rights activist whose wife belonged to the Ladies in White. He was given a four-year sentence for refusal to obey an officer, resistance, and assault, and began a hunger strike in prison, where, it was alleged, he was treated as a common criminal, thrown naked into a humid punishment cell, deprived of food and water, and refused medical assistance until he was near death. He died on January 18, 2012 in a hospital surrounded by military guards and his widow was reportedly denied access to his body. Local dissidents’ homes were also surrounded. Amnesty International has protested Mendoza’s arrest and death. On January 20, three Cubans designated as prisoners of conscience by Amnesty were released.

As a Catholic, I’m not particularly gloating, in fact, am uneasy, about the

Episcopal parishes that are moving wholesale to Catholicism. They are allowed to have married priests, but we “born” Catholics are not. It’s high time, in my opinion, that married priests be allowed across-the-board and also women priests. Pedophilia would be less common and the priest shortage would be alleviated, not to mention that it would be a fairer system, more in line with present-day realities.

Not satisfied with the mandate to teach creationism in public schools, some evangelicals are now pushing for the teaching of climate change denial. Come on folks, do we have to perpetuate ignorance from one generation to the next? What’s the point of having scientific inquiry?

As the political campaign season continues, I am struck by how easily manipulated voters and the public are, by rumors, sound bites, and appeals to emotion. It’s not only dictators who manipulate the common man.

Peace Corps pullout a new blow to Honduras

By FREDDY CUEVAS and ADRIANA GOMEZ LICON

The Miami Herald, Jan. 18, 2012

All 158 Peace Corps volunteers in Honduras left the country on Monday, weeks after the United States announced that it would pull them out for safety reasons.

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras -- The U.S. government's decision to pull out all its Peace Corps volunteers from Honduras for safety reasons is yet another blow to a nation still battered by a coup and recently labeled the world's most deadly country. Neither U.S. nor Honduran officials have said what specifically prompted them to withdraw the 158 Peace Corps volunteers, which the U.S. State Department said was one of the largest missions in the world last year.

It is the first time Peace Corps missions have been withdrawn from Central America since civil wars swept the region in the 1970s and 1980s. The Corps closed operations in Nicaragua from 1979 to 1991 and in El Salvador from 1980 to 1993 for safety and security reasons, but has since returned to both countries. But the wave of violence and drug cartel-related crime hitting the Central American country had affected volunteers working on HIV prevention, water sanitation and youth projects, President Porfirio Lobo acknowledged.

On Wednesday, Lobo met with senior U.S. officials to speak about security. The U.S. agreed to send a team of experts to help the Honduras government with "citizen security issues," said a State Department news statement. The U.S. Embassy in Honduras did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Monday's pullout also comes less than two months after U.S. Rep. Howard Berman, a California Democrat, asked Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to reconsider sending police and military aid to Honduras as a response to human rights abuses. "It's a welcome step toward the United States recognizing that they have a disastrous situation in Honduras," said Dana Frank, a University of California Santa Cruz history professor who has researched and traveled in Honduras.

The decision to pull out the entire delegation came after a Peace Corps volunteer was shot in the leg during an armed robbery on Dec. 3 aboard a bus in the violence-torn city of San Pedro Sula.

Hugo Velasquez, a spokesman for the country's National Police, said 27-year-old Lauren Robert was wounded along with two other people. One of the three alleged robbers was killed by a bus passenger, Velasquez said. The daily La Prensa said Robert is from Texas. Most areas of San Pedro Sula, like other specially violent parts of Honduras, had been declared "banned or highly discouraged for volunteers," according to the June 2011 edition of the Corps' "Welcome Book." Also banned were "all beaches at night" and a large part of the country's Atlantic coast.

Also, on Jan. 24, 2011, a Peace Corps volunteer was robbed and raped near the village of Duyure in southern Honduras. Three men were found guilty of rape and robbery in that case, according to an employee of the regional court in the southern city of Choluteca who was not authorized to be quoted by name. Sentencing is scheduled for February; the three men face up to 26 years in prison. The volunteer was apparently assaulted while hiking in a remote area.

The U.S. also announced it had suspended some training for new volunteers in El Salvador and Guatemala, though they kept open the possibility of sending new teams of volunteers once a review of security conditions is finished. El Salvador has 113 volunteers, and there are 215 in Guatemala, where the head of the Peace Corps pledged the program would continue. The U.S. Embassy in Guatemala said in a statement the suspension only applied to the January Peace Corps class. Further reviews will determine future training in that nation.

The three countries make up the so-called northern triangle of Central America, a region plagued by drug trafficking and gang violence. El Salvador has the second highest homicide rate with 66 killings per 100,000 inhabitants, the U.N. has said. Numerous non-governmental aid groups work in the region and the Peace Corps decision has raised concerns that they could also be affected.

"This is not a good moment for Honduran NGOs," said Oscar Anibal Puerto, director of the Honduran Institute for Rural Development, which works on school construction and water projects, often with Spanish financing and sometimes in informal cooperation with Peace Corps volunteers. He said financing from Spain has begun to dry up because of that country's debt crisis, and while the Peace Corps withdrawal "has not significantly affected us," he said he worried it could set an example for other donor countries to pull out.

But Puerto said he could understand the U.S. decision. "Their concerns are justified, until the security situation in Honduras improves," he said. "Human values have been lost. Crime is the order of the day."

Honduras joins Kazakhstan and Niger as countries that have recently had their volunteers pulled out. The Kazakhstan decision followed reports of sexual assaults against volunteers. In Niger, volunteers were evacuated after the kidnapping and murder of two French citizens claimed by an al-Qaida affiliate.

A U.N. report, released in October 2011, said Honduras had the highest homicide rate in the world with 6,200 killings, or 82.1 murders per 100,000 inhabitants in 2010. "Violence affects all Hondurans. It wouldn't be surprising if Peace Corps members, too," said Jose Rolando Bu, president of a group that represents non-governmental agencies.

Sarah Smith, a 25-year-old health volunteer who lived in the town of Taulabe, said she was once robbed and knew a friend got her computer stolen at gunpoint. "Just about everyone had something happened to them at some level," she said Wednesday.

Smith said she also received an email regarding the pullout and, although the bus attack was not cited as the reason, "it was in the back of our minds," said Smith, back in Cincinnati after a nearly two-year mission.

Between June 2010 and June 2011, nine U.S. citizens were killed in Honduras, most in San Pedro Sula or northern coastal areas.

The Peace Corps had sent volunteers to Honduras since 1962, and around 1982 it was the largest mission in the world, according to the U.S. State Department. The U.S. sent more people to help after Hurricane Mitch in 1998. It was not clear what effect the volunteers' departure would have on the Corps' efforts; no other aid agency immediately announced any pullout based on security concerns.

Peace Corps volunteer Claire Krebs, an engineer from Houston, Texas, described her work in the mid-sized city of Choluteca on the Peace Corps Journals blog site. Krebs wrote that she surveyed, planned and designed water systems for rural Honduran villages, which involved visits to rural areas in the country's somewhat more tranquil southern region, where there were few apparent security problems.

Berman said in the Nov. 28, 2011, letter to Clinton that he worried that some murders in Honduras appeared to be politically motivated because high-profile victims included people related to or investigating abuses by police and security forces, or to the June 28, 2009, ouster of President Manuel Zelaya. The coup lead to the temporary diplomatic isolation of Honduras.

On Tuesday, a Honduran lawyer who had reported torture and human rights violations by police officers was killed by gunmen, authorities said.

Three men stormed into the office of Ricardo Rosales, 42, shot him dead and escaped, said Hector Turcios, the police chief of Tela, a city 150 miles (240 kilometers) north of the capital. Rosales had told local press that officers had tortured jail inmates in his city.

On December 30, when my daughter Melanie was arriving from Virginia Beach to spend New Year’s weekend with me and her daughter and grandson, the furnace in my house went out, so we all decamped to a hotel. That seemed easier that all sitting around in a cold house waiting all day for a furnace repairman possibly to show up. Fortunately, it was not cold enough for pipes to freeze or indoor plants to suffer. Melanie was able at the last minute to find us a room at a top-notch hotel (Hyatt near Dulles Airport) for low-price bid. I never knew before that you could do that, but apparently it’s a way for hotels to fill a vacant room—better something than nothing. So we all enjoyed the heated pool and hot tub, especially my 4-year-old great grandson De’Andre. Hope you all had an equally memorable New Year’s celebration. (Will try to post the photos.)

Facebook is quite an invention. I just heard via Facebook from Edward Schoures, who, when I last saw him in 2003, was living with his parents in a rural extended family compound outside Managua, Nicaragua (as described in my book). Of course, I haven’t gotten any older since then, but Edward, who was about 18 at the time, must be in his mid 20s by now. I’m waiting to hear what he is up to and how his folks are doing. Since he would not have e-mail access in his home, I’ll have to wait until he next visits an internet center to get the answer.

* * * * * * * * * *

Well, I heard back from Edward, who is now married, with 2 kids and another on the way. He’s been busy since I last saw him in 2003! He says that his father, Larry, has had a stroke. I don’t know how serious. Larry is mentioned in the chapter in my book about visiting Nicaragua.

A message received from Martin Rivera, long-time water-and-san director for Peace Corps Honduras, a very dedicated guy now out of a job, says that there have been at least 6,000 volunteers in Honduras.

Article below more about drug trade in Honduras. I don't know what the answer is. Some people think we should legalize drugs--that it's like alcohol prohibition, cut out the illegal vendors, control it. But alcohol still takes a terrible toll. Maybe marijuana should be legalized--it's already sort of legal in some places, but not very well controlled. "Just say 'No'," as Nancy Reagan advocated, hasn't worked either.

One of my correspondents, herself in AA for an alcohol problem, says:

I’ve believed for a long time in legalizing drugs. Not just putting them on the open market, like candy bars or something, but regulated similarly to alcohol and tobacco sales. For one thing, it would make them less accessible to children and teenagers. Right now, they use drugs in part because drugs are easier to get than alcohol. It’s a way of regulating things like cleanliness and potency as well as the most important thing, to my thinking, who buys the drugs. They would also be considerably cheaper which should have some effect on the crime rate.

When I go to Honduras in Feb. will have to land in a city, but will try to get out of there ASAP. The countryside is usually much safer.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Grim toll as cocaine trade expands in HondurasBy Nick Miroff, December 26, 2011, The Washington Post

SAN PEDRO SULA, Honduras — In the most murderous part of the most murderous country in the world, the families of murdered sons and husbands and sisters meet each month in a concrete building next to the Nuestra Senora de Guada¬lupe church. They sit in plastic chairs, leaning forward to speak, and the anguish pours out. There is the dread of birthdays, anniversaries and Christmas. Or knowing who the killer is, and that he will not be arrested, and the perversity of that. The group had 10 families when it started three years ago. Today it has 60, and all but one of their cases remain unsolved.

“We are living in constant fear,” said Blanca Alvarez, wearing a pin bearing a portrait of her dead son, Jason, shot in a carjacking in 2006. “We have had marches for peace, wearing white, releasing white balloons into the air. Nothing is going to change here. Nothing.”

Honduras had 82.1 homicides per 100,000 residents last year, the highest per-capita rate in the world, according to a global homicide report published by the United Nations in October that included estimates for Iraq and Afghanistan. Security concerns prompted the U.S. Peace Corps to announce last week that it would pull all 158 volunteers out of Honduras.

As in Guatemala and El Salvador, Honduras’s neighbors in the Northern Triangle region of Central America, the homicide problem goes back decades. But as Mexico’s billionaire drug mafias expand their smuggling networks deeper into Central America to evade stiffer enforcement in Mexico and the Caribbean, violence has exploded, as if the cocaine were gasoline tossed on a fire. Honduras’s grim tally reached 6,239 killings in 2010, compared with 2,417 in 2005, and researchers say the count will be even higher this year. The largest number of homicides occurred here around San Pedro Sula, a once-booming manufacturing center that is fast becoming the Ciudad Juarez of Central America.

That troubled city on the U.S.-Mexico border and San Pedro Sula share more than a reputation for low-wage assembly plants and fratricidal violence. They are at opposite ends of the billion-dollar smuggling chain that extends from the north coast of Honduras to the United States.

It starts on the isolated beaches and jungle airstrips of Honduras’s Mosquitia region, where 95 percent of the suspected drug flights from South America to Central America land, according to U.S. narcotics agents. U.S. radar detected 90 such flights into Honduras last year, compared with 24 in 2008, marking a major shift in trafficking patterns that indicates a strong preference for the country’s rugged geography and feeble institutions.

In March, authorities raided a cocaine processing lab in the mountains near San Pedro Sula. The facility was the first of its kind in Central America, capable of churning out a ton of powder each month by combining imported coca paste with hydrochloric acid and other chemicals.

Then, in July, a semi-submersible “narco submarine” with $180 million worth of cocaine was caught by the U.S. Coast Guard in international waters off Honduras, the first such craft detected in the Caribbean. Since then, three more have been busted.

Honduran lawmakers voted overwhelmingly last month to deploy the country’s military against drug traffickers, adopting the security strategy charted by Mexican President Felipe Calderon with mixed results. Overall, U.S. officials estimate that 25 to 30 tons of cocaine arrive in Honduras each month by air and sea — one-third of the world’s total volume — before continuing north into Mexico through Guatemala and Belize on fast boats, fishing vessels or cargo trucks.

“Honduras is by far the world’s largest primary transshipment point for cocaine,” said a U.S. official working here who spoke on the condition of anonymity, citing security protocols. Shepherding the precious merchandise is a dangerous but lucrative occupation, as the payoff to local smugglers for receiving an average-size planeload of 500 kilograms and delivering it to Guatemala can be $1 million. Honduran police commanders say smugglers are also increasingly paying their contacts in raw product rather than cash, driving up local drug-dealing and the lethal violence that accompanies it.

‘Total impunity’

Researchers caution that the surge in killings here cannot be attributed entirely to narcotics trafficking. As in Ciudad Juarez, drug-fueled violence appears to have fostered an overall climate of impunity, in which bullets settle the slightest dispute and anyone can literally get away with murder.

Journalists, labor activists and gays also are apparently being killed at elevated rates, and political violence has flared since the 2009 coup that deposed leftist President Manuel Zelaya. Then there are the thousands of other Hondurans who seemingly have nothing to do with the drug trade who have been slain in carjackings, muggings and hotheaded feuds.

“You always imagine that your parent will die of old age, not murder,” said Claudia Castillo, whose father, who drove a grocery delivery truck, was killed last December in San Pedro Sula for falling behind on extortion payments, which gang members here call the impuesto de guerra (“war tax”). He had been mugged, assaulted or shot at on at least eight other occasions, Castillo said, including an incident a few months before his death in which teenage gangsters ordered him to dance and fired at his feet.

“We begged him to quit, but he said he had to pay for us to go to college,” Castillo said. After burying him, her family moved to another neighborhood after receiving new threats from the gang.

At nearly every business here, from Burger King to the smallest mini-market, armed men with 12-gauge shotguns stand guard. Those who can afford it barricade their families behind razor wire, 10-foot walls and electrified fencing.

“If a person kills someone and the next day they’re sitting in a restaurant drinking coffee as if nothing happened, then that person feels they have permission to kill anyone they want,” said Jose Antonio Canales, a priest who works with the support group for victims’ families. “There is total impunity.”

Gang warfare

For much of the 20th century, Canales said, the north coast of Honduras was a place of opportunity, drawing workers to the vast banana plantations owned by U.S. fruit companies. In the 1980s, as civil wars raged in Nicaragua, Guatemala and El Salvador, Honduras and especially the San Pedro Sula area were held up as a model of export-driven development, attracting waves of workers to the assembly plants known as maquilas.

“People came from all over, but when they didn’t find opportunity, the pockets of misery formed,” Canales said. “Then a lot of kids were raised by a single mom or a grandmother because their parents were in the United States.”

The transnational gangs MS-13 and 18th Street took root in the city’s slums and have been warring ever since, reinforced by deported criminals from Los Angeles street gangs and U.S. prisons. The United States has been drawn deep into Honduras’s counter-drug fight, spending at least $50 million on security assistance since 2008, according to U.S. officials. “This is a poor country where 65 percent of the people live in poverty and the government’s law enforcement budget cannot begin to compare to the funds that drug trafficking organizations have,” U.S. Ambassador Lisa Kubiske said in an interview here. “It’s clear the country needs help.”

Armed American drug agents are on the front lines of anti-narcotics operations, launching helicopter raids into the jungles of Mosquitia from the Soto Cano air base, where the United States has a large military presence. U.S. advisers are teaching police how to gather evidence and are helping modernize Honduras’s ghoulish prison system. The United States has provided armored vehicles to protect judges from assassination and sophisticated mobile X-ray equipment that can scan vehicle cargo at checkpoints and border crossings.

But setbacks have undercut recent security improvements. On Dec. 7, former security minister Alfredo Landaverde — an outspoken critic of growing police corruption tied to organized crime — was gunned down in his car, a day after assassins pumped 37 bullets into the vehicle of radio journalist Luz Marina Paz Villalobos. Since then, Honduras’s Congress has banned all motorcycle drivers from carrying passengers, because both victims were slain by hit men riding on the backs of motorbikes.

“It doesn’t matter if you’re a good or a bad person here, or if you’re someone with a future,” said Irwin Santos, whose brother Deybis — a university student — was killed in 2008 in San Pedro Sula. “In the end, you become just another statistic.”

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Oh, dear, such a sorry roster of candidates for the Republican primaries. Of course, everyone is mortal and has human faults, including yours truly and President Obama, but from my perspective, the Republican candidates are across-the-board dishonest, thoughtless, and singularly lacking in abilities and basic smarts. They do have tremendous ambition and money at their disposal, that’s about all.

They all have lots of chutzpah too and each obviously has a fair number of followers. How so many ever got this far is beyond me, but, then, I admit to being biased. It’s really scary to think one of them might actually become president. Of course, most of the electorate is ignorant and biased, so that’s the obvious answer. A large proportion of the electorate does not believe in evolution or that human-impacted climate change exists, many still think Obama was born in Kenya and is a Muslim, others see 9/11 as a US government conspiracy, and people flock to see images of Jesus or the Virgin Mary in a piece of toast. Presidential candidates pander to them, reinforcing their beliefs. It’s enough to make you lose faith in democracy and voting. Money seems to be the main political driver and the incentive for people wanting to be elected president of the USA. Even candidates with no chance of winning probably remain in the race because of the money involved and the ego-boost of having people cheer on and support them.

And now, in the Arab Spring countries, well-organized Muslim groups seem poised to set back the clock on women’s rights and those of religious minorities. A voting majority probably propelled Hugo Chavez into office for the first time, from whence he solidified his power. Massive crowds cheered Fidel Castro’s victory over Batista. Same with the Iranian revolution. So are elections really worth it?

The man-on-the-street seems to be unable to anticipate future developments, only to react after-the-fact, often after the damage has already been done. Think not only of the entrenchment of dictators, but how the Supreme Court’s decision in Bush vs. Gore led our country into an ill-fated, mistaken Iraq war, with all the unnecessary ensuing deaths, injuries, and financial cost, as well as into the lack of financial oversight that helped sink us into recession. So what’s the Republican answer to get us out of recession? Even less regulation and government oversight! The problem is, what’s the alternative to voting and representative government? We can’t go back to hereditary monarchies. Is a voting system simply the lesser of evils? ------------------------------------------------------------------

A diatribe was sent to me on Christmas Day in response to a posting I had made some time ago on an Amnesty International Spanish-language human rights blog, Aliados, about the rights of people of Haitian descent living in the DR. For those unfamiliar with Spanish, let me just say that the writer sounds like the equivalent of some rabid anti-immigrant folks here in the US, using a lot of capital letters and exclamation marks to make her point. Among other complaints, she calls Haitians a “rock in the shoe” and “monkeys.” A Colombian colleague in my Caribbean action network who helps me with Haiti posted a calm, beautiful reply.

Seasons’ greetings. Hope everyone is spending some down time with family and friends. My interpretation agencies no longer hold office parties, rather, they just send out an electronic greeting instead, which is what I am doing here. Happy New Year, Feliz Ano Nuevo.

Terrible news. Peace Corps is pulling out its volunteers out of Honduras , so I’ve been told by Luis Knight, my former colleague in the Esperanza regional office. I'm brokenhearted about Peace Corps leaving Honduras after almost 50years. Honduras was never a tranquil country, but US drug appetites have deformed it, as happened in Colombia, Mexico, and other parts of Central America and the Caribbean. Now Honduras is considered too insecure for volunteers, but I'm still planning to go back there in Feb. for medical brigades and my other projects there.

A former Honduras PC volunteer sent us this message, which expresses our grief so well: A silent tear shed out of the spot light for a tiny country out of the way of ‘important’ world issues. Shed by the more than 5,000 thousand who have left a piece of their heart in Honduras at some point in the last 50 years. For the school teacher who invited an unknown ‘gringo’ off the street to have a drink of water on a hot day; For the grounds keeper at the zoo who stood and watched the young foreigners try to make gas using an inner tube and animal waste; For the young mother who listened to broken Spanish from a blond health worker telling her how to keep her child from dying from diarrhea. Tears shed by engineers who designed water systems, by foresters who helped develop the national parks, by musicians who taught violin. Honduras has stumbled into an abyss of violence where gangs collect ‘war taxes’ and civil society is a distant dream; Where they have earned the unfortunate distinction of having the highest homicide rate per capita in the world; Where Peace Corps considers it unsafe for volunteers.

Honduras, a tropical paradise being plowed under by shortsighted self interest. The tears of thousands, who have been touched by the heart and soul of the Honduran people, are shed for those who have changed our lives. We are who we are, in part, for our experiences there. Honduras, mi pais adoptado, we shed a tear and say a prayer for you. We hope that Peace Corps will not be long absent from your shores.

NY Times, December 21, 2011

Peace Corps to Scale Back in Central AmericaBy RANDAL C. ARCHIBOLD

MEXICO CITY — The increasing drug and organized-crime violence in Central America has led the Peace Corps to pull out of Honduras and stop sending new volunteers to Guatemala and El Salvador, the organization announced Wednesday.

Peace Corps officials said they had taken stock of the worsening conditions and decided to withdraw their 158 volunteers from Honduras in January and scuttle plans to send 29 recruits to complete their training.

“We are going to conduct a full review of the program,” Aaron S. Williams, the director of the Peace Corps, said in a statement.

In Guatemala and El Salvador, officials decided to keep the 335 volunteers already in those countries but not to send the 76 recruits who were to begin training there next month. The trainees will be sent to other countries, the corps said.

Kristina Edmunson, a Peace Corps spokeswoman in Washington, said the moves stemmed from “comprehensive safety and security concerns” rather than any specific threat or incident. However, Peace Corps Journals, an online portal for blogs by Peace Corps volunteers, has an entry referring to a volunteer’s being shot in an armed robbery.

There was no immediate reaction from the governments. All three countries have endured a rash of violence primarily related to drug traffickers using Central America as a staging point to ship cocaine to the United States from South America.

A wave of violence has struck particularly hard in Honduras, whose institutions are still recovering from a coup in 2009. It has one of the highest per capita murder rates in the world — the highest by some measures — and this month, Alfredo Landaverde, the country’s former antidrug and security adviser who often denounced corruption, was shot to death.

Ms. Edmunson said that from time to time, the corps withdraws or restricts work in the 75 countries in which it has volunteers.

I never actually met Laura Pollán, leader of the Women in White, Damas de Blanco, as she was not active when I was visiting Cuba. But I feel as though I know her since she and I appeared in the same documentary and I've met other members now in exile. Not previously a leader, she proved to be a relentless and fearless spokesperson for political prisoners after her husband was arrested in 2003 in a Cuban government crackdown known as “Black Spring.” Pollán declared recently, “The government states that there's a lot of freedom in Cuba, that it's a paradise. I'd invite those people who believe that Cuba is free to come and live here; to come and live here like a regular citizen, without bringing dollars; to come to work, and make what a regular worker makes; to come and live in a humble house, buy their food with a ration book, and express themselves here as much as they do in their own countries against their governments and other individuals, so that they see what the outcome is in Cuba.”

Sadly, Pollán died of a reported heart attack on October 14, 2011 while hospitalized with hemorrhagic dengue, soon after her engineer husband's release after spending eight years in prison. Pollán herself had been severely beaten by government-assembled mobs on September 24. Understandably, after her death and another recent hospital death of a dissident beaten by security forces, Cuba opposition figures have vowed to avoid hospitals at all costs. Pollán’s close associates have questioned the official cause of her death because, although she was diabetic, she had it under control. Those in the opposition believe that her condition was either induced or aggravated by the authorities. Her body was reportedly cremated two hours after her death, making it impossible to re-examine the cause. Such immediate cremations have been common after questionable dissident hospital deaths. Friends believe that the Cuban government moved quickly to avoid an international outcry like that following the death of hunger striker Orlando Zapata in 2010.

A recent Cuban exile, who once occupied an important position in the government hierarchy, has commented, “My gut feeling tells me it was murder because the Cuban totalitarian state did not know how to respond to her efforts to spread the women’s protests around the country. But if it was murder, it was very well planned and carried out meticulously, leaving no proof behind. Let's face it, the Cuban G2 is a very professional and unscrupulous organization, trained by the NKVD. The NKVD is reported to have developed chemical substances producing heart attacks that are rapidly eliminated from the body to avoid their discovery during autopsy. We will just have to wait until the secret files of the Cuban Interior Ministry or Party Politburo are opened to verify whether she was murdered. Whatever threat this movement held for the Cuban government, it was, in my opinion, successfully eliminated by the skillful assassination of Laura Pollán, which leaves the Damas de Blanco without a charismatic leader and terrified because they are now aware of the Interior Ministry’s utter lack of scruples and the length it is willing to go to suppress opposition activities.”

He continued, “This whole affair should make quite clear the risks that dissenters take in Cuba when they protest in public. That is why I favor anonymous methods to get the message out to the general Cuban population, rather than having these brave people go out and face repression that could even lead to death. It is not only a quantitative matter of a loss of lives. It is that those activists willing to sacrifice themselves are the qualitative acme of the Cuban people, the cream of our crop, so it is a very high a price for our nation to pay. Of course, liberty is priceless, but when these people are gone, who will be left to lead Cuba? Only the bottom of the barrel, the opportunists and yes-men who run no risks and arrive at the last minute to gather the fruit off low hanging branches.”

A dissident named José Angel Luque, hospitalized after being beaten for wearing a T-shirt bearing the word “change,” reportedly said when he was released on Oct. 20 that a state security officer warned him, “We killed Laura and can do the same to you—nothing happens” (Letter to the editor, Wall St. Journal, Oct. 31, 2011). Independent journalist Carlos Ríos Otero’s hint that Laura may have been murdered resulted in his arrest by Cuban authorities (Babalu Blog, October 17, 2011). Journalists and bloggers outside Cuba beIieve Laura was deliberately killed, perhaps by lethal injection, but, of course, in the absence of proof, that remains only speculation.

On December 13, 2011, a bipartisan group of U.S. Congress members nominated the Ladies in White for the Nobel Peace prize. On December 13 and 14, I was invited to speak at a series of meetings on Cuban human rights and Laura Pollán’s legacy sponsored by the National Endowment for Democracy (NED). At the December 14 ceremony, taking place in an overflowing House office building meeting room, speakers from both parties and both houses of Congress praised Pollán’s contributions while her image flashed on an overhead screen and a musical tribute was played. The Damas’ trademark gladioli were passed around amid a few tears. A man who had spent decades as a Cuban political prisoner commented on how Laura’s death had brought both American political parties together. NED then presented its Democracy Service Medal to Laura Pollán posthumously, accepted on her behalf by another Dama, Yolanda Huerga Cedeño (also appearing in the documentary) whose husband was one of the first Black Spring prisoners to be released. Quite obviously in death, Pollán has become a symbol and a martyr. If she was indeed murdered to quiet her message, that effort has backfired.

Remarkably, these proceedings were carried out with the real-time long-distance participation via webcam of a group gathered in Havana, thanks to a hookup provided by the U.S. Interests Section there. Sitting at a table inside the Interests Section with its chief were the new Damas leader, a young Afro-Cuban woman named Berta Soler; Laura’s widower and recently released Amnesty prisoner of conscience, Héctor Maseda; and her daughter, Laurita Labrada. That they all managed to be present was a feat in itself, since state security often intercepts known dissidents en route to the Interests Section.

An article in this week's El Tiempo Latino says that at least 19 people have been hit and 15 killed this year, many by hit-and-run drivers like the one who hit me, crossing Viers Mill Rd. in the suburb of Wheaton, near the area where I was struck. That is a very dangerous pedestrian area because of the 6 lanes of fast traffic. I’m fortunate to have almost completely recovered, but now I am super-cautious about crossing any street, especially a busy one like that.

After Lowe’s pulled its ads from the new “American Muslim” show, remind me never to shop at Lowe’s. Not that I am a TV watcher anyway, not owning a TV set. It’s certainly true that much, perhaps a disproportionate share, of random violence and terrorism can be attributed to those who identify themselves as Muslims, so it is not racial profiling to recognize this. However, I feel that sure way to radicalize American Muslims is to treat them as pariahs and potential terrorists and by boycotting a show about Muslims. The show seems to be trying to serve as an example to Muslims about how to lead a peaceful American life while also being an observant Muslim, an endeavor we should all support. (I’m reminded of how Bill Cosby created a show to serve as an example of family life for African Americans, encouraging them to identify with it.) I doubt that most apparently mainstream American Muslims are secret jihadists or members of sleeper cells, rather, I suspect, they bend over backwards to assert their patriotism. Perhaps when the “American Muslim” is better established, it could dare to air an episode about a couple fearing that their adolescent son is becoming radicalized. Meanwhile, let’s encourage loyalty, not reject a show outright just because the protagonists are Muslim.

Just sounding off here about a recent interpreting assignment. For the first time in 7 years, I got a bad evaluation for a school interpretation. Without advance warning, it turned out to be a simultaneous interpretation for a meeting that a large group of parents had called to air grievances with the principal, who failed to show up, so things quickly became rather contentious. An Amharic interpreter was also present, but his people were fewer and quieter than the Spanish speaking mothers. First off, I was not given a machine, then I was given one with no batteries, and when finally that was fixed, I wasn't quite sure how to use it. I put it on my head with a wand coming down in front of my mouth, but was told that made it too loud, so moved it over to the side. I rarely do simultaneous interpreting for such a large group outfitted with ear pieces and was not familiar with that equipment. Anyway, my agency later said not to worry, as I've always gotten excellent reviews otherwise. Needless-to-say, I don't plan to return to that school ever, though I finally figured out how to use the equipment. When I had been there before, it was for an annual review of a special ed student’s progress with the mother and school staff.

Dec. 1 was World AIDS Day, which we used to observe in Honduras with workshops by and for teenagers and a march around town with a big banner.

Human Rights Day was Dec. 10, but our Amnesty Group here in DC celebrated it on Fri. Dec. 9 at a Write-a-Thon held at the National Press Club, co-hosted with Reporters Without Borders. At a Write-a-Thon, participants sign letters and postcards already prepared for them about a number of Amnesty prisoners and actions, which we then mail out for them. One of our speakers was an Ethiopian former prisoner of conscience on whose behalf we had written at our 2009 Write-a-Thon, Birtukan Mideska, and there she was, in the flesh, actually speaking to us. Our letters had helped secure her release, for which she thanked us profoundly. That’s always a thrill. Another was Nada Alawadi, a Bahraini journalist who had been arrested, threatened, and silenced earlier this year and decided it was safest to leave the country while she still could. She said the reason we have not heard much any more about unrest in Bahrain is because of a news blackout, the arrest and torture of journalists (and local doctors treating wounded demonstrators), and the refusal of visa requests from foreign journalists. (See photo from that event.)

On the day before Human Rights Day, dozens of Cuban dissidents were preemptively arrested and members of the Damas de Blanco gathered outside the home of their recently deceased leader, Laura Pollan, were set upon by a government-organized mob calling them “mercenaries” and “ a nest of worms” (gusanera, a favorite insult), and shouting “¡Viva Fidel!” “¡Viva Raúl!”

On Human Rights Day itself, a boat from Florida approached Cuban waters and sent up fireworks into the air, causing the Cuban government to denounce violation of their air space. A number of opposition figures had been cleared out of the waterfront where the fireworks could be seen, reportedly including blogger Gorki Aguilar, author of the irreverent blog, Porno Para Ricardo. Foreign journalists trying to film the scene and unrest had their cameras knocked out of their hands.

Caricom and the Cuba leadership have both reinforced calls for the US to lift its longstanding trade embargo against Cuba. The calls came at the fourth Caricom-Cuba summit held at the National Academy for the Performing Arts in Port-of-Spain where Cuban President Raul Castro was the guest of honor.

A staunch defender of the rights of people of Haitian ancestry living in the DR, Sonia Pierre, died in Santo Domingo of heart attack at age 45, a real loss. Meanwhile, her death has aroused Dominicans of Haitian ancestry to demonstrate for their rights to obtain a birth certificate needed to attend school or get a job.

My plane reservations for Honduras in February have already been made. And, thanks to Rev. Daniel’s help, I’ve been in e-mail communication with Jorge and Neris, my scholarship students. Daniel was back in Honduras from his new pastor’s position in his native Guatemala, picking up his kids to have them stay with him until school starts again in Feb. (His wife divorced him, as blog readers may remember, and she now wants him back after she broke up with her second husband, but Daniel is not buying it.) He said he had no gas to go looking for the kids for me, so I sent him $100 via Moneygram. I do rely on him and he will be back in early Feb. again to bring his kids back from Guatemala and may help me again then while I am in Honduras. Jorge, after I paid the first part his tuition at an IT school last year, told me now via e-mail that he had to drop out because of a serious stomach ailment so lost the whole year, ending up selling cookies and crackers out on the street. He claims to be better now and is wanting to start over. Jorge is the boy who lost two fingers to infection after surgery, as recounted in my book and on this blog. He also had an eye infection when I saw him last, for which I bought him medication. But he sounds now as though he wants persevere, despite health challenges. Neris has not had another baby, thank goodness, and she did finish high school and still wants to study nursing. Both kids are almost 18, if not 18 already.

Murder in Honduras. First an outspoken former anti-drug chief, Alfredo Landaverde, was murdered in the capital. The day before, female journalist, Luz Marina Paz Villalobos, was killed there, as per item below.

Journalist is shot and killed outside of her home in Honduras

Luz Marina Paz, a radio news host, was shot and killed outside of her home in Tegucigalpa, the AP reports. According to national police spokesman Luis Maradiaga, Paz and her driver were hit by dozens of bullets fired by men on two motorcycles.

Paz hosted a morning radio program called "Three in the News." The program addressed politics and narcotics trafficking; however, the article reports that she was not especially outspoken or well-known. Paz previously worked at Radio Globo, where she was critical of the coup that overthrew former President Manuel Zelaya in June of 2009.

Human rights advocates say that at least 23 journalists have been killed in Honduras since 2007.

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Bob Edwards Show, HD Radio, NPR, Tuesday, December 6, 2011

This year marks the Peace Corps’ 50th anniversary and ever since President Kennedy issued the call to serve, young Americans have responded. But so have older Americans. Barbara Joe is 73-years-old and she was a health volunteer in Honduras from 1999 to 2003. Every February, she returns annually to Honduras to volunteer with a medical brigade, help kids with scholarships, check in with the community volunteers trained in Peace Corps, and assist a rehab center and a residential school for the blind.

Actually, I joined in 2000, not 1999, but stayed beyond the usual term to 3 1/2 years.

At a recent special education interpretation assignment, the mother expressed regret and upset that she had kept her son, now 19, in a private residential facility in the DR for 10 years, paying for his care from her modest income cleaning office buildings (she is a single parent and also has other kids). Supposedly, they were teaching him skills, but, instead, she found what skills he had possessed before had deteriorated and that he had also adopted institutionalized habits, such head banging from observing other residents. She finally managed to bring him here 18 months ago and was now lamenting that she had left him in that place so long. I was sitting next to her, of course, and said something like. "You did what you thought best and now he is here, better late than never.” I also translated what I had said for the school staff, but, strictly speaking, it was a remark that I had initiated, rather than something said by others at the meeting. I know interpreters are not supposed to become personally involved in the conversation and I will try to curb that in future, but it’s hard, as I’m a former social worker, after all.

It’s shocking that Virginia Tech, where my late father once headed up the architecture department, has again seen murder on campus.

Alabama has suffered economic setbacks because of its draconian anti-immigrant policies. Other towns around the country where immigrants have either been removed or have been frightened away, are facing similar problems. Such unintended consequences may come as a surprise to anti-immigrant lawmakers, but are totally predictable. These long-time residents, whether originally legal immigrants or not, have become integrated into the social-economic fabric. Not only are some types of jobs in Alabama going unfilled, especially in agriculture and construction, but businesses, apartments, and schools are being emptied out, and now legal foreign experts and students on temporary visas are avoiding that state. A Japanese Honda employee was arrested as a suspected illegal immigrant recently and Chinese entrepreneurs have felt unwelcome. The governor is now scrambling to reassure legal foreign residents, defending his support and approval of the anti-immigrant law.

Through the magic of Facebook, I have again found members of the Espaillat family living in Santo Domingo, and discovered that Ana, a psychiatric nurse who used to take me on her rounds is residing in an assisted living facility in suburban Maryland outside Washington, DC.

At Communitas, a small, progressive Catholic community, usually attracting about 30 worshippers on a given Sunday, we were surprised when two homeless men, very aromatic—evident smokers and drinkers—came in and sat down among us. We could not be so unchristian as to ask them to leave, but we felt a bit uncomfortable, especially those of us sitting nearest them. Then one, carrying a sack, while we were greeting each other midway through, slipped upstairs where we had laid out some potluck dishes for lunch afterward. Also, the building where we meet belongs to a gay Catholic group and we felt the need to protect their belongings. So, a couple of people went upstairs and gently persuaded him to come back down. We invited both men to join us at the luncheon afterwards, but they chose to leave. I wonder if they will be back and, if so, what should we do, if anything, if this becomes a habit? Maybe we should concern ourselves with their general wellbeing? How much can we undertake?

Cannot help commenting on Gingrich’s statement that there are no Palestinian people, an easy way to get rid of that problem. “No” turns out to be handy word, as two-year-olds and Tea Partiers have discovered. No evolution, no global warming, no new taxes, and now, no Palestinians. Of course, that’s an appeal not only to Jewish voters, of whom there are not so many, but to evangelicals, who also support the biblical Israel, and are much more numerous.

My ego got a little boost from a man from California who read my book who served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Chile early on (Chile no longer has a Peace Corps program) and later was on staff on Colombia and Costa Rica. He also worked with USAID in Honduras for a number of years and is married to a Honduran. I won’t repeat his whole long message, just this excerpt:

While I have had many opportunities to interact with government officials at different levels during my work and years living in Honduras, I found your descriptions of the people with whom you lived ranging from the different landladies to young maids to health worker assistants to the Honduran men who were trying to capture your amorous attention to be incredibly vivid and accurate. Then there were your descriptions of the kids in rural Honduras with deformed and cleft lips and club feet who had been successfully operated on so that they could live better lives. Such descriptions of people’s suffering and opportunities to have their lives transformed are priceless and definitely speak to the greatness of Peace Corps and its dedicated volunteers like you!

Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving. My daughters Stephanie from Honolulu and Melanie from Virginia Beach joined me, along with Arianna, the 12-year-old sister of Mel’s husband, who lives with them. Later we had my 4-year-old great grandson, DeAndre, who stayed with us overnight while Natasha, my granddaughter and his mother, worked night shifts at her women’s clothing sales job, starting at 2 am on Black Friday morning. She said her feet hurt afterward, as there was quite a rush. Is this going to be the norm from now on, 24-hour retail? A few photos are posted, but it’s always a surprise seeing how they come out on the page.

Had a cardiac MRI patient from Chile as a Spanish interpretation subject this past week and, to my surprise, she was a fan of the late president General Augusto Pinochet. She told me that he had helped the poor. I don’t know about that, but the economy did not do too badly under him. However, as an election observer in the 1988 plebiscite, I can vouch that he did not have widespread support and that much of the population feared him and those he considered his enemies were often mistreated and disappeared. Our election observer team traveled around the country interviewing people confidentially and experienced being hit ourselves along with peaceful anti-Pinochet demonstrators with tear gas and water cannons. However, he did garner 40% of the plebiscite vote and, although he was brought to tears when he lost, he never really suffered any punishment for his misdeeds.

Stratfor, a geopolitical strategic forecasting organization, has issued a really scary, but not surprising, picture of how the drug trade destined for the US has mushroomed. According to a recent report, “Honduras, for example, reportedly has become a major destination for planes from Venezuela laden with cocaine. Once offloaded, the cocaine is moved across the loosely guarded Honduran-Guatemalan border and then moved through Guatemala to Mexico, often through the largely unpopulated Peten.”

Hugo Chavez, who claims to have vanquished cancer, now says he feel fit enough to rule his country until 2031, ten years beyond his previously announced retirement date. So much for term limits on Venezuelan presidential candidates, limiting them one consecutive term.

Myanmar or Burma is showing welcome signs of a human rights’ thaw which we can only hope and pray will continue. Sometimes such changes come from the top as in this case. Certainly the country’s military rulers want to improve their international reputation and their economic prospects.

Gov. John Kitzhaber of Oregon has announced that he won’t allow the execution of Gary Haugen, scheduled for Dec. 6 -- or that of any other death row inmate -- while he is in office. It would have been Oregon's first execution in 14 years. Twice before, in his first term as governor in the 1990s, he allowed executions to go forward, something he now regrets. We in Amnesty International oppose the death penalty in all cases and have applauded this decision.

Amnesty International-USA has a new Executive Director, Suzanne Nossel, who will begin her duties on January 2 in the New York office. She is a human rights lawyer who has worked the State Department and Human Rights Watch and also spent two years in South Africa working to implement that country's National Peace Accord.

While the east coast was buffeted by a pre-Halloween snow storm, here in DC we just had cold drizzle on Saturday, followed by a sunny day near 60 on Sunday and it has been pretty mild ever since. But I finally turned on our central heat, partly because I had visitor from California, Elsie, who had stayed with me while volunteering last year at the Amnesty International office. She has taught teachers in Afghanistan and is an Amnesty country specialist for that country, just as I am for the Caribbean.

Halloween night was uncharacteristically chilly, only in the 50s when the kids came around, so there were not as many as last year, but, as usual, no candy was left over.

Sunday, Nov. 6, was a pleasant afternoon, so I sat out at the Eastern Market talking Peace Corps with a few folks and selling only one book. However, I did chat with some folks who work for GOCorps, a fairly new Christian-oriented sort of Peace Corps for college grads that offers $5,000 of student loan forgiveness to selected participants. Service is for two years and includes practical content (i.e. business, engineering, sports, teaching), as well as religious proselytizing. Applicants must pay their own way and receive advice on fundraising. The group works in Muslim countries and the Far East, not in Latin America, though, I was told, it may eventually go there. It seems the emphasis is on converting non-Christians (which causes me some concern), though it’s combined with development work, which should be helpful, although maybe that is just a cover. Of course, many religious groups have projects in the developing world and most are welcomed. But this organization seems more overt about its religious conversion aims, which may get its volunteers in trouble.

Just got word that Marian, a “mature” woman whom I once met and who has read my book, just joined the Peace Corps and is now in training in Armenia. Of course, I cannot claim credit for her decision nor am I ultimately responsible for how well her service goes, but I’d like to think that my book gave her a little nudge.

Have happily reconnected via Facebook with the Espaillat family, possessing a famous name in the DR where they are back living now. I first met them in DC and visited them several times in Santo Domingo, usually going to and from Cuba in the 1990s. Amnesty International has just issued a report on the DR regarding police brutality and the wholesale deportation of Haitians and Dominican-born persons of Haitian descent. Another Amnesty initiative focuses on children’s rights.

In a local newspaper written and sold by homeless people, there appears a heartfelt poetic ode to recently executed Georgia death-row prisoner Troy Davis.

I’m planning to go again to Honduras in February for the International Health Service of Minnesota medical brigade taking place in villages near La Esperanza, Feb. 12-22. Unfortunately, Operation Smile is scheduled for January in Honduras, so will miss that this time. I also have other projects planned there, which I will mention closer to the dates.

In Honduras, according to the local Spanish-language press, the Supreme Court voted 12 to 3 to absolve the military men involved in spiriting President Zelaya out of the country in 2009. Zelaya has been back in Honduras for months now and has announced plans to run again for the presidency, but my contacts there believe his following has diminished.

The Honduran Embassy in the Washington, DC area, together with Honduran banks, is promoting purchase of property and dwellings in Honduras to help those in the diaspora house their families there and provide a place for them to visit. Meanwhile, on the north coast, authorities have confiscated 13 luxury haciendas and residences, two vehicles, and 17 boats believed used in drug smuggling.

Here is the beginning of an item in the Huffington Post (October 30, 2011)—read the rest there.

Honduras Becomes Main Transit Route For Cocaine Trafficking

By MARK STEVENSON

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras -- On Honduras' swampy Mosquitia coast, entire villages have made a way of life off the country's massive cocaine transshipment trade. In broad daylight, men, women and children descend on passing go-fast boats to offload bales of cocaine destined for the United States. Along the Atlantic coast, the wealthy elite have accumulated dozens of ranches, yachts and mansions from the drug trade.

And in San Pedro Sula, local gangs moving drugs north have spawned armies of street-level dealers whose violence has given the rougher neighborhoods of the northern industrial city a homicide rate that is only comparable to Kabul, Afghanistan. Long an impoverished backwater in Central America, Honduras has become a main transit route for South American cocaine.

The article goes on to say that the cocaine is not processed in Honduras and presumably is not used by Hondurans. The country is just a transit point.

On another front, close associates of Laura Pollán, the member of the Women in White who died recently in a Havana hospital, have questioned the official cause of her death, since a week before she seemed in good health. She was diabetic, but that was under control. Those in the opposition believe that either her condition was deliberately induced or was aggravated by the authorities. Her body was cremated within two hours of her death, making it impossible to re-examine the cause. Such immediate cremations have been common after questionable dissident deaths. Her friends believe that Cuban authorities moved quickly to avoid an international outcry like that following the death of hunger striker Orlando Zapata in 2010. A recent letter in the Wall St. Journal (Oct. 31, 2011) quotes a Cuban dissident, hospitalized after being beaten by government-sponsored mobs, alleging that a state security agent warned him, “We killed Laura and can do the same to you—nothing happens.”

A Cuban exile, who once occupied an important position in the government hierarchy, commented, “My gut feeling tells me it was murder because the Cuban totalitarian state did not know how to respond to her efforts to spread the women’s protests around the country, so murdering her would be par for the course. But if it was murder, it was very well planned and carried out meticulously, leaving no proof behind. Let's face it, the Cuban G2 is a very professional and unscrupulous organization, trained by the NKVD. The NKVD is reported to have developed chemical substances that produce heart attacks, but are rapidly eliminated from the body so that they will not be found during an autopsy. We will just have to wait until the secret files of the Cuban Ministry of Interior or the Party Politburo are opened to find out whether she was murdered or not.

“This whole affair should make quite clear the risks that dissenters take in Cuba when they protest in public. That is why I favor anonymous methods to get the message out to the general Cuban population, rather than having these people go out and face repression that could even lead to death. It is not only a quantitative matter of a loss of lives. It is that those activists willing to sacrifice themselves are the qualitative acme of the Cuban people, the cream of our crop, and so it is a very high a price for our nation to pay. Of course, liberty and progress are priceless, but when these people are gone, who will be left to lead Cuba? Only the bottom of the barrel, the opportunists and yes-men who run no risks and arrive at the last minute to gather the fruit off low hanging branches.”

Alan Gross, the USAID contractor now imprisoned for 2 years and given a 15-year sentence, now, according to a Cuban government website, has reportedly told a visiting rabbi, that if an Israeli Jew is worth 1,000 Palestinians, why isn’t an American Jew worth 5 Cubans, referring to the Cuban Five, Cubans and Cuban American convicted of espionage and of being involved in the shooting down of two Brothers to the Rescue planes. An exchange of Gross for the Five has been talked about ever since Gross was arrested in Cuba and it has been speculated that was the reason he was arrested and given such a harsh sentence in the first place. I’ve read the State Dept. report on the Cuban Five which goes into considerable detail about their activities, but is dated 2007, during the Bush administration. One of the Five completed his sentence recently and was released, but is on 3 years parole and may not leave the US until it is over. I believe he is staying with his children in the mid-west. Meanwhile, I have no doubt that Gross is anxious to be released and probably the other Cuban Five prisoners too. Amnesty International has questioned the fairness of their trial, based on the Miami venue.

Today, I attended a regional Amnesty Int’l meeting held at National Harbor, Md., a brand new hotel, restaurant, and convention complex built on empty Maryland space fronting on the Potomac River. The complex is very large, but didn’t seem to have a lot of business. I understand it was completed in mid-2008, when the recession was just starting. Eventually, there will be residences and probably more population will cluster there, but, right now, it looks something like a white elephant.

About 300 people attended the conference, which included a keynote by the FM radio host of “Democracy Now” Amy Goodman. She talked about her involvement in East Timor’s independence movement, actions against Shell in the Niger Delta, and holding vigil outside the prison when Troy Davis was executed. I participated in a workshop on torture, which, it was argued, is immoral, illegal under US and international law, and ineffective, often leading to false confessions, as DNA exonerations have shown. Evidence and confessions obtained under torture are not allowed in US courts, which may be the reason for military tribunals being held in Guantanamo. What is torture? Dick Cheney has said that waterboarding is not torture and, in any case, that torture is OK. In the afternoon, we were bused down to the White House, where we held a march and rally to free Filep Karma, imprisoned since 2004 in Indonesia for raising a flag in favor of Papuan independence. Other demonstrators were on hand in Lafayette Park, across from the White House, representing Iranian prisoners and anti-nuclear and anti-carbon emission positions.

Although companies and individuals naturally want to maximize their income and profits and reduce their taxes vis-à-vis the rest of society, they will reach a point of diminishing returns if most fellow citizens become too impoverished to buy their products and services or to keep up with their public subsidies, salaries, and pensions (I’m thinking here of publicly funded payments and benefits for wealthy farmers and those in the upper echelons of public service, including elected officials). Unless the lower 99% have sufficient income to be taxed on or to spend, eventually there will be no “trickle up” and the top 1% will suffer too. A modest millionaires’ tax increase, which would help to slightly reduce the deficit and spur the economy somewhat, is not something that Republicans should categorically oppose as it would eventually rebound to the benefit of rich folks (their constituents), who are ultimately supported by everyone else. Henry Ford recognized that he had to pay his workers enough so that they could afford to buy his cars. Evolutionary theory posits survival of the fittest, but also reveals the importance of altruism in species survival.

Nor is simply getting rid of regulations the best way to spur the economy. Lax financial regulations got us into this mess to begin with. Business surveys show that weak demand is a bigger factor retarding hiring and business expansion now than the existence of regulations. And businesses have plenty of spare cash, but have been reluctant to invest in new hires because they lack customers. Putting more money into the hands of average citizens would spur demand and get the business cycle moving upward again.

Both tea party folks and Occupy Wall Street protestors in cities around the nation are expressing frustration with the powers-that-be and with political gridlock. It’s astounding how fast both movements have spread and, though they show similarities, apparently there has been no merger of efforts. President Obama has not been able to do much to overcome the financial impasse and neither has anyone else. Job training funds for veterans, a social security payroll holiday, extension of unemployment benefits, foreclosure relief, or other stimulus measures aimed at lower and middle income people would probably increase buying power, but unfortunately would end up increasing the deficit short-term. Still, something is needed to jump-start the economy. None of the Republican candidates’ jobs plans are credible and the “no new taxes” pledge is throttling the economy and leading to political gridlock. The Bush tax cuts have done nothing to revive the economy.

Another point seems obvious: if human beings are living longer and are remaining healthier into older ages, then they need to be productive and working longer and retiring later (and unfortunately, not yielding their positions to younger workers). So that means the beginning age for social security and pensions needs to keep going up. I’m in favor of increasing the starting age for regular social security payments as average life expectancy rises, but for keeping Medicare at 65, because it’s the only universal health care program available in this country and, if anything, the age there needs to be lowered, or else “Obamacare” needs to become more fully implemented.

According to an item in TIME (Oct. 10, 2011, p.40), an annual income of $75,000 is where happiness derived from income peaks. After that, it levels off. I was curious whether that amount applies to one person or to a whole family, so I looked on-line for the original Princeton study. Apparently it applies to a person earning that amount, but how many others are being supported is not specified. Maybe just earning that amount (which I never have) makes individuals feel that they are doing well.

Will try to post some photos pertaining to recent blogs, keeping my fingers crossed that they actually come out. (We will find out whether I am successful if and when we see them posted here.) If so, one shows me with Congressman John Garamendi (D-Calif.) at a luncheon for Peace Corps writers held at the Library of Congress during the corps’ recent 50th anniversary celebrations. The others were taken on the fourth birthday of my great-grandson, DeAndre, celebrated at Chucky Cheese’s, including one of him and me beforehand in my living room with 7-year-old twin step-grandchildren in town for his birthday. The woman shown sitting with me at Chucky Cheese’s was one of my late son Andrew’s first girl friends, Julie, now a divorced mother of three.

Last Sunday, October 16, ceremonies were held to dedicate the new MLKing Memorial, a celebration postponed in August because of a hurricane. Fortunately, last Sunday turned out to be a warm, dry fall day, with many dignitaries taking the podium, including one of King’s daughters. The original ceremony had been scheduled for the anniversary of King’s “I have a dream” speech on the mall, an event I actually witnessed with my then-husband as part of a huge crowd, unaware that it would be history-making event.

Like Saddam Hussein in Iraq before him, Libya’s Gaddafi was trapped in a hiding hole. Certainly his ignominious demise must strike fear into the hearts of dictators everywhere, among them, Cuba’s Castro brothers. Unfortunately, Amnesty International investigators, recently returned from Libya, have discovered that Gaddafi loyalists are not the only ones subject to accusations of human rights abuses. The victorious side has apparently gone after supposed Gaddafi supporters with a vengeance, including black African migrant workers targeted automatically as mercenaries for his side when, in fact, they only came to Libya as temporary workers and were not involved in the fighting. Such scapegoating is always a risk during and after armed conflicts (remember Japanese-Americans sent to internment camps during World War II).

In the local Spanish-language press, an item appears reporting that a half-submerged ship was found off the Caribbean coast containing 7.5 tons of cocaine worth $180 million. Central America, now in the rainy and hurricane season, has been buffeted by Hurricane Jova, which may have contributed to the sinking of the drug ship. Storms notwithstanding, 28 Cuban rafters arrived on Honduras’s north coast, the sort of happening that was common when I was in the Peace Corps. It’s not easy to get from Cuba to Honduras on a raft! But many Cubans have made the journey, probably knocked off course by winds and waves.

News of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez’s likely demise within two years comes from an indirect source, Pravda, which quotes his personal physician in that regard. However, Chavez himself has announced he is now cancer-free and invited supporters to celebrate his victory over the disease.

Sad news has come from Cuba regarding the death of an outspoken member of the Damas de Blanco (Women in White), Laura Pollan, who appeared in the Norwegian-made documentary of the same name. She was hospitalized with hemorrhagic dengue and suffered a fatal heart attack in the hospital. Her husband was released earlier this year, one of the last of the 2003 Black Spring prisoners to be freed because he refused exile. At least, they had a few months together before her death. Up to the end, she had been very active in continuing with the marches with other women, calling not only for the release of their loved ones, but for the freeing of all political prisoners and an end to repression. She suffered many indignities, blows, and short-term arrests, but did not stop her advocacy. Reports of her death in the official Cuban media did not mention dengue as a factor in her death. Cuba has a history of covering up dengue epidemics for fear of scaring away tourists. There is no vaccine or curative medicine for dengue, a mosquito-borne viral illness.

Alan Gross, the American former USAID contractor given 15 years by a Cuban court, appealed his sentence on humanitarian grounds, not only due to his ill-health, but to that of his mother and daughter, but the appeal was denied.

Peace Corps is now recruiting Peace Corps Response volunteers for work on maternal health in Africa. Response volunteers are those who have once served a full term, but now go back for shorter assignments, usually three to six months, never more than a year. Having worked in maternal health in Honduras as a volunteer and because maternal survival and health are also priorities for Amnesty International, where I am now volunteer Caribbean coordinator for AI-USA, I would very much like to work on PC maternal health projects in Africa. However, six months is too long for me to be away from my Spanish interpretation work. I’m lucky, at age 73, that I still have work assignments and that the two agencies I work for tolerate my yearly absence in Honduras during the whole month of February. But an absence of six months would be really too much. When I retire from interpreting at age 80, if I live that long, then I plan to join PC Response, primero Dios, God willing, as the Hondurans say.

I have mentioned before that I’ve known both deaf and blind Peace Corps volunteers, as well as of at least one in a wheelchair. Now, I see in the 50th anniversary celebrations at Gallaudet University (a local university for the deaf) that at least 59 deaf volunteers have served, many of them teaching American English sign language in English-speaking Peace Corps countries.

Zimbabwe is another country of interest to me because of Amnesty International and folks who have stayed at my house. Once I attended a talk by two leaders of WOZA (Women of Zimbabwe Arise), Jenni Williams and Magodonga Mahlangu, who were recently arrested in Zimbabwe, along with ten others. Now all have been released, thanks to an international outcry, including from us at Amnesty. I confess to being all over the map in my interests and concerns and thank my few faithful readers for indulging my far-flung ramblings.

On Saturday, my daughter Melanie came from Virginia Beach to visit me with her twin step-children, a boy and girl age 7. That evening, we joined a party at Chuckee Cheese’s for my great-grandson DeAndre’s, 4th birthday. It seems to me that he was just born yesterday, but there he was at age 4, being the center of attention and the life of the party.

That former pizza mogul Herman Cain has now tied with Mitt Romney in Republican Party polls is pretty amazing. Who is he anyway? His rise just demonstrates the lackluster quality of the other candidates, who are many in number, but low in quality. (Of course, I’m a Democrat, so not exactly an objective observer.) Sarah Palin realized her star had waned and wisely stayed out of the race. She already got her 15 minutes of fame, and then some, and took maximum advantage financially while she was still on top.

Honduras has again been in the local Spanish-language press. Afro-Hondurans convened a conference in La Ceiba on the northern Caribbean coast for all Afro-descendents, over 800 delegates from 44 countries. Fighting against discrimination in the Americas and worldwide, they hope to align their movement with that of African Americans in the U.S.

Honduran soccer player Andy Najar from a town near Choluteca (in the area where I lived for more than two years), a member of the local DC United professional team, proved an outstanding player and scorer in a recent winning game against visiting Real Salt Lake. Najar, who is only 19, was named rookie of the year last year, when he first played for DC United. His father began teaching him to play soccer back in Honduras when he was only three years old.

Excerpt below from Op Ed by Honduran President Porfirio Lobo in the Wall St. Journal, Oct. 5, 2011, outlining where the country stands now, acknowledging the high crime rate especially as it relates to the drug traffic and a large seizure of cocaine just made recently. However, despite the world economic recession and Honduras’s recent political troubles, he paints an optimistic picture. Some might question whether Honduras has become “an anchor of freedom and human rights,” but I do think Lobo has acquitted himself admirably in a very thorny situation and I hear from Hondurans that matters do seem to be looking up.

“[O]ur-economy grew' 2.6% and exports grew by 17% in 2010. In the same year, Honduras saw an amazing 41%increase in foreign direct investment. We have also begun creating 'charter cities,' special areas organized for production and trade, similar to examples in Asia. We expect this to attract new investments and create thousands of new jobs. With the help of the U.S., our Central and/ South American allies and all of our friends abroad, plus our people's determination and strong democratictradition--I am positive that we will continue to thrive as an anchor of freedom and human rights in Latin America.”

Lobo also met with President Obama and asked for an extension of TPS (temporary protected status) for Hondurans, which began after Hurricane Mitch in 1998. Once a country gets TPS and nationals start sending back remittances, it’s hard for a country and for the people involved to give it up. Thirteen years on, Hondurans with TPS have put down roots in this country with homes, jobs, and kids born here and also contribute a substantial amount to the Honduran economy. Lobo thanked Obama for US support of Honduras during its “reconciliation process.” He also acknowledged the problem of violence, much of it related to drug traffic, in his country. While in Washington, Lobo was well-received at the OAS, where he won high praise from someone who was once an outspoken critic of the Honduran government, Secretary General Jose Miguel Insulza, who heralded him for his democratic efforts.

For the fourth time in the last few months, I’ve visited yet another resident of a senior living complex. I’m getting to the age myself where friends are moving into such places, all of which demonstrate a certain sameness—carpeted hallways, hand railings along the walls, cheery nameplates on dwelling doors, sprays of artificial flowers in common areas. Staff are kind, meals are colorful and nourishing, and activities are provided. It is, no doubt, a humane way to care for older people whose cognitive and physical skills are waning. My friend, who is fully ambulatory, is definitely slipping mentally, but she did recognize me and the other friend who’d brought me and seemed glad to see us. It was hard to converse with her because her mind wandered and her speech was garbled. I gave her a copy of my book, which I endorsed to her, and told her something about my Peace Corps experience, but don’t know how much she retained. She said she is still able to read, but I wonder? I also wonder whether putting such people all in one place is best for promoting mental stimulation. For some reason, while there, I thought of the institutions for “irrecuperables” that I had visited in Romania decades ago and how the institutional atmosphere and presence of so many mentally and physically disabled children all there together seemed to drag down that few that I judged to be more normal. On the other hand, since people are now living into old age when their cognitive and other faculties are in decline, group care may be the only humane and practical way to care for them—for us. As for myself, I hope I never have to live in such a place and that I die at home in my own bed with my socks on.

The graying of the population is not unique to our country, but is occurring everywhere, even coming to developing countries. It is the result of lower birthrates and better health care and nutrition, allowing more people to survive into old age. The phenomenon of worldwide population aging has been prominent in the news lately, showing that lower birthrates coupled with longer life spans are a two-edged sword. While continuing exponential growth in national or world population is undesirable, neither is falling population, especially in a country where the average age keeps rising, such as in Japan and some European nations (and also Cuba). The U.S. has managed to keep at replacement levels or a just slightly above, the ideal situation, thanks only to Hispanic immigration, something that the anti-immigration hawks fail to appreciate.

Now there is talk of building a fence along the Canadian-US border. I think it's a ridiculous and futile idea--the US government can try other methods to beef up security on the northern border, perhaps through aerial surveillance, but hasn't done all that well on building a fence on the much shorter southern border yet. There's a point where the cost in money and for the nation's image are not worth it. We cannot eliminate all risks. Of course, if a terrorist attacks by coming across that border, the fence idea will be pursued 100%. There is always an overkill reaction to any terrorist act, zeroing in on the particular method used. Meanwhile, wily terrorists are always thinking up something new and totally different.

We in Amnesty got a call from a woman in upstate New York who referred me to her sister, the wife of a Cuban now in immigration detention in Batavia, NY, arrested on a 1983 burglary charge in California. Apparently, Homeland Security, now with the new emphasis on "secure communities" and going after criminal aliens rather than ordinary undocumented, is sweeping through old criminal records. The wife, with whom he has a 10-year-old daughter, says her husband, just 21 at the time of his arrest, was advised to plead guilty on the advice of counsel, although he was not guilty, she says (of course, that was before she knew him). After he served his sentence, he was held some years in immigration detention pending deportation and was actually in the La. prison when the Cubans rioted there. After Pres. Reagan signed an agreement with the Cuban prisoners that they would not be sent back immediately and that their cases would be reviewed, so he was freed. She said his cellmate right now is a Dominican man in his 60s who was actually a US citizen, but whose citizenship has been revoked under this new emphasis on criminal aliens, because of a DWI committed in the 1970s. The Dominican man and his wife are resigned to returning to the DR after 40 years, leaving behind their children and grandchildren living here. If all this is true, it does seem that the new emphasis on criminal aliens, while permitting some ordinary people to remain in the US, is zeroing in on others who were living peacefully and productively despite old criminal records. That way, Homeland Security can claim to have deported a record number of criminal aliens, what Janet Napolitano has called the “worst of the worst,” though the two cases cited here of the Cuban and Dominican hardly seem to fall into that category and, indeed, their departure will be a net loss for this country. The Cuban man has an attorney but the presumption is that he could be deported and that Raul Castro is accepting Cuban deportees, although the man's wife is not sure of that.

As I may have mentioned before, I am a 30-year member of Amnesty International and have been volunteer coordinator for the Caribbean for AIUSA for the last 7 years, after my return from Honduras. In that capacity, I am supposed to be monitoring human rights in 30+ small countries in the region, including the Guyanas and Suriname, as well as Canada. As you can imagine, I cannot be fully engaged with all of them—the priorities are Cuba, Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Jamaica. But last week, plaintive requests came in from prisoners in Trinidad and St. Vincent who believe their trials were unfair. Of course, we try to steer them to possible local resources, but our organization hardly has the resources to deal with every case where defendants feel they’ve had an unfair trial, something which probably would apply to more than half of all criminal cases around the world.

Meanwhile, Alabama with its new draconian immigrant targeting law, is seeing an exodus of skilled and farm laborers, an emptying out of schools, apartments, and businesses, threatening even greater economic hardship to the state, but the governor is holding fast, not admitting to a mistake or making any effort to soften the blow. That’s just a foretaste of what it would be like if all undocumented persons left this country. We would see population decline and economic consequences just as dire. Too many Americans give in to prejudices and a blame game without realizing that they will be harmed along with those whom they are attacking.

In an interview with Madrid’s El País (September 29, 2011), Barak Obama declared it was time for something to happen in Cuba. He said he was not yet ready to completely lift the embargo, but would respond to positive signs from the Cuba government demonstrating its willingness to liberate its people and move toward democracy. He cited measures already taken on the U.S. side in terms of liberalization of visits and remittances.

Now that we in Amnesty and other anti-death penalty advocates have lost the fight on Troy Davis, we are not giving up, but focusing on the case of Reggie Clemons in Missouri. The Davis case aroused many thousands of death-penalty opponents in the US and abroad, anxious to put their energies elsewhere now so go to the AIUSA website for details on Reggie Clemons. Apparently, just a few locales in the US are responsible for nearly all death penalty cases, thanks or no thanks to zealous sheriffs and prosecutors, such as Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio. I may have already mentioned that I once attended an Amnesty International annual conference where the brother of the Unabomber spoke, saying that he and his mother refused to turn in the Unabomber until they were given a guarantee that he would not be subjected to the death penalty. (He has refused to meet with family members since his incarceration, feeling he was betrayed.)

I admit to my readers that my blog, like my life, is multifaceted, so thanks for sticking with me through a variety of topics, not just one or two.

The entire weekend before the Peace Corps 50th anniversary week, I spent at the annual meeting of volunteer country and regional specialists of Amnesty International-USA. People came from all over the country to attend but I walked only a few blocks to the DC Amnesty office. The worldwide organization just held an International Council Meeting (ICM), whereby all member countries come together every two years, this time in the Netherlands. (I did attend an ICM meeting in Mexico in 2005—it’s like a mini-UN, with lots of political intrigue and simultaneous interpretation via earphones from and into major languages.) One of the new directions charted for Amnesty is decentralization, fanning out from the current London headquarters, with staff being situated closer to human rights events in countries such as Brazil and Mexico, as well as other cities in Africa and Asia.

We in Amnesty International worldwide fought hard with letters, petitions, demonstrations, and vigils to prevent the execution of Troy Davis in Georgia, along with many others, but officials and the governor there were hell-bent on killing the guy, regardless of evidence against his guilt (perhaps because the victim was a police officer?). In almost all cases, unless an accused murderer confesses, doubts about guilt will always exist and many death-row inmates have been exonerated just in time, while others, like Davis, may end up being exonerated later, but too late. Meanwhile, the Unabomber, who killed several people, is serving life, because his family made that deal with prosecutors before they turned him in. (His brother told us this at a national Amnesty meeting a few years ago). As former President Jimmy Carter once said, “Life is unfair.” In Amnesty, we are against the death penalty in all cases. We feel that even when guilt is proven, the state should not take another life. This action on Davis cannot help America’s faltering reputation in the world.

The Peace Corps 50th anniversary week was a whirlwind of activities. I will not enumerate everything, just will say that I connected with friends old and new and became completely Peace-Corps-ed-out. A highlight was a luncheon for Peace Corps writers held at the Library of Congress, presided over by two former PC volunteers and current Congressmen, both Democrats from California, Sam Farr and John Garamendi. My sister Betty and her husband, early volunteers in Colombia, had planned to come, but entering the train station, Betty unaccountably fell backward, was taken to the emergency room, nothing was found wrong, but by then it was too late to arrive for the activities they had planned to attend and she really didn’t feel like it. I ended the week-long celebrations on Monday, September 26, with a talk called in suburban Virginia at an organization called Shepherd’s Center, dedicated to older adults, many of them still working. Maybe I planted a seed in a listener’s mind?

A new short documentary from In Altrum Productions is entitled "Cuba's Hope." I’m rather doubtful that just clicking below on "here" will bring it up, as that was underlined in the message I got on it, but underlning isn't possible on this blog. I've tried accessing it on the website, but doesn’t always work. Good luck. Repression against independent human rights groups and especially the Damas de Blanco has been especially harsh in Cuba this month. Meanwhile in Haiti, the other Caribbean hotspot under my jurisdiction as Amnesty's Caribbean coordinator, is experiencing the eviction of camps for people displaced by the earthquake and controversy over whether Baby Doc Duvalier, who recently returned to Haiti, should be tried for his human rights abuses.

Here's the introduction to the Cuba film:

In 2008, Fidel Castro handed over control of Cuba to his younger brother, Raul. Since then, experts have predicted significant changes in the lives of the Cuban people -- especially in the lives of young Cubans. While hope springs eternal, the Cuban government's continued use of laws that violate basic standards of international human rights makes it almost impossible for citizens to openly voice their desires for change. Despite the obstacles, many young people in Cuba risk their lives to work for a better, more just future. In the spring of 2011, Livio, an independent librarian and Cuban youth leader, visited five people: a blogger, a student, a professor, a journalist and a musician. Cuba's Hope tells their stories.

http://www.capitolhillcubans.com/2011/09/watch-cubas-hope-html

See it here.

This will be my last blog entry until after the big Peace Corps 50th anniversary celebrations coming up in Washington next week. My sister and her husband from Philadelphia, early returned volunteers who served in Colombia, will be staying at my place for the festivities.

Well folks, I finally figured out how to access the short video and article where I appear in Voice of America (VOA) News—here’s the link to put into your browser:

http://www.voanews.com/english/news/usa/Peace-Corps-Marks-50-Years-of-Promoting-Peace-Understanding-128416353.html

I did not actually complete two separate Peace Corps terms, but extended the first one, ending up staying about 3 ½ years in two different towns, which, I guess, may have confused the producer of the short article and video. I gave her my book and explained the extension, but I don’t think the technical distinction between an extension from my original town into a different Honduras location and serving two separate terms is important to anyone except possibly other Peace Corps volunteers. The gist of the story is correct and I do go back every year (7 times so far), so my total service time in Honduras is more than equivalent to two Peace Corps terms.

I cannot ignore the 10th anniversary of 9/11, an event I first witnessed on television screens in Honduras, where I was then serving in the Peace Corps. It was a shock that convulsed the world and revealed that the mighty USA was not so invulnerable after all.

I passed the 9/11 anniversary at my daughter Melanie’s home in Virginia Beach, where I had gone to be with her after she had surgery. She is recovering well and last Sat., we even attended an American football game in which her 10-year-old step-son was playing. We had to sit through the games of the 8 and 9 year-olds before our guy’s team was up. Those games were played on a regulation field with a time-clock, announcer, referees, padded and helmeted players, bleachers, and paid admission. Tackling and piling on was allowed, everything the same as in an adult match, except that the quarters were only 10 minutes long. I think football is too rough a game for this age group. My own boys played it at older ages and still got hurt. They also played soccer, as did daughter Melanie, a game I liked and understood much better. Nonetheless, the step-son loves being part of the team and they even travel to other states to play in what is known as the Youth League Football. Our guy’s team lost to visiting Lynchburg, Va., but everyone enjoyed being at the game. I was especially impressed that while her husband was away working that day, my daughter sat and laughed with the boy’s mother, her husband’s ex, with whom she has an easy and cooperative relationship regarding her step-children, whose care they share. I’ve always regretted not being able to get on speaking terms and on a similarly cooperative footing regarding my kids with my ex-husband, who died in 1999.

Former NM Governor Bill Richardson went to Cuba, with the acquiescence of that government, to try to obtain the release of USAID contractor Alan Gross. But when he got there, he was told he could not even see Gross. At this writing, I have not heard of any breakthrough. Tomorrow is the deadline for Obama to renew the Trading with the Enemy Act, which would keep the remaining vestiges of the embargo against Cuba. Amnesty International has urged the president not to renew the embargo. If Gross is not released, still, the embargo is likely to be renewed. There is some doubt that the Cuban leadership really wants the embargo to be completely gone, as it’s been a handy scapegoat for every malady affecting Cuba.

To my great surprise, Luis Knight, is now visiting a cousin in a Virginia suburb of Washington, DC. Luis was my Peace Corps colleague in the regional office in La Esperanza and, until last March, when the Peace Corps budget was slashed, he was an employee of the Peace Corps in Tegucigalpa, going home only on weekends. He has a 10-year multiple-entry visa as the result of his PC employment. I was thrilled to be able to see him last week, thanks to a friend who drove me out there during a terrible rainstorm (we’ve been having extreme weather, the hottest summer on record, then an earthquake, a hurricane, and flash floods). I invited Luis, his cousin, and my friend to lunch, braving a downpour just to get to the restaurant. Luis looks good, has lost weight, but is at loose ends now without a job. His wife, fortunately, is a nurse with a steady job. Luis has previously bought used cars in the US to resell in Honduras, but now he says there’s no market. So his current plan is to consider buying a used truck to transport goods from a port city to their destination. He told me the teenage maid, Mirtza from La Mosquitia, whom I saw at their house last Feb., had tried to steal money and was sent home.

Luis showed me a photo on his cell and told me about a boy one-year-old whose leg had been amputated because of a medical mistake, with the errant physician still practicing in Teguc, leaving the child’s untutored parents to deal with the problem. I contacted Sandy, a former PC volunteer I’d worked with in the past, who advised me about how to go about trying to get a prosthesis for the child. Of course, with a growing youngster, prostheses have to be changed frequently and learning to walk is not automatic. Another project for me to undertake on my next trip to Honduras!

I rarely do written translation any more, preferring live interpretation, something that’s over and done with as soon as the session finishes. I also like contact with real, live people. However, I will do translation if pressed to do so, as I was on Labor Day weekend, when one of my agencies asked me to please take on a series of medical reports from Chile regarding a patient with a brain tumor, who, I assume, is seeking treatment now in the US. Whew! There were words in those reports not found in any on-line Spanish or English medical dictionaries. Sometimes, I had to make an educated guess, based on my long experience working in hospitals and health. I knew that some medical terms that in Spanish begin with qu, in English often start with ch. Fortunately, I also knew about an injectable substance called Gadolinium in English and that OMS in Spanish stands for WHO (as in World Health Organization). Here are some English equivalents of words contained in those reports—see if you know what they mean: parenchymatous, pachymeningeal, chiasmatic, subararchnoid, petroclinoid, anatomopathogical, eosinophilic, meningothelial, and cephalocaudal, all adjectives, and here are a couple of nouns, mesencephalon and encephalomalcy.

In Cuba, the Women in White and their associates keep getting beaten up and arrested and there have also been restrictions on the reporting of such events by foreign news outlets, including the revocation of the credentials. Veteran El País (Spain) correspondent Mauricio Vincent, a 20-year resident of Cuba with a Cuban wife, had his accreditation cancelled and was ordered to stop publishing.

Every so often, a law office in London calls me to consult on cases of Cuban asylum claimants there, as they did last week, as we have more experience with such cases in this country. Since the UK does not have the U.S.’s unique Cuban Adjustment Act, which grants automatic asylum to almost any Cuban who can manage to set foot on American soil, it’s obviously harder for Cubans to get asylum there. A case last week involved a woman who met a British man vacationing in Cuba and was invited to visit him in the UK. Often Cuban women try to marry foreign men just to get out of the country, usually divorcing them once they are safely beyond Cuban shores. I can cite countless such cases. But apparently, there was some sort of genuine romantic attraction between these two, though they didn’t marry in Cuba. Instead, the woman was granted a student visa to the UK and went there to be with the man. However, her permission to leave Cuba was only good for one year. Meanwhile, she and her beau married, but he drank and became abusive, so she divorced him. By then, her travel permission from Cuba had expired and had not been renewed, but she had no permission after the end of her marriage to remain in the UK. If she had to return to Cuba, the only way she could go back apparently was as a tourist, not as resident, though she desperately wanted to avoid having to go back at all. So far, the UK has not granted her asylum (she has no claims of abuse in Cuba, only in the UK), so what is she to do? Well, we walked through various scenarios, but the bottom line is that if the woman went back to Cuba without having permanent legal status there, she would not be eligible for a place to live, a ration coupon book, a job, or a self-employment license. How and where would she live? I always ask how law firms where I’ve been involved in asylum cases to let me know how they come out, so on this one, we’ll wait and see.

In my long life, I’ve come to expect the unexpected, so when an earthquake struck last Tuesday, of course, I was shaken and some artifacts fell off shelves and broke, but I knew right away what it was because such fairly moderate earthquakes were common in southern Honduras. I’ve never been in one where buildings actually collapsed in around me. I felt several small aftershocks that same evening and even the next day—indeed at least five aftershocks were reportedly registered. The top of the Washington Monument cracked, so it’s closed to the public until the Park Service figures out how to fix it, which won’t be easy. The [Episcopal] Gothic National Cathedral and Smithsonian Castle were also damaged.

Of course, after that, we had Hurricane Irene, which hit hard in Virginia Beach, where my older daughter lives, knocking down a tree in their back yard. So far, except for water leaking into the basement, my 100+-year-old house seems to have survived both earthquake and hurricane intact.

In Honduras, President Porfirio Lobo convened 50 sectors of civil society to formulate a plan to improve the education system, which has had dismal results and has been plagued by constant strikes throughout the years, including every single year I was in Peace Corps. Aldo in Honduras, a well-known peasant leader was killed, but it’s uncertain if the motive was political, as he was robbed of a large amount of cash he had taken out of the bank.

I was surprised to see that Arnoldo Aleman, a former Nicaraguan president once put under house arrest for corruption, is now challenging Daniel Ortega for the presidency. At one time (as mentioned in my book), they were allies. Now, the Nicaraguan people will be confronted with choosing the lesser of evils, a matter on which I am not about to make a judgment. However, I will acknowledge that Aleman is probably the only candidate who has chance of beating Ortega.

Also, I see that Spain, Brazil, and the U.S. have gotten together, first to provide food aid to Haiti, Honduras, and Cuba, then to Pakistan, and now will be bringing food aid to Somalia. Brazil provides most of the food, the U.S. pays for transport, and Spain takes care of logistics, a heartening example of international cooperation. I’m glad to see Cuba included as a recipient.

A comment about the DSK case: Its dismissal doesn’t mean that a sexual assault didn’t happen, just that the prosecutors didn’t believe they could prove their case to jurors “beyond a reasonable doubt.” Prosecutors need to protect their own reputations by winning, not losing, cases. The unsophisticated complaining witness (the apparent preferred term for her) seems to have tainted her credibility in the face of the strict rules of evidence needed in such a high-profile criminal trial where the defendant has such huge legal firepower. His lawyers did what they could to undermine her credibility and she herself did not help her case.

I feel a great relief, after the Obama administration had seemed to be deporting people willy nilly, perhaps trying to satisfy Republicans and convince them (unsuccessfully) to sign on to immigration reform, that Obama has now decided to go it alone in implementing a more nuanced, common-sense, and humanitarian approach. The policy of wholesale deportations was a blot on our national reputation. Republicans are never going to agree to any sort immigration reform (even those Republicans, like McCain, who once supported it), just like they are going to refuse to cooperate with Democrats on almost everything else. So, I applaud Obama for going ahead, to the limited extent he is able.

You have to wonder if Rick Perry and Michelle Bachmann are calculatingly coming across as characters and caricatures—almost stereotypes— in order to raise their personal profiles, or if they are being genuine and sincere. I don’t suppose it matters. Either way, whether their public images are contrived, exaggerated, or a reflection of the true person, neither is fit to lead this country and the world and I surely hope most voters will wake up to that reality. Meanwhile, maybe we can enjoy laughing at their excesses, which also are causing some amusement abroad—What will those wacky Americans do next? It’s kind of scary that Rick Perry is surging so in Republican Party polls. He’s certainly a folksy, larger-than-life personality, but really pretty wacky, in my opinion—more flamboyantly Texan than GW Bush.

It’s interesting that some Republicans, though steadfastly opposed to taxes on the wealthy, are now opposed to the payroll tax cut extension for working people. Sounds like protecting tax cuts for the wealthy, not others, is all that interests them.

The Cuban public has been largely passive in the face of material hardships and repression. But now, in late August 2011, there have been some small, hopeful signs of change. Four Cuban women chanting anti-government slogans on the steps of the capitol building in Havana drew surprise support from passers-by, who reportedly shouted “bully” and “scoundrel” at police.

According to an article in The Miami Herald (“Four Cuban dissident women detained after public protest,” Aug. 24, 2011) “A video of the incident Tuesday also showed two passers-by who appeared to join the protest, and recorded a man branding a woman who had apparently criticized the protesters as a ‘chivatona’— a government snitch. The video recorded an astonishing show of public and vocal support for the four women, in a country where passers-by normally remain impassive as feared State Security agents and pro-government mobs crack down on dissidents.”

Later, two members of the Women in White were arrested in Central Havana for banging on pots and pans and yelling, “there is hunger here," "food for the people," and "food for the children." Some of the hundreds of people at the market supported the women. Police seemed hesitant to arrest the women at first because so many were taking their side. When the women were finally arrested, people began shouting "murderers, let them go" (Una multitud apoya cacerolazo en mismo centro de La Habana http://www.elnuevoherald.com/2011/08/26/1011705/una-multitud-apoya-cacerolazo.html).

These developments have indicated that the message of the Women in White may be getting out to the general population. If that starts to happen, a groundswell of anti-government opposition may occur because, doubtless, the majority of Cubans are pretty fed up.

Amnesty International issued a press release below, to which I contributed information. Amnesty also issued an Urgent Action on behalf of the women. The Cuban government continues to try to stop the peaceful silent marches of the Women (or Ladies) in White and to prevent their spread beyond Havana.

Press Release, Amnesty International

Cuba’s ‘Ladies in White’ targeted with arbitrary arrest and intimidation22 August 2011

The Cuban authorities must end their intimidation of a group of women campaigning for the release of political prisoners, Amnesty International said after 19 of the group’s members were re-arrested yesterday.

The latest detentions took place yesterday in and near the south-eastern city of Santiago de Cuba, where the women were due to march silently and pray for the end of political imprisonment.

Over the last month, the “Ladies in White” (Damas de Blanco) and their supporters have repeatedly faced arbitrary arrest and physical attacks as they staged protests in several towns in the region.

“The ongoing harassment of these courageous women has to stop. The Cuban authorities must allow them to march peacefully and to attend religious services as they wish,” said Javier Zuñiga, Special Advisor at Amnesty International.

The latest arrests took place as “Ladies in White” gathered in several locations to make their way to a planned march at the Cathedral in Santiago de Cuba.

Eleven of the “Ladies in White” gathered yesterday morning at the home of a supporter in the town of Palma Soriano. A crowd of some 100 people, including police, officials and government supporters, surrounded the house for several hours.

When the women attempted to leave, police pushed them and pulled their hair before forcing them into buses. They were driven a few kilometres away where they were transferred to police cars and dropped near their hometowns in the provinces of Santiago de Cuba and Holguín.

Police also surrounded the house of Tania Montoya Vázquez, another “Lady in White” from Palma Soriano for several hours yesterday, preventing her and two fellow protesters from leaving.

Five other “Ladies in White” who live in the city of Santiago were arrested before they could reach the Cathedral and were held in police stations for several hours. It is believed that they have all been released.

Beginning on 17 July, groups of the “Ladies in White” have gathered on Sundays to stage silent protests and attend mass in Santiago de Cuba and several nearby towns.

The “Ladies in White” and the “Ladies in Support” (Damas de Apoyo) are a nationwide network of activists in Cuba that have recently escalated their peaceful protests in eastern provinces. In Havana and elsewhere, they have repeatedly suffered harassment from Cuban authorities for their peaceful protests.

In central Havana on 18 August 2011, 49 “Ladies in White” and their supporters were prevented from carrying out a protest in support of their members in Santiago de Cuba and other eastern provinces.

In 2003, Cuban authorities rounded up 75 of the group’s relatives for their involvement in peaceful criticism of the government.

The 75 dissidents were subjected to summary trials and sentenced to prison terms of up to 28 years. Amnesty International considered them all to be prisoners of conscience, and the last of them were finally released in May 2011.

The “Ladies in White” and “Ladies in Support” continue to peacefully protest for the release of others who they believe have been imprisoned due to their dissident activities.

“It is unacceptable for the government under Raúl Castro’s leadership to perpetuate a climate of fear and repression to silence ordinary Cubans when they dare to speak out,” said Javier Zuñiga.

Last Monday, a reporter for Voice of America TV (short programs distributed in many languages through the internet) came to my house to film and interview me. She went through all my photos to select some to use in the piece, which will feature three former Peace Corps volunteers who have come home to do something different than they did before their service. Certainly that is the case for me, Spanish interpreting, annual visits back to Honduras, membership on the boards of three internationally oriented non-profits, and a book.

I was shocked to see this news notice: Saul Solorzano, who escaped the bloody tumult of civil war in his native El Salvador and became a seasoned leader of an advocacy organization for Central American refugees in Washington, died Aug. 17 at Washington Hospital Center. He was 49. The report went on to say he had died after falling down the stairs at his home. I knew the guy! He bought my book! He was only 49! You just never know when your time will be up.

On Tuesday, attended an overflow Ramandan Iktar dinner sponsored by Amnesty International where the fast is always broken with the consumption of date, though there weren’t enough dates to go around that evening. Our speaker was an Arabic-speaking American who had just returned from several months in Egypt, where he said that the military is cracking down more forcefully than before, a worrisome development. The main questions facing the new non-Mubarak Egypt are the relationship with the United States (and the future of US aid) and whether Islamic religious bodies will occupy a separate sphere, like in Turkey, or whether it will be religious state like Iran. At least 10% of Egyptians are Christians.

Probably at least 10% of Americans are non-Christians and American Muslim, especially, have felt alienated and discriminated against since 9/11. But Rick Perry and Michelle Bachmann seem bent on declaring ours to be a Christian nation.

Now that my African visitors have departed and before my longstanding housemate returns on Labor Day, my house is very quiet. After many hot weekends when I stayed home, this past Saturday, went out to talk Peace Corps and try to sell my book, taking my table and displays over by myself to the Tortilla Café across from Eastern Market. Few people were out and most who passed by were not anyone who might be interested in the Peace Corps, either to join or even read about it. Many were listening to ipods or talking on cell phones. Others had small children or dogs—not folks exactly ripe for a Peace Corps career, because you wouldn’t take either to a foreign country. Some people my age were with their children and grandchildren—again, they wouldn’t leave their grandchildren. So, I don’t even try to talk Peace Corps with them. Others are not Peace Corps material because they are over or underdressed, i.e. women wearing high heels, low-cut blouses, and too-short shorts with beehive hairdos. Still others have too many tattoos and piercings or are just too overweight to be accepted. So there was only a narrow range of people whom I appealed to. Some turned out to be former volunteers, to whom I gave Peace Corps Response material, that is about 6-month assignments available to former volunteers. Others took my free information packets. Only one person, a French woman my age who had accompanied her American husband to Africa years ago bought my book. I suggested that she and her husband could go back now with Peace Corps, but she said his health is too frail, he has a pacemaker and other health problems, so she will content herself with joining vicariously through my book.

In Honduras, according to the local Hispanic press, 25 policemen were arrested for participating in criminal acts such kidnappings and joining criminal gangs.

Republicans have created a self-fulfilling prophesy, stalling on raising the debt ceiling, refusing the “grand bargain,” helping to send the stock market plunging, then blaming the Obama administration for not fixing the economy. And Michelle Bachmann, who has contributed considerably to the economic jitters, declares that she can fix it all quite easily. I do hope some voters are wising up about her. This whole stock market plunge and ups-and-downs are nothing more than worry writ large. Nothing objectively has really changed to cause such massive sell-offs. Investors concerned about a worldwide recession are making it actually happen! Maybe I’m Pollyanna, but I’m wondering what we ordinary folks can do to reduce the polarization in our country and daily lives. The least we can do is listen to one another. And that means that the other side should listen to us too!

From a recent AP report: “GOP presidential candidate Rick Perry told New Hampshire voters Wednesday that he does not believe in manmade global warming.” He’s even suggested it’s a hoax, invented by scientists to get money for research. I think Michelle Bachmann has said something similar. They both promise to create jobs and grow the economy, but are in favor of slashing government programs and services, which, at least in the short-term, will mean fewer jobs, not more. They are the real job-killers, not Obama. Just repeating something over and over doesn’t make it true, which I hope most voters will come to realize. If not and they vote for these charlatans, they will come to realize it too late for us all.

Distressing news in this Peace Corps 50th anniversary year is that a volunteer in South Africa has been arrested for having sexually molested at least five South African children under 6. Although recruits undergo an FBI check before being accepted, undiscovered or future behavior obviously doesn’t show up there. Another blot on the corps’ reputation.

Looks like Daniel Ortega, technically prevented from running for a second term in Nicaragua, is doing so anyway and is running without genuine opposition. And all he has to do is get more votes than any other candidate, not a majority, according to the constitution. Whatever happened to the spirit of UNO that propelled Violeta Chamorro into the Nicaraguan presidency in 1990 when I was an election observer there? Now, it’s all back to the usual fragmented, weak, and internecine opposition candidacies, which allowed Ortega to win his current term. I’ve spoken ad infinitum in the past with Nicaraguan anti-Ortega leaders, each one resisting giving up his fiefdom and long-shot chance at winning himself. So, Nicaragua will get Ortega once again and the opposition will deserve to lose. Sorry guys, you well know the winning formula from 1990, but refuse to try it again.

I understand that the British riots have been described in Libyan official media as a democratic “uprising” against an unjust system. Certainly, they got out-of-hand, going way beyond London where they first started, with opportunists and anarchists taking advantage and apparently some meddlesome types actually fomenting unrest on purpose, using social media to spread mayhem, an example of the reverse or perverse side of what social media can accomplish. At the same time, doubtless, a feeling of economic frustration and genuine grievance was being expressed by quite a few participants. The same feelings of deprivation and even anger are evident in this country and could lead to destructive copycat flash mobs and unrest here as well. Social media is certainly a two-edged sword.

Amnesty International is investigating the following report.

ACTIVISTS WITH FRACTURES ARE HOSPITALIZED AFTER BRUTAL ATTACK

LADIES IN WHITE VIOLENTLY REPRESSED AFTER MASSSantiago de Cuba / Palmarito de Cauto / August 7, 2011

Ladies in White (a peaceful group of Cuban women who are family members and supporters of Cuban political prisoners) and human rights activists holding meetings in their homes, suffered such violent attacks by the political police that many of them had to be hospitalized this Sunday, August 7, 2011, in the cities of Santiago de Cuba and Palmarito de Cauto, in the Eastern province of Cuba.

After attending Sunday mass in the Cathedral of Santiago de Cuba, government led mobs with blunt objects and members of the Ministry of the Interior were waiting outside for the twenty Ladies in White as they were on their way to march through the streets of Santiago de Cuba with their flowers to demand the release of all Cuban political prisoners. Access to the Cathedral was interrupted by police squads led by Lieutenant Colonel "Elliott" as loud music and governmental propaganda was heard through loudspeakers. The twenty women were followed by the mob, were insulted, threatened, and pushed into buses that took them to an unknown location.

The home of the ex-political prisoner, Jose Daniel Ferrer Garcia, where activists were gathered as well as three minors, was also attacked by a government led mob that threw stones to the house. The home of activist, Maximiliano Sanchez was also attacked in the same manner.

As a result of the violent acts of repression carried out in the cities of Santiago de Cuba and Palmarito de Cauto by the Cuban Ministry of the Interior, six human rights activists were hospitalized with fractures, contusions, and wounds that had to be sutured. By orders of the political police, doctors refused to provide these wounded activists with a medical certificate which they need in order to accuse Cuban authorities of the violence perpetrated against them.

Among those critically hurt: Julio Cesar Salazar Salinas, Osmelis Cruz Dacal, Annis Sarrion Romero, Magalys Fernandez Eulices, Prudencio Villalon Rades, Jose Angel Garrido Morris, Osmelis Cruz Dacal, Juan Carlos Vazquez Osoria, and a neighbor who tried to defend the activists: Rubilandys Torres Perez.

Also attacked and hurt in Palmarito de Cauto: Angel Verdecia Diaz, Andry Verdecia Osorio, Amado Verdecia Vive, Ramon Bolaños Martin, and the wife and daughter of activist Jose Daniel Ferrer Garcia, Belkis Cantillo and Fatima Victoria (6 years of age ).

The Coalition of Cuban-American Women denounces and makes an urgent appeal before international public opinion concerning the escalation of brutal and aggressive acts by the Cuban government against a Cuban civil society that is peacefully demanding fundamental rights in the island. The lives of these Cubans are in danger and we hold Cuban authorities responsible for their physical and mental wellbeing. Coalition of Cuban-American Women- Translation to English/ Joseito76@aol.com / Tel: + 305-662-5947

Information provided by JOSE DANIEL FERRER GARCIA in Cuba – Telephones (Spanish): ( + 53 631267 ) or ( + 53 790867 )

URL:http://www.netforcuba.org/apps/blog/show/7995006-cuba-activists-with-fractures-are-hospitalized-

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August 14, 2011, New York Times

Stop Coddling the Super-Rich

By Warren E. Buffett

Omaha

OUR leaders have asked for “shared sacrifice.” But when they did the asking, they spared me. I checked with my mega-rich friends to learn what pain they were expecting. They, too, were left untouched.

While the poor and middle class fight for us in Afghanistan, and while most Americans struggle to make ends meet, we mega-rich continue to get our extraordinary tax breaks. Some of us are investment managers who earn billions from our daily labors but are allowed to classify our income as “carried interest,” thereby getting a bargain 15 percent tax rate. Others own stock index futures for 10 minutes and have 60 percent of their gain taxed at 15 percent, as if they’d been long-term investors.

These and other blessings are showered upon us by legislators in Washington who feel compelled to protect us, much as if we were spotted owls or some other endangered species. It’s nice to have friends in high places.

Last year my federal tax bill — the income tax I paid, as well as payroll taxes paid by me and on my behalf — was $6,938,744. That sounds like a lot of money. But what I paid was only 17.4 percent of my taxable income — and that’s actually a lower percentage than was paid by any of the other 20 people in our office. Their tax burdens ranged from 33 percent to 41 percent and averaged 36 percent.

If you make money with money, as some of my super-rich friends do, your percentage may be a bit lower than mine. But if you earn money from a job, your percentage will surely exceed mine — most likely by a lot.

To understand why, you need to examine the sources of government revenue. Last year about 80 percent of these revenues came from personal income taxes and payroll taxes. The mega-rich pay income taxes at a rate of 15 percent on most of their earnings but pay practically nothing in payroll taxes. It’s a different story for the middle class: typically, they fall into the 15 percent and 25 percent income tax brackets, and then are hit with heavy payroll taxes to boot.

Back in the 1980s and 1990s, tax rates for the rich were far higher, and my percentage rate was in the middle of the pack. According to a theory I sometimes hear, I should have thrown a fit and refused to invest because of the elevated tax rates on capital gains and dividends.

I didn’t refuse, nor did others. I have worked with investors for 60 years and I have yet to see anyone — not even when capital gains rates were 39.9 percent in 1976-77 — shy away from a sensible investment because of the tax rate on the potential gain. People invest to make money, and potential taxes have never scared them off. And to those who argue that higher rates hurt job creation, I would note that a net of nearly 40 million jobs were added between 1980 and 2000. You know what’s happened since then: lower tax rates and far lower job creation.

Since 1992, the I.R.S. has compiled data from the returns of the 400 Americans reporting the largest income. In 1992, the top 400 had aggregate taxable income of $16.9 billion and paid federal taxes of 29.2 percent on that sum. In 2008, the aggregate income of the highest 400 had soared to $90.9 billion — a staggering $227.4 million on average — but the rate paid had fallen to 21.5 percent.

The taxes I refer to here include only federal income tax, but you can be sure that any payroll tax for the 400 was inconsequential compared to income. In fact, 88 of the 400 in 2008 reported no wages at all, though every one of them reported capital gains. Some of my brethren may shun work but they all like to invest. (I can relate to that.)

I know well many of the mega-rich and, by and large, they are very decent people. They love America and appreciate the opportunity this country has given them. Many have joined the Giving Pledge, promising to give most of their wealth to philanthropy. Most wouldn’t mind being told to pay more in taxes as well, particularly when so many of their fellow citizens are truly suffering.

Twelve members of Congress will soon take on the crucial job of rearranging our country’s finances. They’ve been instructed to devise a plan that reduces the 10-year deficit by at least $1.5 trillion. It’s vital, however, that they achieve far more than that. Americans are rapidly losing faith in the ability of Congress to deal with our country’s fiscal problems. Only action that is immediate, real and very substantial will prevent that doubt from morphing into hopelessness. That feeling can create its own reality.

Job one for the 12 is to pare down some future promises that even a rich America can’t fulfill. Big money must be saved here. The 12 should then turn to the issue of revenues. I would leave rates for 99.7 percent of taxpayers unchanged and continue the current 2-percentage-point reduction in the employee contribution to the payroll tax. This cut helps the poor and the middle class, who need every break they can get.

But for those making more than $1 million — there were 236,883 such households in 2009 — I would raise rates immediately on taxable income in excess of $1 million, including, of course, dividends and capital gains. And for those who make $10 million or more — there were 8,274 in 2009 — I would suggest an additional increase in rate.

My friends and I have been coddled long enough by a billionaire-friendly Congress. It’s time for our government to get serious about shared sacrifice.

Warren E. Buffett is the chairman and chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway.

For several days, even weeks, in a row, the mercury has climbed to over 100 F here in DC, not even cooling off at night, reminding me of being again in El Triunfo, Honduras. If it’s true, as the preponderance of scientific opinion seems to support, that the extreme weather conditions the world has been experiencing lately: floods, hurricanes, tornados, and excessive heat and cold, are partially caused or exacerbated by fossil fuel use and not just a matter of the gods sending punishment our way, then the need is urgent to reduce use of such fuels. Reduction in the use of oil and coal, oil especially, may hurt the economies of countries such as Saudi Arabia and Venezuela, but so be it. They need to get on the alternative band wagon too if they want to stay in the game. Of course, during an extreme heat wave, such as we have just had in the eastern half of the US, even an environmentalist like myself turns on the central air conditioning, burning even more such fuel. And the problem is that finding and processing alternative energy sources takes money that no one seems to have right now and also has its own unwanted side effects.

When the massacre occurred in Norway, I immediately sent a condolence message to Gry Winther, the Norwegian director and producer of the documentary Women in White where I make a cameo appearance. “Thank you” was all that she replied. What more can you say when something senseless like that happens in a small peaceful country for no apparent rhyme or reason, just because a guy has a secret grievance or a twisted mind? And I hope right-wing crazies in other peaceful countries don’t try a copycat stunt. There are always people with extreme ideologies of one kind or another everywhere, secretly plotting to deliberately hurt and kill others, something very hard to anticipate or guard against. It took relatively long for Norwegian authorities to get control of the situation because the young people’s camp was apparently on an island and police in Norway are usually unarmed and were not prepared to respond to such a catastrophic event. The fragility of life is demonstrated once again, something I already knew because of the tragedies in my own family. It could be any of us, today, tomorrow, next week.

There had been a rush to judgment, with some media (including Murdoch’s) speculating immediately that it was the work of Islamic extremists. Islamic extremists have given everyone cause to worry, but this episode demonstrates, just as did the Oklahoma City bombing and the Arizona shooting rampage against Rep. Giffords, that rightwing extremism can be just as lethal. There’s a fine line where free speech and assembly—and the right to bear arms—spill over into dangerous territory. Not only was the author of this massacre not an Islamic extremist, he was actually an anti-Islamic extremist by all accounts. We need to steer a moderate course between either type of extremism. And the internet has certainly been instrumental in spreading both Islamic and anti-Islamic extremism—or extremism of any kind. Paradoxically, on-line dialogues warning of Islamic extremism probably ignite both pro- and anti-IsIamic extremism.

We are reminded once again of the dangers of Islamophobia and anti-immigrant sentiments. More needs to be done in Europe and the US to highlight the positive benefits, contributions, and successes of immigration and immigrants to help counteract the very corrosive and dangerous power of nativist ideologies. The lessons of Hitler’s excesses should not be forgotten. Since the shooter Breivik calls himself an anti-Muslim crusader for Christendom and cites scripture, and since Muslim terrorists are always identified by their religion, then he technically is a “Christian terrorist.”

It’s now Ramadan, reminding me of the fasting of Muslims who have shared my house in the past. I did once join one of them, eating the date that breaks the fast at sunset, but only could keep it up for two days, as it was interfering with my work and thoughts, which became obsessed with food. My Muslim housemate insisted that if I had continued, my stomach would have adjusted to the new eating schedule. Muslims have told me that often during Ramadan, day and night are reversed, with sleeping during the day, feasting and partying during the night, which doesn’t seem to reflect the sacrificial spirit intended.

Unbelievably, Congress and the President, separately and collectively, allowed or facilitated the further erosion of the fragile economy. The President could be faulted for lack of leadership by only in the 11th hour trying to explain basic economics to the public in a rational and dispassionate way—but the public is probably more gut-feeling than rational. And the Republicans, I’m convinced, have been unnecessarily obstructionist, believing it will give them an advantage in the next elections if the economy actually tanks, though finally some came to realize they might have gone too far and needed to avert disaster. The negative consequences of all this, even if not strictly Obama’s “fault,” will inevitably fall on his shoulders. The tea party element in today’s politics, other than serving as an expression of voter discontent, has played a largely damaging role in the economy and polity, in my opinion, and has divided the Republican Party, defeating more experienced and centrist members and reinforcing voter ignorance. The tea party, by hanging tight on “no taxes,” may be said to have “won” in that respect, but to the economic detriment of the country. The public, for its part, wants the deficit reduced and spending cuts and lower taxes, but they certainly don’t want any programs that they personally rely on cut at all, whether a job with federal financing or a benefit, like social security or Medicare, or citizen protection in the form of the military or FBI. So what’s left? Is politics the art of compromise or a matter of sticking to your position, however damaging to the body politic? If high earners and successful businesses care about protecting the economy so it can continue to make them rich, then for their own good, as well as the common good, they should agree to pay their fare share of taxes. The majority of the public wants the high-end earners to pay their share. Scrambling to milk everything they can out of the economy is just making it weaker and less able to sustain the wealthy. The stock market has plunged, in part because of the budget wrangling and Republican intransigence about allowing any sort of closing of loopholes in the tax laws. And after they helped cause the market to plunge, tea party folks, like Michelle Bachmann, blame President Obama for the poor state of the economy and the lack of confidence among investors and business owners. Lack of confidence, of course, breeds more of the same.

Now House Speaker Boehner is urging lawmakers to convince their constituents that a balanced budget amendment is the way to go, an effort doomed to failure, but only after creating more market havoc and political polarization. Of course, the Democrats have yet to make a coherent case for an alternative strategy. “Balanced budget” is a two-word sound bite may have common-sense appeal, but is impractical in the real world.

Republicans, especially tea partiers, got their “no taxes” deal, but otherwise, I doubt most senators and representatives are happy with the final outcome of the budget wrangling. Obama was considered by Democrats to have given too much ground, but the tea party folks were holding the US economy hostage and he ended up paying the ransom. Bridging the differences in such a wide polarization was bound to bring about a result that no one particularly liked. But at least the debt ceiling crisis has been averted and the public is relieved to have the argument over for now. I would hope this is not going to be a recurrent crisis, but it probably will be, unless voters realize that the tea party has held the rest of the government hostage; buoyed by their success, they will continue with such tactics. The only way to defeat them is at the ballot box, should voters be savvy enough to do that.

It’s certainly true, as Michelle Bachmann, has reportedly asserted, that the sun would still rise if the debt ceiling was not lifted. It’s also true that money, whether the paper stuff or computerized bank holdings or the federal budget, is an abstract, artificial human construct. But it’s a consensus construct, a man-made system developed over millennia and now encompassing the whole wide world, with the possible exception of isolated tribes still trading in beads and animal bones. Even as the Aug. 2 deadline approached, US and world stock markets fell, not something exactly needed right now. If Michelle Bachmann’s salary were not paid, if she had no access to her campaign funds, then maybe she would see that her words and actions were having negative consequences in the real world. It’s incredible that she and Sarah Palin, with all their ignorance about everything under the sun, though both with admitted physical glamour and bright smiles, can have risen so far in politics.

I was glad to see McCain back to his old biting form, after wandering lately into goofy far-right territory, saying: "The idea seems to be that if the House GOP refuses to raise the debt ceiling, a default crisis or gradual government shutdown will ensue, and the public will turn en masse against . . . . Barack Obama…The Republican House that failed to raise the debt ceiling would somehow escape all blame. Then Democrats would have no choice but to pass a balanced-budget amendment and reform entitlements, and the tea-party Hobbits could return to Middle Earth having defeated Mordor."

There are hints that Israel, in its cottage cheese boycott, has been inspired by the Arab spring. Somehow, I’m wondering or hoping that that mini-action might somehow lead to some sort of mutual sympathy and Israeli-Palestinian reconciliation. I know that’s not a rational thought, more like wishful thinking, but something that popped into my head.

Now California has passed an in-state college-tuition “Dream Act” much like the one that passed recently in Maryland. However, the Maryland Dream Act unfortunately did not go into effect this fall because of a petition challenging it and calling for a referendum to put it on the ballot. Allowing in-state tuition to undocumented students brought here as children would be a good investment, but, obviously, there are people in Maryland who out of spite or malice, felt they had to challenge that provision. I do hope they are overwhelmingly defeated at the polls by fair-minded, rational voters and that opponents in California don’t try a similar delaying tactic. By the way, the local Spanish-language press has been coming down hard on Obama for not passing immigration reform and especially for having deported a record one million undocumented people, most of them with no criminal antecedents.

Rep. David Wu, Democrat of Oregon, is the latest man in power felled by sex allegations. Don’t these guys have any control or judgment?

Not surprisingly, Hugo Chavez is now financing Daniel Ortega’s reelection campaign in Nicaragua, as Ortega has insisted on running, even though the constitution prevents consecutive presidential terms. The perpetually fragmented Nicaraguan opposition allowed Ortega to win last with only about 30% of the vote by running too many candidates. According to the Nicaraguan constitution, the winner does not need to win a majority, only get the most votes. Chavez has announced that he himself plans to retire from the presidency of Venezuela in 2031. (He has a lot of faith in Cuba medicine.) A website called “Democracia Participativa” estimates that the current governor of the Venezuelan state of Miranda, a big voter-getter there, could beat Chavez in a presidential election.

Honduran President Porfirio Lobo has reported that his internet and phone systems have been hacked. So even little Honduras is not immune to such shenanigans.

Canada, surprisingly, is one of the countries included in my volunteer duties as Caribbean coordinator for Amnesty International-USA, I guess because they didn’t know where else to put it. I’ve heard on the news that Amnesty-Canada is concerned about immigrants’ rights and deportation issues due to a campaign now underway there to deport certain immigrants. I need to find out more about that.

My African visitors, Charles from Kenya and Rheah from Zimbabwe, have just departed today. I will certainly miss them. Charles’ wife got a visitor’s visa and was here for several weeks as well and just went home with Charles. While she was here, Charles’ uncle visited from Minnesota (is my house a hotel, or what?. Only Rochelle, my USAID water specialist, is left now. The house seems empty without the Africans, cooking savory dishes, often wearing exotic clothing, and sometimes speaking in Swahili (Kenya) or another native language (Zimbabwe), I don’t recall its name. Once Charles and his wife had a big argument in Swahili. I think it had to do with the fact that his cousins in Dallas had sent him a plane ticket to go there for a long weekend, but did not include Jessie, his wife. He was planning to leave her at my house after she had left their four children at home and had come so far to see him. He ended up buying her ticket to Texas himself and they went together, Jessie wearing a big smile and her best outfit.

Last weekend, I spent several hours and four different sessions with an ICU patient at a local hospital. This young man was an indigenous Guatemalan whose first language was Mam, something not covered by a standard interpretation agency, so he had to make do with Spanish, in which he was completely fluent. Only in his twenties, he had suffered from excruciating and constant headaches, which turned out to be caused by a brain tumor. As you might imagine, removing the tumor resulted in considerable post-operative pain and the need for special treatment. Still, it was heartening that after right after the tumor’s removal, he was able to move extremities and wiggle fingers and toes on command, as well as carry on complex conversations once his breathing and feeding tubes were removed. He became concerned about his clothes and shoes, which I showed him had been stored in a special bag with his name on it. His functioning seemed completely normal and his prospects good for complete recovery.

I feel compelled to comment on hospital vending machines that all sell unhealthy snacks, like chips, candy bars, salty pretzels and crackers, cookies, and sodas. I suppose those are items most buyers crave and which the machines are already set up to dispense. It would be hard to offer say, apples, carrot sticks, and grapes, which don’t store well, but what about cans of juice, unsalted nuts, and dried fruit? Couldn’t the machines be retooled to offer at least some healthy snacks among the unhealthy ones, more in keeping with what hospitals advocate?

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While I don’t pretend for a minute to be an economist, most congressmen and senators are not economists either. The whole “cut, cap, and balance” charade in relation to the raising the debt ceiling and reducing the deficit uses simplistic arguments that have no actual application in the modern economic world. And voting on that measure in the House has wasted precious time, probably further harmed the economy, and certainly failed to educate the public. Its partisans contend that the federal budget, like personal calculations that a family might make over the kitchen table, must be balanced, with outlays never exceeding income. Do they really believe that or are they only pandering to the misconceptions of Tea Party folks?

In fact, neither personal nor government budgets are routinely balanced, rather, they always mortgage the future, especially if there is to be continued economic growth. World and national economies are pyramid schemes of a sort, based on mutual trust and promises to pay eventually. We use electricity and pay later—it’s not like in pioneer days when settlers gathered firewood and made candles in advance of need. When the end of the world comes, someone will be left holding the bag. The main reason that Cubans are having a hard time right now converting from state jobs to home businesses, for example, is precisely lack of access to capital to invest to get it started. If it weren’t for the Cuban diaspora, they’d be in a real fix. And the same dearth of loans is thwarting new businesses that might get underway now in the US. Of course, borrowing can get out-of-hand, as so many individuals and governments have recently discovered, and, arguably, our country has exceeded a reasonable limit, but to support a constitutional amendment to limit spending to yearly revenues is unrealistic and wiser heads know that, although some ignorant balanced budget constitutional amendment signatories, such as Michelle Bachmann, may truly believe that such a system is feasible in the modern world. Unfortunately, they are not educating their constituents about reality, but confusing them and undermining international trust in the whole American economic system. If the “cut, cap, and balance” measure really became law, there would be economic chaos. But facts and expert opinion don’t seem to matter—the experts are dismissed as eggheads or captives of “big government.” Let’s hope that some cooler heads prevail in time to raise the debt ceiling and also to get a handle on the budget and the debt.

I can’t avoid commenting on the horrible, tragic death of a boy whose body was dismembered in NYC , captured when walking home from day camp. Something like that happening is certainly a parent’s worst nightmare. Though it’s a one-in-a-million occurrence, perhaps like other child murders and abductions by strangers, the mere fact that it occurred at all will lead most parents to redouble their efforts to protect their kids and perhaps to overprotect them by not allowing them appropriate chances for independence, maybe overlooking even more likely threats. I understand the protective impulse entirely after the loss of my (adult) son. As a parent, you want to head off any conceivable danger, though, of course, that’s impossible.

A woman about age 50 from Baltimore who had bought my book back in January just contacted me again to say that she is now fully immersed in the lengthy Peace Corps application process. At this point, she is starting to get a case of cold feet, wondering what she might be getting herself into. That’s fairly normal when making any big change, whether buying a house, changing jobs, moving to a new city, getting married, or having a child. There are pros and cons to everything, and certainly my book is frank about both in regard to the Peace Corps. Every change is a gamble and Peace Corps is no exception. But it’s a gamble where you can win big in terms of personal satisfaction, life enrichment, and making a contribution. I believe it’s gamble worth taking for most people, but, of course, they do face risks and must take precautions—more and different precautions than in the States—such as drinking only bottled water, keeping hydrated, avoiding fresh vegetables, not riding buses at night, and not living alone, among others.

The mechanical condition of buses in Honduras and El Salvador leaves much to be desired, as per the following. Riding buses, that’s certainly a risk abroad, though just a few days ago, a bus going from DC to Richmond overturned, killing four passengers after the apparently exhausted driver fell asleep at the wheel (he survived). And, more recently, a tour bus going from DC to Niagara Falls crashed, killing two. Of course, the US has a much bigger population and has more bus trips, so proportionately, developing countries, with buses and roads in poorer condition, will experience more crashes, one of the risks Peace Corps volunteers always face.

2 Americans among 10 dead in Honduran bus crash

July 11, 2011

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AP) — A bus crash in Honduras near an archaeological ruin popular with tourists has killed 10 people and injured 25.

Among the dead are two Americans, a Canadian, three Salvadorans and three Hondurans. Another victim has yet to be identified.

The U.S. Embassy in Honduras says two other Americans are among the injured, but could not provide any further details on the victims.

Sgt. Wilmer Cruz of Honduras' national firefighters' force said Monday the bus was going down a hill when it apparently suffered a mechanical problem. It flipped on its side in the Sunday accident near Santa Rosa de Copan, a town near the famed Mayan ruins of Copan.

The bus set out from El Salvador and was carrying about 50 passengers.

Truth and Reconciliation Commission in Honduras? Here are two comments about its report.

HONDURAS: It was illegal, it was everyone’s fault, and everyone is to blame

In a nutshell, that was the conclusion of the Honduran Truth and Reconciliation Commission (Comisión de Verdad y Reconciliación [CVR]), which on 7 July finally published its report into the 28 June 2009 overthrow of the democratically-elected President Manuel Zelaya. The report vindicates Zelaya – saying that he was the victim of an illegal coup d’etat– but crucially it does not absolve him, suggesting that he pretty much brought it upon himself through his lengthy brinkmanship with the other institutions of state.

Honduras: HRF Finds Truth Commission Report Conclusive and Balanced; Criticizes Recommended Reform of the Constitution

NEW YORK (July 13, 2011) – The Human Rights Foundation (HRF) congratulates the Honduras Truth and Reconciliation Commission (CVR-H) after unveiling its report, calling it conclusive and balanced. In particular, HRF appreciates that the CVR-H based many of its conclusions on the report published by HRF after the June 2009 coup in Honduras. However, HRF criticizes the CVR-H’s conclusions and recommendations regarding the alleged absence of a presidential trial in Honduras and the necessity of constitutional reform.

“We congratulate the CVR-H for successfully documenting one of the most serious democratic crises in Latin America in recent history,” said Thor Halvorssen, president of HRF. “We are especially glad that our report served the CVR-H in this daunting and historical task,” added Halvorssen.

Last Thursday, the CVR-H presented its report, titled To Prevent these Events from Happening Again: Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which examines in detail the events surrounding the coup of June 28, 2009. The 800-page report includes several references to HRF’s legal report, The Facts and the Law behind the Democratic Crisis of Honduras, 2009-2010, published in March 2010.

“The commissioners (…) agree with the analysis made by the Human Rights Foundation, in order to define what happened in Honduras as a coup d’état,” the CVR-H states on page 202 of its report. “[A] coup d’état would refer to a scenario with the following four concurring elements: ‘first, that the victim of the coup is the president or other civil authority with full control of executive power in that country; second, that the perpetrator of the coup has used violence or coercion to remove the victim from his post; third, that the action or actions that constitute the coup are abrupt or sudden and rapid; and fourth, that this action occurs in clear violation of the constitutional procedure to remove the president, or chief executive.’ In the case of Honduras, all of the four aforementioned elements were present,” the CVR-H concludes.

In March 2010, HRF sent a letter to Eduardo Stein, coordinator of the CVR-H, and made its 300-page legal report available to him. Over a year after this exchange, the CVR-H ratified many of HRF’s conclusions. In particular, the CVR-H concludes that the coup occurred in the context of democratic erosion precipitated by unconstitutional actions by the president of Honduras, Manuel Zelaya. The report also concludes that the actions of the Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), Jose Miguel Insulza, prior to June 28, affected the credibility of the OAS.

“The OAS sent an accompaniment mission for the [national opinion] poll [mandated by Zelaya], even though relevant authorities of the Honduran State at all levels had issued resolutions stating that the poll was illegal and that it should not take place. This decision by the OAS undermined the confidence of several Honduran groups in the international organization,” the CVR-H determines on page 393 of its report.

However, HRF is careful to note its dissent from the conclusions and recommendations of the CVR-H regarding the purported absence of a presidential trial in Honduras and the necessity to reform the constitution to regulate this procedure (page 398ff.).

A special trial against high ranking state officials, including the president, is already regulated by the constitution (Art. 313(2)) and the code of criminal procedure of Honduras (Arts. 414-417), which grant the attorney general the power to prosecute the president before the Honduran Supreme Court of Justice.

“If they had simply followed this procedure, President Zelaya could have been removed constitutionally, with due process of law,” says Javier El-Hage, general counsel of HRF.

Since 1825, Honduras has enacted 14 different constitutions and modified the constitutional provisions regarding presidential trials at least 15 times.

“The Truth Commission’s assertion that the solution for Honduras is yet another reform, is just plain misguided. In order ‘to prevent these events from happening again,’ Honduran politicians across the spectrum must uphold their country’s constitution, instead of changing it every time it does not suit them,” concludes El-Hage.

Annex 3 of HRF’s legal report includes a detailed description of the constitutional provisions related to presidential trials, both in Honduras and in 17 other Latin American countries.

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Posted on Tue, Jul. 12, 2011, Miami Herald

Mother of late Cuban dissident talks to lawmakersBy James Rosen

McClatchy Newspapers

The mother of Cuban dissident Orlando Zapata Tamayo, who died after an 85-day hunger strike, gave emotional accounts Tuesday of her son’s death in captivity to dismayed lawmakers.

A sober-faced Sen. Marco Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants, led Reina Luisa Tamayo to meetings with senators and House members who listened in rapt attention as she described Zapata’s ordeal at the notorious Kilo 7 prison in Camaguey province.

“I would go to every corner of the world to ask for justice for the cause of my son who was assassinated,” Tamayo told reporters in Rubio’s Capitol Hill office. “The Castro brothers (Fidel and Raul) are murderers and every door should be closed to them. We have to fight for liberty and justice for all Cubans. Our people are suffering.”

Her hands shaking, Tamayo held up a blood-stained white T-shirt she said her son gave her shortly before his death at age 42 in February 2010.

Tamayo, 62, said the blood came from vicious beatings Zapata endured while refusing to eat during his 15-month imprisonment. She said his captors denied him water for 18 days toward the end of his life.

“They murdered Orlando Zapata in premeditated fashion,” Tamayo said, her voice rising. “This mother would be incapable of making such a strong allegation against the government unless I held proof in my own hands.”

Tamayo read from writings her son had inscribed on the shirt.

“My blood is in service to liberty for all 11 million Cubans who don’t express themselves because they fear joining the many who are already in prison,” Tamayo read. “Long live the shirt of the prisoner of conscience!”

Rubio, elected to his first Senate term last November, held up what he said was incriminating evidence of a different sort. Displaying a recent newspaper article about increased U.S. tourism opportunities in Cuba, Rubio criticized President Barack Obama for loosening the decades-old travel ban.

The Obama administration earlier this year started allowing students and church groups to travel to Cuba, and it expanded the number of airports that can offer charter service there beyond those in Miami, New York and Los Angeles.

Rubio, a West Miami Republican, was joined at a news conference with Tamayo by Democratic Sens. Bill Nelson of Tallahassee and Bob Menendez of New Jersey. Menendez’ parents also emigrated from Cuba.

“We’re honored to be in the presence of a hero who has witnessed firsthand the brutality of the Castro regime and the reality of Cuba today,” Rubio said. “It is the brutal reality of a brutal dictatorship that oppresses its people and violates human rights on a consistent basis.”

Nelson noted that he and Sen. John McCain, an Arizona Republican, sponsored a resolution honoring the life of Orlando Zapata Tamayo, which the Senate passed unanimously in March 2010 shortly after his death. The measure called on the United States “to continue policies that focus on respect for the fundamental tenets of freedom, democracy and human rights in Cuba and encourage peaceful democratic change consistent with the aspirations of the people of Cuba.” Before meeting with senators, Tamayo appeared at a House briefing hosted by Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a Miami Republican who was born in Havana.

“Cuba is a tropical gulag where the Castro brothers serve as prison wardens and executioners,” Ros-Lehtinen said. “Anyone who has any doubt about that truth should listen to the sad story of Reina Luisa Tamayo.”

Tamayo gained political asylum in the United States and arrived in Miami last month carrying her son’s ashes in a shoe-size box. The remains were buried June 25 in a Bay of Pigs mausoleum at Dade South Memorial Park cemetery, marking the first time someone who wasn’t a veteran of the Bay of Pigs invasion was interred with participants in the 1961 failed military action against Fidel Castro.

Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/07/12/v-print/2311525/mother-of-late-cuban-dissident.html#ixzz1S1gdLejU

Hope everyone had spectacular July 4th weekend.

Found out that my July 1 radio interview could have been accessed via streaming on the internet, my daughter Melanie heard it that way, but, being somewhat IT challenged, that had not occurred to me before the last posting. The interview, from my perspective, was too short, as I could have gone on much longer. Just as well that it was limited to a half hour or less. I did invite listeners to connect with me via this blog or e-mail. Finally was able to access the podcast of that radio interview--you have to listen to that day's news first (at least I didn't know how to skip it). Anyway, if you want to hear the interview, go to http://surrealnews.podomatic.com/, then click on Joe and Gross Surreal News 310.

The annual 2-week Smithsonian Folklife Festival got underway on June 30. Peace Corps is featured during this 50th anniversary year. I noticed on the program several groups I am familiar with, including deaf volunteers who teach American sign language and Honduran Garifuna dancers. With some difficulty, because I still have pain walking after the hit-and-run pedestrian accident May 31, I made it down to the Smithsonian mall with my two visitors from Africa, where we saw the Peace Corps exhibits and a series of Garifuna dances. I also posted a note, along with others, on the Honduran wall, one of many walls representing all the countries where volunteers have served. (See photos above of Garifuna dancers.)

On July 9, some of us former Honduras PC volunteers held a party to welcome Martin Rivera, Honduras Peace Corps’ water-and-sanitation director, here on a visit with his family. Many of the young former volunteers are now married and have small children, raising another generation of future volunteers. Because of budget cuts, Martin told us that the number of Honduras volunteers has been reduced to 140, compared to over 300 when I served, and some sectors, like municipal development, have been eliminated, along with their staffs. The core programs, health, water-and-san, agriculture, and youth development remain.

The Republican presidential race is getting almost too crowded, which cannot be good for the party. Most of those folks need to be weeded out. Or let them continue fighting—so much the better for us Democrats.

Meanwhile, the budget and debt ceiling battle continues. The surge of retiring baby boomers is only exacerbating the problem. The question is: who is going to have to make sacrifices, only the poor and middle class, or everybody, including (greedy) wealthy political donors? Unfortunately, slashing budgets and saving money also means cutting jobs, lowering benefits, and reducing spending power. Now that everyone but the wealthy are suffering economically, most people have had to cut back on their buying, so the economy and jobs are not bouncing back, which further reduces spending in a downward spiral. The very wealthy, who control a disproportionate and ever-growing part of the economy, are not spending enough themselves to allow their wealth trickle down. But their increasing accumulation of ever-scarcer resources is likely to backfire if the rest of us have no jobs or income, because ultimately, even the very wealthy, rely on a healthy economy.

Many Republicans have fenced themselves in by signing Grover Norquist’s pledge. They did so also in Minnesota, hence the budget impasse there. It gives them no room to maneuver. Either everyone else capitulates or the situation remains at a standstill. Who will voters blame? If the economy continues to sputter and unemployment remains at current levels, perhaps Republicans think that will give them an advantage at election time, though that may also backfire.

Norquist, a very wealthy non-elected guy who considers himself a self-made man and has a lot of political clout, apparently would like to see little or no government, a return to the unfettered days of the wild west or the new frontier, when rugged individuals carved out their own pioneering destiny for better or for worse. Several members of the Republican Study Committee, headed by Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, have signed on to a Norquist-inspired “Cut, Cap and Balance” plan pledging not to vote for any debt-ceiling increase without serious spending cuts, spending caps, and a balanced-budget amendment passed by both the House and Senate, something that’s simply not going to happen. So there you have some automatic “no” votes on every conceivable proposal. Because they have so publicly signed the pledge, they can hardly bend an inch. Yet many angry and frustrated voters, ignorant of their own self-interest, may continue to support them.

South Sudan’s official independence day was July 9. However, fighting continues in the Nuba mountain region where I spent time in 2006, a disputed border area whose people want to join the south, but which the north is trying to retain. Despite fears of another Darfur, outside forces seem loathe to intervene and local people are fleeing again fearing for their lives, as they have done so many times before.

This from my cousin living near Los Alamos, New Mexico: There is a haze in the sky all the time. So far, the debris has not come our way, as winds are moving it north, NE & NW. The Wallow Fire that started in Arizona on May 29th and is now their state’s largest fire is just 200 miles from us. The winds blew the smell and debris here for over a week. It was so bad you had to have your doors and windows closed; air conditioning was important. She also mentioned the loss of many trees and that she and her family had decided to go to Hawaii for a couple of weeks until the fires and their effects had dissipated.

Honduras’s current president, Porfirio Lobo, supports efforts to change the constitution to permit a president to be re-elected, saying he has no personal plans in that regard. Official talks on the matter were to get underway on July 9. Hope they do not prove too contentious. From Hondurans, I’ve heard, not surprisingly, that contentious politics have returned, despite Lobo’s efforts at conciliation.

The Honduran ambassador to the US has signed an agreement with ICE to facilitate the deportation of Hondurans detained for immigration violations here.

In Honduras, killings of journalists, whether for political reasons or just random crime, continue, with the 12th in two years just occurring in the northern coastal city of La Ceiba.

Meanwhile, after fervent denials, Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez admitted from Cuba that he has cancer. Judging from the time he spent there and the weight he appears to have lost in posted photos, his condition must be fairly serious. He didn’t specify the type of cancer, but I’m guessing advanced prostate cancer. Probably he ignored the symptoms until they became severe. And he probably chose to have treatment in Cuba in part to protect his privacy about the nature of his condition and its seriousness. Since the Chavez government rests entirely on the man himself, with no apparent heir waiting in the wings, such as Fidel Castro’s brother Raul in Cuba, the whole Chavez project would be in doubt without him, although now there are rumors that he’s grooming his brother Adan to succeed him. Adan Chavez, like Raul Castro, is not as charismatic as his brother, but at least would keep power in the family.

If Adan takes over, he will confront Hugo’s mismanagement of the Venezuelan economy and the growing political opposition that has arisen on his watch. Estimates are that it would take a decade of proper stewardship for the Venezuelan oil industry to recover optimum production and distribution, assuming Hugo Chavez’s exit from power. Despite his failure to properly manage the oil industry and his generous oil largesse to political allies, the continued relatively high price of oil has buoyed his fortunes and allowed him to materially help poor Venezuelans on some indices, including food subsidies and medical care with the assistance of Cuban doctors. On matters such as crime, electrical outages, outbreaks of malaria and dengue, and transportation, Venezuela is not doing so well. The Cuban political elite must have been trying mightily to save him, as he has tossed them a lifeline with massive oil donations.

Cuban medicine resurrected Fidel Castro from the brink of death, so perhaps can save Chavez too. Cuban medicine at its best is very good, but the best is not available to most citizens, only to the elite and to medical tourists paying in hard currency. Chavez’s vice president had said that he might be gone as long as 6 months, but now he has suddenly returned to Venezuela, alarmed perhaps by all the speculations circulating during his absence. The consummate showman, he has already given a public address (via video), much to the delirium of his supporters. He must have realized that being gone much longer carried political risks.

On July 1, Yoani Sanchez, probably Cuba’s best-known anti-government blogger, posted the following about Hugo Chávez’s cancer treatment in Havana: Over the past few weeks, panic has gripped fat-necked bureaucrats, officials who control the subsidies that come from Venezuela and entrepreneurs who resell a portion of the hundred thousand barrels of oil sent to us by what we like to call our “new Kremlin.” They are all holding their breath, hoping that, as soon as possible, he will be signing agreements, speaking to the cameras, governing by force of presidential decrees.

As for DSK, apparently the multi-million-dollar defense team in its arduous investigations has dug up some dirt on his accuser, information that either she would prefer not to have made public or might discredit her in the eyes of a jury, such as about her immigration status, associations, and past life. (Who doesn’t have some skeletons in their closet?) I sincerely doubt that their sexual encounter, which DSK cannot deny because of the semen he left behind, was consensual, but these extraneous factors may allow him to beat the rap. His actions in trying to flee the country immediately after make him suspect. But, now it comes down to “he said, she said.” If the case does not go forward or if a jury does not convict him won’t necessarily prove his innocence, only that there was insufficient evidence to prove him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Then, he can present himself to the French public as the innocent victim of overzealous, puritanical American prosecutors trying to nail him for consensual sex. Heaven knows, maybe an anti-American backlash or conspiracy theory adopted the part of the French public will actually catapult him into the presidency of France, where his policies are likely to be hostile to the US. Meanwhile, rape and sexual assault victims will hesitate to come forward in the future.

Now a group of Maryland voters has mounted an apparently successful petition drive for a ballot measure to deny in-state college tuition to undocumented immigrants brought to the state as children, so that legislative victory may prove short-lived. It’s hard to believe that so many people are so mean-spirited and short-sighted. Let’s hope for a resounding defeat at the ballot box. The same people who rail against “illegals” have no problem giving big tax breaks to oil companies and the super-rich, maybe because they dream of becoming rich themselves some day? And, while we are on the subject of immigration, I have long contended that legal immigration should be expanded and made much less arduous. At the same time, I have to agree with Obama’s immigrants’ rights critics that his administration should have focused more on deporting criminal aliens rather than sweeping across-the-board and ending up deporting more people than even GWBush. Apparently, now the administration has heard the message and is starting to focus its necessarily limited resources more on criminal aliens. Undocumented people are among us everywhere in ordinary life, as award-winning reporter Jose Vargas is trying to show by “coming out” as an undocumented alien. For a criminal conviction, “intent” is necessary and certainly kids brought by their parents had no intent to break the law. A number of studies, even those done by conservative think tanks, show a net economic gain to the country by passage of the Dream Act—that is, allowing a path to citizenship for those brought to this country as children who enroll in college or join the military.

About Zelaya’s plans to run for the presidency again in Honduras, a blog reader comments: He’s not an old man; he’s still a player. This is the only hand he’s got – for sure he can’t run on his brains.

About Chavez [prior to his cancer revelation], she says: Maybe he’s lying low, letting people worry (as well they might) about how much worse things will get without him, and then reappearing in triumph at a national holiday celebration coming up soon. Or maybe he’s really sick, in which case Venezuela may plunge into chaos the way it did when Eva Peron died unexpectedly.

And, finally, about McCain: I’m sorry, too, that McCain is pandering to the tea party about the fires. His problem is, he’s so important he doesn’t have to listen to anything he doesn’t want to hear. Everybody but him knows he’s irrelevant, though. The one daughter seems to have a spark in her; maybe someday she’ll amount to something.

On Friday morning, July 1, 9:15 am, I’ll be interviewed on WSLR 96.5 LPFM, Sarasota. It doesn’t have a very long range, so you’d have to be fairly close by.

Submitted June 24, 2011, a House bill, H.R. 2337, would amend the Peace Corps Act to require sexual assault risk-reduction and response training, the development of sexual assault protocol and guidelines, the establishment of victims’ advocates, and the establishment of a Sexual Assault Advisory Council. The bill, introduced by Congressman Ted Poe (R-TX), has thirteen original co-sponsors, including returned PC volunteer Congressman Sam Farr (D-CA).

Now that discussions on Social Security and its future deficits--borne of increased longevity--are heating up, the possible remedies don’t seem all that painful: continuing to raise the minimum age for full benefits, maybe even to 70 (while still allowing reduced benefits at age 62); raising the wage cap subject to social security contributions; and taxing benefits at higher income levels (as is already done to some extent). Those provisions would take care of that particular deficit problem. Social Security doesn’t have to be privatized, just tweaked a little, preferably on a gradual basis.

Zelaya calls for end to ruling elite in Honduras

Associated Press, June 26, 2011

Ex-Honduran President Manuel Zelaya predicted Sunday that his supporters will win power from the Central American country's long-ruling elite.

In his first major public appearance since returning from exile, he told representatives of the National Popular Resistance Front that the wealthy have held the reins of power long enough. "The oligarchy has shown that it doesn't want democracy and is willing to use force to keep their privileges," said Zelaya, who was ousted in June 2009 by a military coup that was backed by Honduras' mainstream parties, including his own.

Zelaya, the son of a wealthy timber and ranching family who took a populist tone after becoming president, predicted the "liberal-socialism" agenda he espouses will drive the elite from power and govern Honduras for 50 years. The former leader also repeated his call for Honduras to hold an assembly to rewrite the constitution. His effort as president to stage a national referendum on whether to call such an assembly led to the coup.

After his speech, the 1,600 delegates at the gathering agreed the National Popular Resistance Front should pursue legal recognition as a political party so it can compete in the 2014 elections. It needs to collect 46,000 petition signatures.

The movement, which includes political activists, workers and farmers, formed after Zelaya was removed from power.

Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/06/26/v-print/2285700/zelaya-calls-for-end-to-ruling.html#ixzz1QUXZPeLj

Progress report on my hit-and-run pedestrian injury: recovering slowly, a bit too slowly, but still have expectation of full recovery.

It’s disappointing that John McCain is pandering to Tea Party and arch conservatives by blaming recent Arizona fires on undocumented immigrants, when investigators believe that at least the major one was started by careless campers. I was glad that Obama and Boehner played a nice game of golf together. Let’s see if that has any impact on resolving the budget impasse.

We recently endured a terrible heat wave here in DC. My daughter in Va. Beach had a tornado sweep through her back yard, crushing a picnic table and umbrella, but fortunately missing the house. Wildfires in Arizona, droughts elsewhere, floods along the Mississippi and its tributaries, tsunami in Japan, tornados all over the place, and hurricanes yet to come. Always, these events are described as the worst in years, in decades, in a century. The havoc and destruction is costly and brings much suffering and death. No one seems to be asking the question or trying to find out, if possible, whether man-made climate change is a factor and whether such events make more urgent the switch away from fossil fuels, oil, cola, and natural gas? Republicans, such Tim Pawlenty who once supported exploration of energy alternatives, have moved away from that position, just as Mitch Romney has distanced himself from the Mass. health care law that most residents there support. It seems that politics follows fads—or creates them—fads that override facts and rational thinking.

Romney seems to be a master of lame statements feebly attempting humor that miss the mark, such as his telling unemployed people, “I’m also unemployed.” Apparently, he’s said that more than once on the campaign trail, so must consider it appropriate. Is it mocking his listeners or what? (He also seems to have a slight speech impediment.)

Glad Anthony Weiner finally accepted reality and quit Congress. His fellow Democrats must have heaved a sigh of relief and wish now that he would just disappear into the woodwork. His wife has declined to comment or appear with him in public. Someone who has shunned the spotlight, even before current events, she is apparently Muslim while he is Jewish. Their marriage ceremony last summer was reportedly conducted by Bill Clinton (is he authorized to marry people?). In rare photos she appears as a very slender young woman, attractive in an off-beat sort of way—no headscarf or Muslim garb. Weiner has no profession other than congressman, but his wife has a good job with Hillary Clinton. She may just decide to go it alone, have the baby, and try to get child support from Weiner. However, they were recently reported to be grocery shopping together, so maybe she will be forgiving.

The June 13 issue of the New Yorker contains an article (“The Aquarium”) written by a father detailing the extraordinary medical measures taken in trying to save his nine-month-old daughter from death from a rare disorder. After many procedures and interventions, all costly and painful to the baby, she died. Of course, when the patient is a child, often no expense and effort are spared, even more than with an adult, especially an elderly adult who has already lived a long life and who is likely to have multiple health problems. However, as an interpreter, I have also seen babies surviving extraordinary procedures who are, nonetheless, left with severe life-long disabilities requiring ongoing medical interventions, special education, and constant attention by parents or other caregivers.

I’m talking about children hooked up to permanent respirators, feeding tubes, and heart monitors whose caregivers cannot leave them unattended ever for more than a few minutes. Alarms will ring out during the night if one of their machines fails while the parent sleeps. I’m not saying that these children don’t deserve to live and don’t give positive feedback in terms of smiles, amazing playfulness, and progress, however slow, because often they do, but they do require a continuing burden of care and costly medical attention throughout their lives. I know what it is to lose a child and, like most parents, would have spared nothing to keep my son alive if offered that choice. But, there is no doubt that such interventions for a child with multiple problems, often congenital, are extremely costly and ongoing, and add to our burgeoning health care costs. And the more new treatments that are discovered, the more costly health care becomes, especially if these treatments help a patient, whether young or old, with multiple problems survive, requiring continuing costly long-term care. In a country like Honduras, where extraordinary measures are not available, children and adults are not subjected to them and they simply do not live so long.

The parents in the New Yorker article were asked at each juncture if they wanted life-saving efforts to continue and they said, “Yes,” until the baby’s heart had stopped for several minutes and it seemed fruitless to continue. Often, next-of-kin make these decisions for the patient, no matter what his or her age. With my own 92-year-old mother, who had numerous health conditions and a deteriorating mental capacity, the question was put to us, her children, as to whether we wanted a feeding tube inserted. We said, “No,” just give her antibiotics and pain medication, because when she was still fully cognizant, she had signed a statement saying she did not want extraordinary means and we were honoring that. On p. 262 of my Honduras book, I recount a Spanish interpretation case of a woman who had suffered a massive stroke, showing little brain activity. Her gringo husband gave a do-not-resuscitate order if her heart should stop, but her own Spanish-speaking family objected. The husband, being legally responsible, had the last word. These are sometimes difficult and contentious decisions that occur every day in hospitals all over the country, impacting on the over-all cost of medical care.

Someone not worrying about medical bills is Hugo Chavez, recuperating after surgery in Cuba, governing Venezuela from there. We shall see what effects his health problems have on his political future.

According to an article in the Spanish-language version of the June 16 Miami Herald, http://www.elnuevoherald.com/2011/06/16/962726/lobo-pacto-con-chavez.html,

Honduran President Porfirio Lobo entered into a secret pact with Hugo Chavez on May 15, joining with other Latin American countries in the Chavez orbit promoting “Socialism for the 21st Century.” What this means and whether it was just a strategic maneuver to get Honduras readmitted to the OAS and recognized by other governments or whether it will have any practical effects on the ground in Honduras is not yet known. Obviously, despite waning popularity at home, Chavez still has influence in the hemisphere. Lobo is a member of the Nationalist Party, considered more conservative and pro-business than Manuel Zelaya’s Liberal Party, but a leopard can always change its spots, as Zelaya himself demonstrated, morphing from the traditional lackluster Honduran president into a fiery Chavez acolyte.

See following articles on LGBT people in Honduras and Peace Corps safety legislation.

Positive Results from Call to End Murders of LGBT People in Honduras

In an overwhelming show of support, over 1400 people responded to the Action Alert issued by the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) and the Honduran organization Red Lesbica Catracha on January 10, 2011. The Action Alert, calling for an investigation and response to the more than 31 murders of gay and transgender people that have occurred in Honduras since the coup in June 2009, has, in the two months since its issue, seen positive results.

The Action Alert responses, together with advocacy by individuals and organizations in Honduras and other actions by the international community, contributed significantly to prompting responses from Honduran authorities, and from other countries and international institutions – including calls from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to investigate and bring to justice those responsible for these crimes and to protect LGBT persons from violence and discrimination. Honduras has publicly committed to investigate these murders and to prevent further attacks.

The Honduran Minister of Justice and Human Rights, Ana Pineda, met with members of LGBT organizations on 21 January 2011. The organizations asked the State to investigate the violent deaths of members of the LGBT community and to join the struggle against the homophobia that prevails in Honduras. Prior to this meeting, requests from these activists to obtain information on the progress of investigations from the Attorney General Luis Alberto Rubi and Human Rights Special Prosecutor, Sandra Ponce, had gone unanswered.

On February 22, 201, the Minister of Security of Honduras, Oscar Alvarez announced that he would create a special unit to investigate crimes against journalists, LGTB people and other vulnerable groups. Members of the security forces and judicial bodies will meet with the Minister of Justice and Human Rights to discuss the creation of this unit – which will be made up of approximately 150 security officers and be tasked with investigating the deaths of women, journalists, youth, gay groups, lesbians and travestis, that had previously not been investigated sufficiently.

At the March 2011 session of the UN Human Rights Council, the Council will consider the human rights review of Honduras that was conducted in November 2010 (as part of the regular country reviews by the Council) and will finalize its recommendations. IGLHRC is working to facilitate the participation of Honduran LGBT activists at the Council session to support the recommendations to Honduras that it fulfill its obligations to protect and guarantee the human rights of all people without discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity or expression.

http://www.iglhrc.org/cgi-bin/iowa/article/takeaction/globalactionalerts/1361.html

Legislation backed to reform Peace Corps

By Lisa Rein, Washington Post, June 22, 2011 [partial article]

House and Senate lawmakers will introduce bipartisan legislation Thursday that would improve treatment and prevention training for Peace Corps volunteers who are victims of violent crime, after criticism that the agency has not done enough to help them.

The bill will be named for Kate Puzey, a young volunteer from Georgia who was killed in Benin,West Africa, in 2009. Her throat was slit on the porch of her home after the Peace Corps mishandled confidential e-mails she sent to her bosses asking them to let go a Peace Corps employee she believed was sexually assaulting young girls at the school where she was posted.

Progress report on hit-and-run pedestrian injury: getting better every day, but not fast enough. I’m still walking with a cane around the house and go up and downstairs both as exercise and for necessity. I sleep with a pillow between my knees. It’s pretty darn amazing that, fueled by adrenalin, I could have hopped up so quickly after being knocked down by that car. A big challenge in the Honduras medical brigades, even when I was uninjured, has always been getting up after sleeping at ground level because of my arthritic knees. But those knees presented no problem whatsoever when I arose instantly like an acrobat from the hot pavement where I had fallen. And I was experiencing no pain when a sympathetic driver on the other side stopped to ask if I was OK. I assured her I was just fine—in fact, I felt a little euphoric about feeling so well under the circumstances, a 73-year-old lady gets decked by car and gets right up and keeps on going. But, pain and immobility began surging thereafter with each forward step. Soldiers seriously wounded in combat report feeling no pain initially, one of the body’s automatic defenses. As the pain increased, my muscles tightened, further increasing the pain.

While I’m grateful that my disability is relatively minor, transitory, and slowly improving, it has sharpened my sensitivity to the advance planning, compromises, and sacrifices that individuals with permanent disabilities must make in everyday life. I’ve simplified meals, sometimes eating standing up, leaning against a counter, because putting food on the table and clearing the dishes afterward are logistical challenges when my gait is so unsteady and one hand is gripping onto a cane. Everything takes extra time and advance planning, including taking a shower, getting in and out of bed, going up and downstairs—what we used to call “activities of daily living” in occupational therapy, though my exposure to OT has been quite helpful in finding practical solutions. Sometimes, I must depend on others, which I don’t do comfortably. I am more accustomed to being the one upon whom others depend.

Prior to my injury, I had invited my two visitors currently taking a government auditing course here, Charles from Kenya and Rheah from Zimbabwe, to attend Mass with me at Communitas, a small Catholic gathering that meets five blocks away. Normally, we would have walked there, but I knew that would have taken me more than an hour, even leaning on them. Instead, I asked someone with a car to pick us up and to give sufficient advance warning to allow me to be at the bottom of my front steps when she arrived. I have to do everything with advance planning and in slow motion, definitely not my style.

This afternoon, just as a trial, I walked outside alone for the first time with my cane to the nearest metro stop, three blocks away. I made it there and back in 1 ½ hours with nasty biting flies attacking my bare legs and the sun beating down, though not as fiercely as on previous days. At each intersection, I looked carefully in all directions before crossing.

It’s in the nature of accidents that they are unanticipated in terms of both their occurrence and their consequences. I remember my younger son’s former girl friend, Maria, out driving with her sister and being run off the road by a truck that just kept on going. Maria was killed and her sister suffered serious injuries. Someone saw the accident, but the errant truck got away too soon to be identified. The results were the same for the girls, regardless, death and injury. No rhyme or reason, no cosmic justice. Maria’s mother later told me. “Sorry I wasn’t more supportive when your son Andrew died; I didn’t understand.” Of course not, no one really does until it happens to them.

Now, it is reported, dengue, the scourge of Latin America and the Caribbean, familiar to me from Honduras, has made its way to the Florida Keys, brought, no doubt, by people coming recently from those parts of the world. The dengue mosquito likes warm, damp places where people congregate.

Manuel Zelaya is back in Honduras and has announced his plans to run for president again and to modify the constitution which now prohibits a president for running for reelection.

I have more than an abstract interest in news from Yemen because of Ahmed, a Yemeni man who stayed here and gave me an enormous Arabic-English version of the Koran in his attempt to convert me. Ahmed eventually acquired a second wife, to his first wife’s reported and understandable dismay, and he was close to President Ali Saleh. Saleh’s departure for Saudi Arabia, ostensibly only for medical treatment, makes it unlikely that Saleh will be back, thought apparently a couple of his sons are hanging on. I just got a message from my Yemeni friend: Our problem in Yemen is that people are trying to seize power without due constitutional process. Democracy is still in the early infancy. The problem is that Western countries do not understand the real problems of countries like ours which adds to complicate the already existing problems. They only see their own interest.

An analysis in the Washington Post indicates that the GOP is more ideologically wedded to “no new taxes” than to reducing the deficit or balancing the budget. That includes not taxing corporate profits or restoring high-end taxes cut only “temporarily.” The preference, if any, is to cut benefits and government functions much more. It seems we are in a classic case of economic warfare—the “haves” want to accumulate more or keep what they have so the “have-nots” will then lose out, sharpening economic discrepancies and leading to class warfare, politically speaking. The Bush tax cuts, now 10 years old, did nothing to stimulate economic growth, rather that period saw reduced and, eventually, stalled, economic growth. That didn’t work. What to do now is the problem. Reducing benefits in this time of greatest need will only serve to further reduce consumer demand and buying power. But restoring the Bush era tax cuts will cause a hue and cry.

In DC, where a poll of high-end taxpayers showed they were willing to pay more taxes, a modest tax increase at upper levels was defeated. Even in heavily Democratic DC with its own budget deficit, the “tax” word is anathema. So the country’s economic situation is at a standstill and not likely to improve without some government action. While Republicans criticize Obama for not fixing the economy, failing to raise the debt ceiling and slashing programs is not going to fix it either.

As for opposition to “Obamacare,” designed to help control costs and extend coverage, its individual mandate, now under fire for impinging on individual freedom, would not be a problem if we had, like other western countries, a rational single-payer, tax-funded system. When American voters approved GW Bush on his second round, even after knowing what he was like, I felt, OK, you jerks, now live with the consequences. And if the health care bill, with all its flaws, is shot down instead of being improved, then let people struggle with the consequences of that and blame the politicians they voted for. Whatever happens, there will be pain—just pick your poison. What is preferable, some government “control,” or a chaotic free-for-all, where it’s every man for himself? Of course, opposition to the individual mandate is not just a matter of individual or states’ rights, there are serious economic interests involved. Obviously, Obama has not made the case in a way that the American people can understand and accept. GW Bush, for all his failings, often seemed to be on the same wavelength as the common man.

About the many errant and erratic folks, mostly males, in high positions (most high positions are occupied by men) enriching themselves financially or just adding to their sexual conquests, I cannot avoid commenting on the previously little known, but appropriately named, Rep. Anthony Weiner. He, like other men, seemed to imagine that he had a Teflon coating, could do anything he liked, and would never be found out—despite the fact that the pecadillos and gross offenses of so many other colleagues have been “outed.” At least some of his photo images apparently showed his face and Twitter and Facebook are not exactly secure. Also, he apparently pressed a wrong button in at least one instance, sending his image far beyond one recipient. He may have done nothing strictly illegal, but he is now a laughing stock and outcaste, looking totally ridiculous and stupid, hardly enhancing the image of Congress and proving a definite liability to the Democratic Party. I’m sure his fellow Democrats wish he would just quietly disappear. His antics seem particularly creepy, perverted, puerile, and juvenile—I’d dub him a “cyber-flasher.” He apparently didn’t have enough to occupy his little mind simply by being a Congressman and a new husband (and, reportedly, a father-to-be), so he was tempted to spend furtive hours sending out suggestive messages and images. Or did the risk make it all the more thrilling?

If, indeed, Weiner’s wife is pregnant, she might well be seeking her boss Hillary’s advice, as they are reportedly traveling together. Maybe, like Hillary, she will choose to stay married, hoping the matter will blow over. However, Hillary’s future ambitions actually required her to stick with Bill, who managed to hold onto his office. A connection with Weiner would seem to offer no such advantage to his wife, since he is done, politically speaking, even if he refuses to step down and ends out this term as a pariah. Republican Senator Larry Craig, caught with his pants down in the Minneapolis airport men’s room, managed to hang on until the bitter end but without supporters. Weiner knew was being followed in cyberspace, but still he persisted and self-destructed.

Perhaps the quintessential political playboy is Italy’s aging Silvio Berlusconi, the world’s role model for corruption and sexual excesses. As for DSK, he has pleaded “not guilty,” as expected, to sexual assault since he is fighting for his freedom. It was telling that uniformed hotel workers berated him outside as he was going into court.

Don’t recall if I’ve mentioned it before on these pages, but about 6 years ago, I accompanied a young Mexican econ grad student staying with me to a holiday party thrown by the IMF. He was working on a short-term project for that institution (considered a plum assignment). The lavishness of that celebration—live bands of various nationalities, food cooked to order from all parts of the world at different stations, free drinks, elaborate nationally themed decorations and furnishings, guests dressed to the hilt in jewelry and formal wear—it all took my breath away. It was like an extravagant Disneyworld for adults. The excesses were so overwhelming, especially after having just come from my Peace Corps service, that I told Jose, my young companion, that I was beginning to feel nauseated and had to get out immediately into fresh air. He agreed that it was almost obscene for an organization ostensibly devoted to helping poor countries get on their feet to spend so much on a staff party. And, of course, such institutions are rife with internal politics and benefits for employees are by far above and beyond what any of them could expect to earn in their home countries, whether the United States, Europe, or the “global south.”

Bilingualism reportedly delays the onset of dementia, so that’s in my favor. To get the benefit, you are supposed to use both languages on a regular basis, which I certainly do.

To enjoy the cognitive benefits of bilingualism, of course, I have to physically survive. On Tues. May 31, I was crossing Viers Mill Rd. in Wheaton, Md., coming from an interpretation assignment, 3 lanes in each direction. Oncoming traffic was stopped, but a driver was on a cross street and had a green light. He turned right and, evidently, didn't see me crossing since he hit me, knocking me to the hot pavement. He was a small elderly guy; both he and his wife looked all scrunched down low in their seats, so maybe his vision was cut off. He clipped me just before I reached the center median dividing the 2 opposing lanes of traffic. I thought I only had a skinned right arm, so I got up and kept on walking to the median. The driver had stopped momentarily, looking scared, but did not get out of his car. After I stood up and started walking, he drove off. I was stunned and perhaps in shock and didn’t get his license number. A driver going the other direction stopped and asked if I was all right. I said I was OK. It all happened so fast.

I wish I could have reported the elderly driver, as he seems a menace on the road. I remember my father in his later years, almost hitting pedestrians in crosswalks and resisting giving up his driving privileges. In the heat of the moment (in more ways than one, it was 98 F), I had let that driver get away. It was only during my 2-block walk back to the metro station to go home that I became aware of a painful injury to my right hip and groin muscles. Getting on and off the metro and using an escalator to change stations became increasingly difficult. Hobbling along home from the metro stop 3 blocks from my house, a trip that took 1 ½ hours, a neighbor saw me at the very end, hanging onto fences and dripping with sweat, and loaned me a cane, a big help going up my front steps. It was scary, but I could easily have been injured much worse. Unfortunately, I had to give some interpretation assignments for a time because I just couldn’t get there.

As could have been predicted, Dominique Strauss-Kahn is pulling out all the stops by hiring a multi-national, multi-million dollar defense team that the DA or whoever the public prosecutor is on the other side will be unable to match, but let’s hope there won’t be a gullible jury and that all the defense’s histrionics will impress the jury negatively. They’re delving into the alleged victim’s immigration status (is that relevant?) and anything else that might be used to discredit her. Of course, every defendant deserves his day in court, is considered innocent until proven guilty, but here is another case where great wealth makes for unequal justice. And how did DSK amass such largesse working on behalf of the world’s poor? His American (third) wife obviously wants to keep her perks as well and is standing by her man. Apparently much of their wealth actually comes from her side. At least, they are giving a boost to the NYC economy.

Manuel Zelaya did return to Honduras on schedule on a Venezuelan plane from Nicaragua and now Honduras will be readmitted to the OAS.

In neighboring Guatemala, President Alvaro Colom has appealed to the US to stop fueling drug wars in Mexico and Central America by our incessant demand for illegal drugs, especially cocaine. But the “war on drugs” and “just say ‘no’” campaigns championed by Nancy Reagan seem to have lost priority in these difficult economic times. The drug and arms trades—with most arms coming from the US--coupled with the worldwide recession have greatly increased violence, especially in Honduras, now the murder capital of the hemisphere. And internal drug use has also grown in the drug-route countries. If marijuana becomes semi-legal in the US, could that dampen demand for harder stuff—or is it a gateway drug? So far in Cuba, internal drug use is minimal, thanks to lack of personal financial resources and heavy policing. Homicide rates are also much lower than in the rest of Latin America, only a little higher than in the US, thanks to no access to firearms—most murders, I was told when I used to visit there, are committed with knives. But, as I may have mentioned before, Cuba’s suicide rates are extremely high, especially for women.

Before leaving the subject of Guatemala and its president, he has divorced his wife to allow her to run for president, since the country’s constitution prohibits consecutive terms and also prevents a close relative, including a spouse, from succeeding an outgoing president. Pretty tricky, eh?

Will also mention an article about a country rarely in the news, but of special interest to me ever since I translated some really horrendous human rights documents from there for Amnesty International. The country is Equatorial Guinea, the only Spanish-speaking country in Africa, ruled for more than 30 years by its 70-year-old dictator, Teodoro Obiang, who trained under the Franco regime and has been accused as using North Korea as a role model. The US exchanges ambassadors with this small country and has interests there because of its oil wealth, which does not trickle down to the impoverished population. See NY Times, May 30, 2011,” U.S. Engages With an Iron Leader in Equatorial Guinea.”

Heard an interview with TIME’s Fareed Zakaria, who in a revision of a previous book, attributes the economic recession to several serious GWBush mistakes, including launching the Iraq war, implementing across-the-board tax cuts, and instituting the Rx drug plan, another entitlement. To that Zakaria might have added Wall St. deregulation. He contends, and I fear he is right, that the deficit cannot be tackled through budget cuts alone; any serious plan must also include more tax revenues from all sectors, not just the wealthy, and probably some reductions in Social Security and Medicare. Romney, who seems like a less undesirable candidate than some on the Republican side, is not only backing away from his own Mass. health-care plan which, like “Obamacare” is designed to both extend coverage and control costs, but is also faulting Obama for not fixing the economy fast enough. Obama is trying, but he was given a huge mess to fix and is doing his best in the difficult situation and facing a recalcitrant Republican Party and Tea Party types who are stuck in a “common-sense” mentality and really don’t know anything about economics.

Obama is being blamed for not “fixing” the economy, but he’s thwarted at every turn by Republicans in trying to fix it—such as in preventing the Bush tax cuts from expiring. Nor do Republicans offer an alternative “fix.” Of course, every economic measure is a two-edged sword. Tax cuts do increase disposable income and possible spending, although people at the top have been saving and profitable companies have been hoarding their gains, not spending or hiring. Cutting programs and laying off public servants results in budget savings, but also throws more people into unemployment and reduced spending. The task is reverse the vicious circle, getting the spiral going upward and giving people optimism for the future. Nonetheless, the US and the world economy must not return to the heady days of ever-easier credit, ridiculous rises in property values mostly on paper, and credit default swaps that were simply a giant Ponzi scheme, with nothing to back them up when it all collapsed. There are limits in life--we cannot have everything we want and "need," nor can we live forever, whatever health fads we follow or medical interventions are fashioned.

This in from one of my correspondents: Today it was announced that Japan is planning to double its national sales tax and is imposing means testing on social security pensioners, meaning well-off people will receive less from the government. We in the U.S. will eventually be forced down the same road, leading to unrest and reduced support for the social security system. I don't think there is any way out of our economic decline except by both raising taxes and cutting government spending. Obviously, this "worst of both worlds" approach is going to be bitterly resisted by both parties.

An article below compares Cuba and the DR’s development over the past 50 years. The two countries have similar populations, Cuba, 11 million, DR, 10 million, but Cuba’s territory is more than twice as large. The DR is certainly not free of problems, but has progressed considerably during that period, while Cuba has fallen back. I once met current Dominican President Leonel Fernandez when I was in the DR in 1996 as an election observer during his first successful run. Now he is president again after a time-out, since DR presidents are not allowed consecutive terms. I agree with the article that the country still faces many problems, some derived from its common border with impoverished Haiti, as Haitians often enter illegally and some are now bringing cholera. As for the Cuban neurosurgeon referred to in the article, prevented from emigrating because Fidel Castro said the revolution owned her brain, I had the privilege of once knowing her, Dr. Hilda Molina. She was prevented from leaving Cuba for many years until international pressure and the efforts of the Cuban Catholic church finally convinced the Cuban government to free her. She then joined her son, also a neurosurgeon, in Buenos Aires.

Below that is an article from The Economist summing up the recent Obama/Netanyahu encounter.

50 years after Trujillo’s death, Dominican Republic thrives as Cuba languishes

BY ROLAND ALUM

lineral@yahoo.com, May 29, 2011

For 31 years, Rafael Trujillo — Latin America’s bloodiest dictator — tormented the Dominican Republic until 1961. As the U.S. commemorates Memorial Day on May 30, Dominicans mark his assassination 50 years ago. This milestone offers an opportunity to reflect on historical developments there compared to neighboring Cuba.

The DR achieved independence earlier than Cuba, yet by the 1950s Cuba’s standard of living was superior. Both countries emerged from militaristic dictatorships about the same time, 1961 with Trujillo’s end, and 1959 for Cuba, after Fulgencio Batista’s flight out. Prior to Fidel and Raúl Castro’s totalitarianism, Trujillo’s despotism had no precedence in the Americas.

Cuba’s remarkable record was accomplished despite Batista’s dictatorship (1952-58) and the widespread corruption of the preceding republican epoch (1902-52). Conversely, conditions were miserable in Trujillo’s DR. The brief 1965 civil war ended with the joint OAS-U.S. military intervention that paved the way for stability and relative prosperity. While the DR moved toward an open society, Cuba went in the opposite direction with the Castro brothers’ tropical version of the Soviet mold.

Five decades after Trujillo, the DR is one of the region’s least militarized societies, with an enviable freedom of expression, religion and movement. There are no political exiles, prisoners or firing squads. Opposition — reflecting all ideologies — is tolerated, and the private business sector and the labor movement thrive. All this sharply contrasts with Cuba, a stagnant, closed society.

The 1966 Dominican constitution established a tripartite government with an executive, a congress and an independent judiciary. Since 1966, the DR has elected five presidents from three alternating political parties (two presidents won re-election repeatedly). But Cuba is still ruled by the same 1959 clique whose average age is now 80.

Dictatorships usually foster foreign apologists who extol alleged achievements. Trujillo even received an honorary doctorate from a U.S. university five years after his 1937 massacre of thousands of Haitian immigrants. Likewise, the Castro duo is continually praised in intellectual circles for supposed attainments, such as in healthcare, notwithstanding contradicting evidence. As ethnologist Katherine Hirschfeld documents in Health, Politics and Revolution in Cuba since 1898, Cuba’s statistics are largely fabricated, medical care for the masses is substandard and, in any case, it depends on generous care-packages from Cubans abroad. (These are the same overseas Cubans relentlessly maligned by Havana’s hate-mongering propaganda.)

Unquestionably, Fidel Castro enjoyed enormous initial popular support; but it soon vanished as he hijacked the liberal-inspired revolution, eliminated pro-democratic dissidents, and turned Cuba into a nightmarish Orwellian dystopia.

There are revealing parallels between the Castro and Trujillo methods of control:

• Trujillo was a product of the army; Fidel Castro was a lawyer. But both militarized their countries; the military became a privileged caste with immense control over economic activities.

• Like Hitler, both granted themselves grandiose titles: “Nation’s Benefactor” for Trujillo, “Maximum Leader” for Fidel Castro.

• Both instituted hegemonic, single-party states encompassing spy networks (of which former collaborators became conspicuous victims).

• Virtually everybody labored for the “highest leaders” — from athletes to physicians — even if limited private sector activities were permitted. Illustratively, Fidel Castro remarked that the brain of a female neurosurgeon wishing to emigrate “belonged to the Revolution” — and, thus, by implication to Fidel the comandante.

• Cronyism and nepotism reigned. The titular power was passed at whim from elder to younger brother — to Héctor Trujillo and Raúl Castro — as each was gifted the rank of “general.” Thus, both Caribbean countries morphed into ridiculous hereditary quasi-monarchies.

The post-Trujillo Dominican journey can serve as an instructive fountain of experiences for a post-Castro Cuba transitioning to a gentler, open society. Along with lessons from former communist Eastern Europe, a new Cuba could learn from the successes, as well as the admitted faults, of the Dominican liberal-democratic experiment.

The DR still has educational, public-health and poverty issues to improve upon, but it has come a long way. Its post-1966 democratic project has outperformed Cuba’s statist economy. For example, the DR’s 2010 GDP growth was about 4.2 percent — almost three times that of Cuba’s at 1.5 percent (ranked 78th and 166th, respectively, of 216 countries). And that’s accepting Cuba’s suspect figures. Now impoverished “socialist” Cuba imports most foodstuffs — even sugar! — despite its blessed agricultural soil.

The DR is a country we rarely hear about in positive terms, other than supplying outstanding baseball players. Yet, there is much to celebrate in that beautiful country as it confidently commemorates its first half century free of despotism, as opposed to Cuba, still suffering anachronistic totalitarianism.

Roland Alum, a former Fulbright Scholar in Santo Domingo, is a consultant with ICOD Associates.

Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/05/29/v-fullstory/2238997/50-years-after-trujillos-death.html#ixzz1Nl7SzDXy

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THE ECONOMIST MAY 31, 2011

Barack Obama mildly pleased some Arabs, annoyed a lot of Israelis and has yet to bring the prospect of Middle East peace any closer

Cairo, Jerusalem & Washington, May 26.─ It was a tricky few days for Barack Obama in his latest bid to please the Arab world in general and, more specifically, to break the logjam between Palestinians and Israelis. By contrast, Israel's prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, after frosty talks in the White House and rapturously received speeches to Congress and to the most powerful of America's pro-Israel lobbies, must have chuckled at having once again—at least in the short run—fended off an American president seeking to prod him more brusquely than usual down the road to compromise with the Palestinians.

In the end, after much brouhaha and hyperbole, there were no real winners: no sign that negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians would resume; no hint of flexibility from Mr Netanyahu, despite his declared readiness to make "painful compromises" in the interest of peace; no expectation that the Palestinians would talk to Mr Netanyahu under present circumstances; no promises that they would put off their quest for recognition of statehood at the UN General Assembly in September; only tepid praise from the Palestinians for Mr Obama's statements that antagonised Mr Netanyahu; and, across the Arab world, in European capitals, as well as in doveish circles in Israel itself, general condemnation of the Israeli leader for his cocking a snook at Mr Obama.

In any event Mr Obama's own speech at the State Department on May 19th was an awkward mixture. Most of it dwelt on the Arab upheavals rather than the Israel-Palestinian tangle. It was the president's first big statement on the Middle East since his acclaimed speech in Cairo two years ago, when he persuaded many Arabs and Muslims that he was genuinely determined to open a new chapter of friendship after years of toxic mistrust, failed military interventions and stalled efforts to make peace between Israel and Palestine.

This time Mr Obama sought to place America on the side of the reformers, putting democratic values above alliances with dictators. He promised a dollop of cash to help countries such as Tunisia and Egypt along the road to freedom. He reassured the Libyan opposition fighting to overthrow Colonel Muammar Qaddafi that he backed them. He took a swipe at his Bahraini ally, which hosts the American fifth fleet, urging dialogue with protesters rather than repression. He told Yemen's embattled president to quit. And he asked Syria's president to "lead that transition [to democracy] or get out of the way." Mr Obama was notably silent about Saudi Arabia, as though unable to chide so vital an ally for its patent lack of reforming zeal.

But all this was drowned out by what he said about Israel-Palestine.

Last week, I was invited to talk to a group of blind kids from DC public high schools, including Wilson, which my kids attended, about how blind adults and students fare in Honduras, drawing on my book. One boy, originally from the Dominican Republic, and I chatted in Spanish. With one of the program administrators, whom I’d met through my interpretation work, we are trying to gather up a bunch of items for the blind to send to Honduras. There is a special provision in the US Postal Code (which PO workers always have to look up) that allows boxes of such materials of a certain size to be sent free via surface mail to blind facilities in other countries.

Last week, I also had two medical patients from Honduras, including one from La Esperanza who knows my former office mate and friend, Luis Knight. I must repeat the old cliché “small word.”

Well, May 21 came and went and we are still here. No end of the world, no rapture. God must have mysteriously postponed it.

I met a physician visiting from Florida who tells me that Doctors without Borders has perfected a blowup medical clinic that sounds cheaper and even more practical than mobile medical unit. I need to find out more about it and if it is available to other organizations. If anyone knows, please advise.

A reader tells me: John Ashcroft is now Blackwater's new head of Ethics. Lots of experience with such matters.

Apparently IMF head Strauss-Kahn had recently predicted that false accusations might be lodged against him. Now much of the French public reportedly believes that the NY hotel maid’s accusations are an elaborate plot engineered by Sarkozy or some other nefarious enemy. Probably due to DNA evidence, Strauss-Kahn will now be forced to admit to a sexual encounter with the maid, but will argue that it was “consensual.” If so, given his prior fear of a possible conspiracy to frame him, why in the world would he have voluntarily engaged in sex with an unknown woman, a hotel maid yet, and thereby fall into a trap? Surely, a smart guy, given his premonitions, would have had better judgment. Or was he just the victim of a wily and relentless seducer? It doesn’t wash. His hasty retreat from the hotel, leaving his cell phone behind, and attempting to leave the country within hours are not the actions of an innocent man. Still, with high-powered lawyers and a sympathetic jury, he may yet beat the rap, just like OJ Simpson did. After all, a jury has to decide if guilt is proven “beyond a reasonable doubt,” something open to interpretation.

The local Hispanic press has said that Manuel Zelaya would return to Honduras before the end of the month, precisely on May 28, after which Honduras will be readmitted to the OAS. The Economist says the same (see article below).

The Dominican president, Leonel Fernandez, whom I once met, was recently in NY City meeting with Dominican groups living there. He said that two million of his fellow countrymen live in this country.

Having been to South Sudan, including to the border area now in dispute, I’m concerned but not terribly surprised that a conflict has broken out there just prior to the full declaration of independence voted on in the recent referendum.

If I was feeling a little sorry for GW Bush in his reported self-imposed isolation, it now turns out that he’s been pretty busy after all giving paid speeches (the same one over and over?) at minor venues on topics related to finance, golf, and other matters. Public speaking wouldn’t seem to be his strong point, but he’s already raked in $15 million doing that since leaving office. So, being a former president is pretty lucrative and surely a lot easier than actually being president. Laura Bush and the president’s brother and parents also give paid speeches. You would think that someone who is independently wealthy and who enjoys a humongous pension might impart whatever wisdom he has to offer for free, but apparently not. At least Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter have established non-profit enterprises with laudable goals to soak up some of their post-presidential largesse, though I realize that many non-profits offer lots of luxury perks as well. I’m sure Bill Clinton doesn’t fly around the world in economy class. The only time I myself was offered a modest speaking honorarium, I asked that it be donated to a small non-profit on whose board I serve. I would think GW could do the same (maybe he has without announcing it?).

Since everyone is weighing on Obama’s remarks about Israel’s 1967 borders, which he was gutsy enough to repeat in a speech to AIPAC, I would just observe that it’s nothing new and nothing so shocking. Apparently, neither the Israeli nor US public, except perhaps for religious Jews and extreme evangelicals, found his statements remarkable or terribly worrisome. But Republican lawmakers and Netanyahu certainly zeroed in on them, probably for political reasons. Of course, Israel and its citizens want to survive in safety, but it really doesn’t appear to be in Israel’s interest or security (or that of the US) to keep having Israel occupy and control an ever-growing restive and resentful Palestinian population crowded into a tiny geographic area. The Arab Spring has changed the regional dynamic. Nor should Israel be so eager to bite the hand that feeds it, though certainly Netanyahu seemed to be doing that by appealing to his US constituency in AIPAC and Congress over the head of the president.

Those celebrating the passage in Md. of offering in-state college tuition for undocumented students brought here as children and who fulfill other requirements may have celebrated too soon. Apparently, there is a small-minded group gathering signatures to mount a referendum to reverse that decision.

Deficit analysts, among others, have pointed out that ever-increasing longevity is an important factor in driving up such public entitlements as pension and medical-care costs, whether financed by federal or state government. (Increasing medical expenditures, in turn, increase longevity, which increases both pension and future medical costs in a continuing upward spiral.) One remedy would be to continue gradually raising the retirement age; another would be to raise the income limit on social security contributions; and, finally, there is legalizing undocumented folks, who have already proved their importance to the economy, in order to keep them living in this country because we desperately need them! They are younger than the average American and are our only hope for avoiding demographic economic collapse, such as that being experienced by Europe and Japan. Dire warnings about the “population bomb” have morphed into the “oldster population bomb.” We keep finding new ways to remedy illness and keep people alive, so this is the inevitable result.

Best Memorial Day wishes. My late father, Leonard Currie, was a WWII veteran, though Canadian-born, retiring as a Lt. Col. in the US army, among his many life achievements.

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The Economist, May 24th 2011

Nearly two years after he was hustled onto a flight and into exile, Manuel Zelaya at last looks set to return to Honduras. Mr Zelaya’s presidency came to an abrupt end in June 2009 when soldiers sent him packing to Costa Rica after the Honduran Supreme Court ordered his arrest for illegally pressing on with an informal referendum on constitutional change. His ousting, which a truth commission is expected to describe as a coup when it reports next month, led to many countries breaking diplomatic ties with Honduras, and its suspension from the Organisation of American States (OAS).

See full article

http://www.economist.com/realarticleid.cfm?redirect_id=18745363

If I were a conventional blogger, I would post more often and not include so many topics in a single post. I admit to being rather quirky and scattered, or maybe a softer word is “wide-ranging." Hope something in every post catches a reader’s eye or engages the mind.

“I am loving your book, Triumph and Hope,” says a reader in Illinois who found my e-mail address through this blog. It’s always nice to hear something like that. I did write a very personal, sincere book, which I hope has some value to others, whether or not they plan on joining Peace Corps. That service, like anything else in life, has its share of common aspects, ups and downs, and unexpected twists and turns. Each individual life and each experience is unique, yet also interconnected and part of the universal human condition. I hope my book expresses that.

On Sunday, May 15, 30 authors gathered at Eastern Market’s north hall on Capitol Hill to talk with passersby at a Bookfest. A local bookstore at a nearby location was actually selling our books. Only 4 of my books were sold, but it was an interesting day. I was pleased that one of the organizers, who had reviewed my book for a local paper and had invited me, described my book as “the best self-published book I’ve ever read,” though my daughter Stephanie observed that was only qualified praise. Yes, I’m sure it was not the very best book of any kind ever published that she had read in her entire life, but I do believe she was indicating her surprise at the quality of the writing. I’ve reviewed some self-published books myself, not very well-written, for the Peace Corps Writers’ organization that had awarded me “Best Peace Corps Memoir of 2009.” But I’ve also read my share of commercially published junk. A number of best sellers fall into that category, in my opinion.

My three adult kids just finished holding a mini-reunion in Honolulu today and I’ve been speaking with them daily by phone, wishing I were there too! Maybe one day we can organize a get-together like that, with Mom included. Of course, I was just in Hawaii myself in March, having gone there from Amnesty International’s 50th anniversary conference in San Francisco. My older daughter Melanie, who lives 3 ½ hours away from me by car in Virginia Beach, was in San Diego last week to showcase products made by her company, Earth Friendly Chemicals. So, as I had done earlier, she decided that since she was already that far, why not go on to Hawaii as well?

Recent Congressional hearings have exposed the occasionally tragic side of Peace Corps service, namely murders and rapes. These are terrible, but fortunately rare, occurrences and are not totally unexpected risks of living in third world countries. The Peace Corps’ record actually compares favorably with that of college campuses where such unfortunate events also occur. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, young single women volunteers should not live alone in third-world countries, but instead should imitate local single young women by living with others. That is not to say that they are to blame for whatever happens to them, but special, commonsense precautions have to be taken in countries where violent crime occurs frequently and local police are few and far between and lacking in resources.

The Peace Corps also has to do a better job with security and with educating volunteers about risks. But not all risks can be eliminated abroad, any more than here at home. In Honduras, we were prohibited from riding motorcycles, had to wear bike helmets, advised not to ride buses at night, and warned not to frequent city nightclubs. At the slightest hint of trouble, volunteers were whisked out of their sites, sometimes under protest. Better safe than sorry. The Peace Corps now has initiated a reporting system to track sexual assaults, and that data is being used to train staff. More prevebtive training is also being given to volunteers. So far, the agency says that they has seen a decline in the incidence rate of rape and sexual assaults.

Meanwhile, I just heard from Luis, my former Honduran colleague in La Esperanza’s Peace Corps regional office. Our regional office had long since been abolished because of budget cuts. After that, Luis had begun working at Peace Corps headquarters in Tegucigalpa, commuting home by bus on weekends. Now, because of the mid-year budget deal just agreed on by Congress, he is out of a job completely. His wife still works as a nurse at the local hospital and Luis is a hustler, so I hope he comes up with some plan to help sustain the family. He still has a ten-year multiple-entry visa to the U.S. and has come here before to buy used cars to re-sell, though he tells me that now, no one in Honduras can afford a car.

Notice from Jose Luis in El Triunfo that his lady friend gave birth to healthy twin girls last month, keeping him and their mother pretty busy. I hope to see his latest family addition next Feb., Primero Dios.

On the more somber side in Honduras, several journalist killings in recent weeks. Journalist killings have become an epidemic there.

I quite agree that photos of Osama bin Laden’s body should not be released. Those who demand that sort of corroboration of his death are likely to become inflamed. Of course, there will always be doubters. How many sightings of Elvis have there been? Also, all things considered, although there may be qualms about the shooting of an unarmed man, it’s best that he is dead, sparing the world a long drawn-out trial.

That GW Bush declined Obama’s invitation to attend ceremonies at Ground Zero is not terribly surprising. Bush has been the most reticent of former presidents, emerging in public rarely, mainly to sign his memoir. That he had Laura, while herself attending a small public forum, explain that he prefers not to be in the public eye is also telling. He may just be relieved to be out of the presidency, where he seemed way out of his depth. He certainly was subjected to withering criticism during his last few years. His speech difficulties, apparent need for coaching by Cheney and others, and frequent bike excursions, long naps, and early bedtimes all indicated that the presidency was not a job he particularly relished, rather something he endured for eight long years. Public life can be exhilarating and rewarding—Obama certainly seems to enjoy it—but it also must be stressful having to constantly speak to different audiences, avoid slipups, and appear perpetually strong. Bush has been there, done that, proven himself to his father, if that was a motivation; now he may prefer his naps, golf, watching TV, and chopping down brush at his ranch. Certainly he will need to attend the Republican Party convention—missing that would be a real snub to the party that elected him. Does he perhaps have an undisclosed health problem? No, probably just wants privacy and to be left alone. On an infinitely smaller scale, whenever I return from the constant activity, exposure, and personal demands of my Honduras trips, I always feel like hibernating for a few days.

Meanwhile, W’s brother Jeb Bush has been rumored to be in the 2012 presidential race, though he denies it. I don’t know that voters would tolerate a 3rd Bush presidential candidate. At least Jeb does not suffer from the speaking impediments plaguing his father and brother and is also pretty fluent in Spanish, thanks to his wife’s influence. He might be able to capture the Hisapnuic vote. But what does he stand for? Most of us really don’t know.

Now, Louisiana’s Republican governor, Bobby Jindal, has felt compelled to release his birth certificate in case he decides to make a run for the presidency. This whole birth certificate thing has taken on a life of its own. Jindal is a relatively fresh face in the Republican Party and it’s interesting to imagine a contest between him and Obama.

Washington, DC, seems to be bucking the oil industry and Tea Party-led trend to advocate cutting, never raising, taxes, no matter what. A poll of DC residents at the $100,000 and above annual income level has shown a majority favoring modest tax hikes on themselves in order to preserve services for the most needy. It does seem that the way out of our fiscal hole requires a combination of raising taxes and cutting spending, not making the most vulnerable bear the entire brunt of sacrifice. Of course, I’m a voter nowhere near the $100,000 income level, but if I were, I would certainly agree to a modest tax hike and I applaud my fellow Washingtonians for expressing that opinion. Taxes are not evil incarnate—they are a useful and necessary part of our system.

Going carless for a week or a month is catching on as a way to save the environment, but what about going without a car all the time, like I do? I haven’t owned a car since 1996, when the motor of my Honda burned up. I decided then not to impact the environment and my personal economy any more by replacing it. Besides, the germ of the idea of joining the Peace Corps was already starting to sprout. No more car payments, insurance, annual registration, inspections, gas, and repair bills. No more parking problems either. Of course, 2000-2003, I was in the Peace Corps and when I came home, I decided to continue without a car, traveling to my various Spanish interpretation assignments by metro train and bus, rarely getting lost because I check routes and schedules beforehand with the transit system. When public transportation goes smoothly, it’s a dream. But, when it doesn’t, passengers have virtually no control and, when a train stops unexpectedly, cannot get out in a tunnel or the middle of a track to find another way to get where they’re going.

Today, everything went wrong. A train stopped several times because of a malfunction in a train ahead. The long escalator at my destination had stopped, forcing a long climb up steep steps. My farecard got stuck in the exit machine, requiring an attendant to dislodge it. All that took precious extra minutes and almost made me late for my assignment. An interpreter should arrive early, never late. Last week, when my route took me via two metros and a bus, a delay ahead on the track meant that when I was exiting the metro, I knew my bus was about to leave. Running for the escalator, I tripped, perhaps on the heel of someone running in front of me, and fell flat on my face. By the time I got up from the floor and down the escalator, I saw my bus pulling out, requiring me to wait a half hour for the next one. Meanwhile, the side of my face started swelling up, though it didn’t look too bad until after I finished working. Serious accidents rarely happen on the metro, but when they do, they can even be fatal, as happened over a year ago when brakes failed and many were killed. After that, I avoid the front and last cars.

Another gripe is that metro doors close abruptly, sometimes leaving us outside when passengers entering in front move in too slowly. So public transportation is no panacea. Best from a transportation standpoint is telecommuting from home, which more people are doing. I could do more telephone interpretation and avoid the commute, but I still prefer face-to-face contact.

As for the following item, it’s what I’ve said from the beginning of the Haiti cholera outbreak. Below that, Havana’s first gay pride parade, thanks to Raul Castro’s daughter, a gay advocate. As my book readers know, my foster son Alex, who died of AIDS in 1995, was gay, probably why he was in jail and was forced to leave Cuba at age 16 in 1980.

Independent, UN panel confirms Haiti cholera outbreak caused by South Asian strainBy Associated Press, May 4, 2011

UNITED NATIONS — The cholera outbreak that has killed nearly 5,000 people in Haiti was caused by a South Asian strain that contaminated a river where tens of thousands of people wash, bath, drink and play, a U.N. independent panel of experts said Wednesday. Although many have blamed the epidemic on U.N. peacekeepers from South Asia working in Haiti, the report issued by the panel declined to point the finger at any single group for the outbreak, saying it was the result of a “confluence of circumstances.”

“The evidence overwhelmingly supports the conclusion that the source of the Haiti cholera outbreak was due to contamination of the Meye Tributary of the Artibonite River with a pathogenic strain of current South Asian type Vibrio cholerae as a result of human activity,” the report said. It said the panel concluded the epidemic “was not the fault of, or deliberate action of, a group or individual.”

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon requested the independent probe amid reports of poor sanitation at a U.N. base housing Nepalese peacekeepers near Mirebalais, the central town where the outbreak was first reported.

Besides killing almost 5,000 people in a country still recovering from a devastating earthquake more than a year ago, the outbreak has sickened another 250,000.

The belief that the Nepalese peacekeepers are to blame for the epidemic is widespread in Haiti, straining relations between the population and U.N. personnel. Angry protests berating the peacekeepers erupted late last year, and just last week about 100 demonstrators blamed the United Nations for the spread of cholera. Ban will carefully consider the panel’s findings and recommendations, U.N. spokesman Martin Nesirky said. The spokesman said the U.N. chief will convene a task force to study the findings and recommendations to ensure they are dealt with promptly.

Haitian officials in the health ministry declined to comment Wednesday afternoon, saying they had not yet read the report. The U.N. envoy to Haiti Edmond Mulet was to deliver the report to the government Wednesday.

Doctors Without Borders, a medical charity that has treated about 130,000 cholera patients since the outbreak, welcomed the report’s release.

“We’re happy that there’s a process to ensure the origins of the epidemic can be investigated, and that the report has been made public for full transparency,” said Sylvain Groulx, the group’s chief of mission in Haiti.

The report came amid concerns from the U.S.-based medical aid group Partners in Health that an increase in new cholera patients in rural Haiti may signal a new surge of the epidemic with the onset of the spring rainy season.

Panel members said Haiti’s outbreak underscored the need for U.N. personnel and other first responders coming from countries where cholera is endemic to be screened for the disease, receive a prophylactic dose of appropriate antibiotics before departure, or both. They also recommended that U.N. installations worldwide treat fecal waste using on-site systems “that inactivate pathogens before disposal.”

In their report’s conclusions, panel members said the Artibonite River’s canal system and delta “provide optimal conditions for rapid proliferation” of cholera, that Haitians lacked immunity to the disease, and that many areas of the country suffer from poor water and sanitation conditions. It also said the South Asia strain that caused the outbreak “causes a more severe diarrhea due to an increase in the production of a classical type of cholera toxin and has the propensity of protracting outbreaks of cholera.”

“The conditions in which cholera patients were initially treated in medical facilities did not help in the prevention of the spread of the disease to other patients or to the health workers,” it added.

“The introduction of this cholera strain as a result of environmental contamination with feces could not have been the source of such an outbreak without simultaneous water and sanitation and health care system deficiencies,” panel members said.

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Colorful march in Havana celebrates sexual diversity, opposes anti-gay discrimination

By Associated Press, May 14, 2011

HAVANA — Cubans have held a short but colorful parade celebrating sexual diversity to mark the International Day Against Homophobia. Dozens of people waving rainbow flags and banging drums marched through the capital Saturday. One participant held a portrait of ex-leader Fidel Castro.

Castro’s niece Mariela Castro campaigns for gay rights and heads the government-backed National Sexual Education Center. She says the march is meant to raise awareness about discrimination. Cuba is far more tolerant of homosexuality than in the early years after the 1959 revolution, when many gays lost jobs, were imprisoned or sent to work camps or fled to exile. The government has even begun paying for Cubans’ sex-change operations in recent years.

Happy Mother’s Day to all you mothers out there. For those living in the DC area, another date to note on your calendar is the literary book fair we are holding in the North Hall of Eastern Market on Sunday May 15, 11am to 3pm, one block from Eastern Market metro station. Thirty authors will be featured, including Yours Truly. However, I am told, we may not sell books at that location—buyers will have to buy the books at the nearby Riverby Bookstore. Please come by to chat and browse and then go over to buy our books at the bookstore, bringing them back for us to sign. I’m not sure how it’s going to work or why—maybe Market rules don’t allow sales because we are not pre-approved vendors? Or maybe this awkward arrangement is designed to increase traffic to the bookstore?

Will try to post a couple of photos this time around, but until they actually appear, I won’t know whether I’ve been successful. One was taken at my son Jonathan’s birthday dinner in Honolulu in late March. Jon is second from the right, next to my daughter Stephanie, far right. Next to him is a friend who grew up in Hawaii as a little blond boy, teased incessantly for being “haole,” that is, a pale Caucasian. He doesn’t look very tease-able any more. The other photo is from my daughter Melanie’s recent visit with her grandson (my great-grandson) and youngest step-daughter.

The Royal Wedding in Britain provided a moment of distraction and a day of good news. Let’s hope and pray that this union does not go the way of the groom’s father’s royal wedding. The British Royals do seem to be monarchs to the world, subjects of endless fascination everywhere, unlike those of the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Spain, or Thailand, for example. Indeed, my visitor from Zimbabwe was quite miffed that I have no TV set where she could watch the festivities, so I set her and her colleague from Kenya up in front of my computer, where they sat patiently through a replay of the whole event.

Osama bin Laden’s killing certainly gave a big boost to the Obama administration and is of symbolic importance, even causing a temporary rise in the stock market and in the nation’s general political mood. That Pakistani sources were not informed in advance is telling. Certainly, there was much spontaneous celebration in Washington, DC, continuing on throughout the night. I was in the Peace Corps in Honduras at the time of 9/11, witnessing most Hondurans’ total shock that the mighty USA, considered omniscient and invulnerable, could have suffered such an attack. For conspiracy theorists, whose beliefs are impervious to facts, bin Laden’s death will be just another big government fake. Let’s see now what Donald Trump does with this latest development.

Untold wealth—he’s pretty coy about the amount—is perhaps what attracts some people to Donald Trump, a man who has moved forward in life on bravado, pushing others aside by sheer force of personality. Taking advantage of voter dissatisfaction and alienation, and buoyed by name recognition (he’s mainly famous for being famous), Trump must be giving the Republican establishment fits. Veteran politicians who have been working for years to run for president suddenly find themselves upstaged by Trump, who, if he is even a Republican, has joined the party only recently. He certainly knows how to keep his name in the news. Now, after Obama finally released his birth certificate, he has taken full credit for that and moved on to questioning Obama’s academic achievements, even though the president reportedly graduated cum laude from Harvard. The president, under no circumstances, should dignify a demand to release his academic records. Enough is enough!

Meanwhile, deposed Honduran President Manuel Zelaya, depicted next to Hugo Chavez in a photo in our local Spanish-language press, declares that the US is the major obstacle to his return to Honduras and blames the US for his ouster.

WikiLeaks files, written by U.S. military chiefs, reveal that grenades and light anti-tank weapons seized from drug traffickers in Mexico and Colombia were from the U.S. A cable entitled ‘Honduras: Military weapons fuel black market in arms’ states that the serial numbers of arms taken from drug gangs coincide with those supplied by the U.S. to the Honduran Armed Forces. According to the Defense Intelligence Agency file, the brands and serial numbers seized equipment are the same as a shipment sent to the Second Infantry Battalion in Honduras.

So military weapons to Honduras is one item of foreign aid that might be fruitfully eliminated, but not the water and sanitation projects overseen by my sometimes housemate (she travels a lot for her work). She’s is off again right now to Afghanistan and Pakistan for USAID, an agency that has taken a big budget hit. USAID and Peace Corps are lumped in with foreign aid, which, while less than 1% of the total federal budget, has been severely slashed, in part because many voters believe it accounts for much more than it does. Also, people living overseas are not US constituents. Israel gets the biggest chunk of foreign aid and most Americans would not want to reduce support for Israel, but that leave precious little for all the rest, including USAID and Peace Corps. It’s a crisis and not really in American interests to reduce foreign aid so drastically and unilaterally.

The worst thing about the cuts in the foreign aid budget is not only that these cuts are disproportionate in terms of their impact on that one small sector, but are taking place in this current fiscal year (ending Oct. 1) for programs, including Peace Corps, already half-way through. And bigger cuts are promised Oct. 1. If folks were really serious about cutting the deficit and hurting the fewest people, they would eliminate the Bush-era tax cuts, raise the social security age, and raise the earnings limit on social security contributions, all of which would have a big impact. Of course, if we had a single-payer publicly administered health insurance program, that would also help. But none of that will happen because so many voters are willfully and stubbornly ignorant and, perhaps, because they identify with wealthy people and hope to achieve untold wealth themselves some day.

Moving on to other matters, while the following video does not depict the specific Honduras medical brigade where I volunteered last Feb., it's very similar and part of our volunteer brigade network (ihsmn.org). Watching it, you can get an idea of what we do and where, but for all ages, not just kids.

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1908305036919&oid=140525261952&comments

Decided to search on-line for mobile medical units and found some used ones. One had an asking price of $19,000 for a 1991 Ford diesel model, but with a body only 15 feet long and 115,000 miles. Still, that might be one to use to test out feasibility, though, of course, we at International Health Service of Minnesota (ihsmn.org) would much prefer that it be donated outright from an another source since we volunteers already donate time and money for medications and pay our own expenses.

As someone who has served on small, non-profit boards, worked with and for non-profits for decades, and investigated them on occasion, it’s not hard for me to see how Greg Mortenson could have gone astray. Everyone wants their own non-profit enterprise to succeed and self-help gurus are always dispensing advice about how to get publicity and donations for your particular non-profit—how to get on “Oprah” or “60 Minutes,” though in this case, it was on the latter program where Krakauer one-upped Mortenson with his own expose book, likely also to become a best-seller. (Next, will someone write a book “outing” Krakauer and his motives?) In my considerable experience, oversight of non-profits is lax at best. What’s a legitimate expenditure? A big salary, honorariums for speaking engagements, first-class plane tickets, fancy hotel rooms?

Mortenson established a celebrity organization, where it was chic to donate large sums and where even the US military cooperated in assisting him. No one questioned the donations and so his fame may have gone to his head. He was flying high. Whatever he did, money poured in, and he had a free hand. Frankly, I envied him, both in terms of his book promotion and the donations to his organization. He was a role model for my Honduras work, although I never expected to achieve even a tiny fraction of his success. Now, I’m thinking, better to be poor and honest. His example also shows the folly, as per the Republicans, of relying mainly on private charity instead of public benefits, since the latter are subject to greater oversight.

Regarding the Mortenson flap, a blog reader comments in reaction to a newspaper article, headlined below: It doesn't do any harm to summon a bit of compassion in contemplating Mortenson's sins. I hadn't realized that Obama had given CAI [Mortenson’s organization] $100,000 from the Nobel money, but apparently he and M. have quietly made far more substantial charitable contributions than Al Gore ever did, and that was one of them. But this suggests a "root cause" for the Mortenson problem that wasn't mentioned by the Monitor: namely, that many of CAI's large donations came from people who didn't really need the money. When the Obamas leave the White House, they'll be able to afford gym memberships, pay tuitions at the best prep schools and universities, and continue to feather their retirement nest without ever missing that CAI contribution. And many other big chunks of change will have been given by rich people and corporations that were as interested in the tax write-off or the publicity for their eleemosynary perspicacity as in helping Afghan kids. So perhaps to Mortenson, the huge amounts that were coming his way were "play money." He seems like a decent guy, and perhaps if his funding had come 100% from the small change and crumpled dollar bills of American schoolchildren and the sacrificial giving of ascetic former PCVs who understood the value of the mission, he'd have been a more responsible steward.

Christian Science Monitor - CSMonitor.com

Greg Mortenson and our false ideals about social changeGreg

Mortenson appears to have made some significant missteps. But further vilification doesn't help him or those who do similar work. Instead, we should look at what this case reveals about the state of fundraising, philanthropy, and the culture of “do gooder celebrity.”

By Courtney E. Martin and John Cary

April 25, 2011

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This in from another friend and blog reader: Good News, Friends, Global Warming does NOT exist ! (Whew. I was really worried. Now, I can sleep peacefully at night.) Source: The United States House of Representatives,

voted 248 to 174, last week, to let us know.

Recently, attended another event at the Czech Embassy with a Czech friend. This time, we saw a documentary about Cuba, filmed by Colombian cameramen during the “peace concert” put on there by Colombian singer Juanes in 2009. The film is “Grandchildren of the Cuban Revolution” and its executive producer, George Plinio Montalvan, a Cuban-born US-educated economist, was present to answer questions afterward. Two trailers are available on YouTube under the search term “Grandchildren of the Cuban Revolution.” One difference revealed in the film since I last visited Cuba in 1997 is that young people—at least those depicted—are more willing to speak out and to appear outlandish, displaying spiked hair, tattoos, and piercings. Of course, such youth fashions have also become more popular in this country since then. That they have been adopted by some—probably only a small minority—in Cuba is truly amazing. There, they serve as graphic displays of disaffection with the powers-that-be. I don’t know how one could obtain a copy of that film, but will try to find out if anyone is interested.

See Washington Post editorial, second, below on the recently concluded Cuban Communist Party Congress.

Unfortunately, matters seem to be unraveling in southern Sudan, as per article immediately following.

At least 105 dead in clashes in Southern SudanBY PHILIP MABIOR, Associated Press Philip Mabior, 4-24-11

JUBA, Sudan – At least 105 people have died in violence between government forces and rebel militias in Southern Sudan this week, an official said Sunday, raising concerns of southern instability ahead of the region's independence declaration in July.

Brig. Malaak Ayuen, the head of the Southern Sudan's Army Information Department, said fighting on Saturday between a group of rebels led by Maj. Gen. Gabriel Tanginye in Jonglei state and southern government forces led to 57 people being killed and scores being injured. Ayuen said that five days of fighting between government forces and those loyal to another rebel chief, Peter Gatdet, in Unity state which is northwest of Jonglei, led to the deaths of 48 people. He did not give a breakdown of the number of civilians, rebels and the army killed in both incidents.

Since its January independence referendum, Southern Sudan has seen a wave of violence that has killed hundreds.

The south voted nearly unanimously to secede from the north, but there are many issues that still remain unaddressed including the sharing of oil revenues, the status of southerner and northerner minorities living on both sides of the border, and who controls the disputed border region of Abyei, a fertile area near large oil fields.

Southern officials now claim the militia groups they are fighting are being funded by the north to cause instability with the goal of taking over the oil fields in the south.

Raul Castro’s same old Cuba

Washington Post editorial, Sunday, April 24, 2011

The Cuban “revolution” has devolved into a confused gerontocracy. Raul ostensibly recognizes that the “mistakes” of the past half-century have left the country nearly bankrupt; yet this clashes with his “firm conviction and commitment of honor that the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party has as his main mission and meaning of his life: to defend, preserve and continue perfecting Socialism, and never allow the capitalist regime to return,” as the Cuban state media put it. This is a contradiction that his bid to “update” the Cuban model cannot square — any more than the previous reform campaigns that litter the revolution’s history could.

Raul Castro’s speeches at the congress were full of the usual attacks on slothful Cuban workers, inefficient party cadre and perfidious U.S. imperialism. But the truth is that Cuba’s problems are mostly of the Castro brothers’ own making. They may never end until the Castros’ regime does.

Happy spring, Easter greetings, happy Mother’s Day.

A few readers have compared my book to Greg Mortenson's bestselling Three Cups of Tea, which I’ve always considered flattering and have even thought about imitating him by setting up a non-profit for Honduras, using my book as a platform, as he has done with his book. But now, with both the book and his charity under fire, I'm less enthusiastic about the comparison.

A disquieting development regarding The Compassionate Friends, a support group for bereaved parents, has arisen. In our monthly area newsletter, we used to list that month’s birthdays and death days for our lost children. However, it now turns out that fraudsters have been using this information to set up phony credit card accounts in our loved ones’ names, so now we only list the day and month, not the year.

Recently, had an interpretation assignment at a children’s mobile medical clinic operated by Georgetown University Hospital in an underserved neighborhood. I was there for Spanish-speaking parents bringing their kids. Thinking of our IHS medical brigade, I was green with envy seeing the equipment and layout of this modern clinic, with its two waiting rooms, a bathroom, x-ray machine, climate control, and computers. I wonder if a second-hand, older mobile clinic of this type would be available to us for use in Honduras? After all, used school buses, ambulances, and fire trucks are exported to Honduras, so why not a mobile med clinic? I’m sure they are expensive to buy, even used, and require some precision and expertise to maintain and operate, but what convenience! I assume they use either gasoline or diesel for fuel and to keep the electricity operating. This possibility needs to be explored further. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. If any reader knows anything about mobile med clinics, where they are made, where they go in retirement, how much they cost, and specifics of their operation, kindly let me know here on this blog or at my e-mail address (above).

Well, it’s happened in Maryland, a version of the Dream Act has passed. This is much more modest than the federal version, which would have allowed some undocumented college students to eventually earn citizenship. Rather, the MD Dream Act permits in-state tuition at public colleges and universities for certain undocumented students brought here as children—much celebration in Maryland among future students.

Recently, I was invited to a service at a local Episcopal church along with my new temporary housemates from Kenya and Zimbabwe. The service, as I have observed before, is so much like a Catholic mass. In fact, in this church, it was even like an old-style Catholic mass with songs in Latin and bells ringing, more so than the way we celebrate with my local Communitas Catholic group.

Last Friday, my local Amnesty group held a day-long rally at 7 embassies to protest specific human rights abuses or to advocate for a particular prisoner of conscience or beleaguered activist group in that country. The embassies were Zimbabwe (to the consternation of the Zim lady staying with me now), Iraq, Indonesia, Chad, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, and China. The event was called “Get On the Bus,” after a similar effort in NYC where Amnesty members target the consulates of different nations. This was our first time in DC and drew about 120 participants, some from as far away as Pittsburgh. Fortunately, the weather was sunny and mild and all the embassies were within walking distance of the DuPont Circle metro stop, though some were perhaps as far as a mile away along a fairly straight trajectory. At the Zim embassy, we laid paper flowers at the doorstep entrance, something activists for the group we were representing were arrested for doing in their own country. At the Indonesian embassy, we donned black t-shirts bearing the name and likeness of our prisoner there. There were interviews from a reporter for Voice of America, people filming and taking photos (maybe some of them embassy reps?), and many honks of support from passing cars. At none of the embassies did anyone answer the door or even visibly peek out the window. In all, it was a successful event. However, I’d joined after an early morning interpretation assignment in a clinic in College Park, MD, so was pretty beat at the end of the day.

My daughter Melanie, her step-children, and grandchild (my great-grandson) were visiting last Sat. and on their way back to Virginia Beach, got caught in a sudden terrible storm, actually the edge of a tornado. When they finally arrived home, the electricity was out, but they made it safely.

The Cuban Communist Party Congress got underway last weekend and has just concluded. In speeches, Raul Castro almost started sounding like Barak Obama, or even a Republican, warning about the need to control spending and the public budget deficit. He has said this will be “our last congress,” apparently referring to the old guard. The self-employment initiatives are capitalism-lite, hardly socialism, more like an effort at government-controlled free enterprise. They hardly seem the answer to Cuba’s economic woes and can they survive without any political changes? The worldwide recession has undoubtedly impacted Cuba, already in economic trouble for decades, though that country and its patron, Venezuela, are benefiting right now from high oil prices (Cuba resells much of donated Venezuelan oil). And now Raul is even suggesting 10-year term limits (something Fidel certainly never advocated!). A Cuban friend comments: A good idea, but it should be accompanied by freedom of association, speech, and assembly; periodic competitive elections; checks and balances; an independent judiciary; and due process. By itself, it falls short of ensuring a democratic process and a non-corrupt government. (See AP report below on party congress.)

It looks like Honduras will now be readmitted to the OAS after being expelled over the Zelaya affair. Even Chavez is accepting the return of Honduras to the fold. Also, striking Honduran teachers (they strike every year) have reportedly gone back to work. Honduras now has the dubious distinction of having the highest homicide rate in the Western Hemisphere, recently surpassing even neighbor El Salvador. I think the Honduran police are afraid to investigate and arrest people. The US also contributes to this delinquency, both in terms of illegal drug consumption and gun manufacturing,

Many of us are getting to a certain age. My own age is no secret, 73, as revealed openly in the recent Woman’s Day article. That means contemporaries are becoming ill, having joint replacements, and dying at a troubling rate. My mother, who passed away at 92, was attending almost weekly funerals, until finally, it was her turn. Memory loss and language aphasia seem to be an inevitable part of aging and heaven help me if they start impacting me in both English and Spanish; then, my interpreting days will be over.

A friend my age and I recently visited a mutual friend who had worked closely with us in international adoptions. The woman we visited is 84—she and I share a birthday and usually celebrate together. But this year, when she failed to respond to e-mails and phone messages about getting together, we discovered that her kids had moved her to an Alzheimer’s assisted living facility, one with locked doors and no way out. Our unhappy friend, a very reluctant resident there, admitted to scheming constantly about how to escape, whether over the fence or up through the roof. Nor were we allowed to take her out, a wise prohibition in retrospect, as it would have been devilishly hard to get her to return if we had been granted permission. Physically, so far, she appears to be in good shape and could be expected to put up a fight against any attempt to return her to the facility. In the seven months since we last saw her, she has mentally deteriorated to the point where her children felt they had no other option but to place her there. She had always feared getting dementia and now it has come to pass.

The facility is cheerfully laid out and painted with warm colors, but there is no exit and our friend feels like she’s in jail. She told us she expects to be out of there soon, somehow. She has a small private room with her name in large letters on the door and family photos posted outside the entrance. It has its own bathroom, but no tub or shower. Residents must be bathed under staff supervision to prevent falls, scalding, or drowning. It was rather disconcerting to see residents wandering the halls rather aimlessly, babbling to themselves with one woman clutching onto a teddy bear. Our friend did not remember our names, but she seemed to recognize us and was delighted to see us. Some of her old personality showed through and she even came out with a couple of witticisms. She told us her problem was “up here,” pointing to her head and would get worse, so, unfortunately, at this stage, she has awareness of her condition. She seemed able to remember a house that she lived in six years ago, but not her more recent stay in a regular assisted living facility. It remains to be seen whether she will recall our visit, probably not. Seeing her frustrated, helpless, and confused, I could only hope that my body goes before my mind, as the latter is so very hard on both the individual and his or her associates and loved ones. Reportedly the late former President Reagan, out walking with his daughter, was often surprised when neighbors greeted him. “Do we know them?” he asked, not recalling his own presidency.

My mood was much more upbeat visiting a couple who had lived next door for 41 years and who had just moved to a senior complex in suburban Silver Spring, MD. They occupy a spacious, cheery first-floor apartment, the grounds all nicely tended with 24-hour security and ability to eat one meal a day in a central dining room that looks almost like a restaurant with cloth table-cloths and napkins. Some other former neighbors and I shared a tasty buffet brunch with them and walked around the grounds, where spring flowers and trees were in bloom. The main drawback, as I saw it, is that only older people live there, many with walkers, canes, and wheelchairs. I like older people—I’m one after all—but associating only with that age group could get a little monotonous. There were high school students waiting on us in the dining room, at least.

We, in the Washington area especially, were relieved when a preliminary budget deal was reached for this fiscal year, preventing the federal government from shutting down. Tea Partiers demonstrating in front of the capitol, loudly chanted “Shut it down!” Most people probably don’t realize that an actual shutdown would only worsen the country’s economic problems, as will failure to raise the debt ceiling to an even more catastrophic extent. Deficit growth cannot continue at the current rate, but the reduction of public funding at this critical economic juncture on all political levels is seriously impacting employment and having a detrimental ripple effect throughout the economy. Taxes, especially on those with higher incomes, are not as big a brake on the economy as is unemployment and, per se, are not necessarily evil, though no one likes to pay them. Republicans keep harping that “taxes hurt small businesses,” but the businesses they most fear hurting are not small businesses, rather, big businesses that are their big donors. In an era where the rich keep getting richer, thanks in part to Republican tax breaks, as well as government subsidies for and contracts with private businesses , the middle class and poor keep getting poorer. “Let’s not spark a class war,” Republicans warn, but that war is already on, with wealthy political donors winning the war in terms of government largesse. And I do think medical salaries should be frozen at current levels, as they already are far above average incomes and far above what medical practitioners earn in other developed countries where health outcomes are even better than here. Perhaps some doctors, therapists, and others would then opt out of participating in public programs, but if they don’t get enough private patients, they will opt back in. Of course, many Republicans want to privatize all medical care, prescription drug payments, and health insurance, so that individuals will have to negotiate and pay on their own, giving them virtually no leverage. If some Republican legislators are so incensed about taxes and government spending, why don’t they take the lead by giving up all their salaries, including of their aides, whom they could then pay out of their own pocket, as well as travel and office expenses, including rent and utilities on their office space? Let’s privatize Congress, for starters. That would begin to make a dent, set an example, and demonstrate Congresspersons’ resourcefulness and independence as individuals. Let them put their money where their mouth is.

This year’s budget cuts immediately hit home for my family. My son Jonathan, starting back to college in summer school after a rocky last few years, was promised a Pell grant for his tuition, but Pell grants for summer school were eliminated in this fiscal year’s budget agreement and the Republican Congress wants to eliminate Pell altogether. The current Peace Corps budget also took a big hit, affecting volunteers already in the field, with more attempts to cut to come. The budget agreement hit home as well in the District of Columbia, affecting, one way or another, abortion, school vouchers, and needle exchange programs. DC, having no voting member of Congress, apparently was a sacrificial lamb, whatever one feels about those particular issues. Other jurisdictions with similar populations do not have outside members of Congress dictating what they can or cannot fund with local tax dollars. But because DC is overwhelmingly Democratic (over 90%), Congressional Republicans have continued to block national-level voting representation. The last time that a single voting Congressional delegate was proposed, they attached an onerous gun rider, opening up the District’s gun laws to an extent considered dangerous and no longer acceptable to local citizens. Mayor Vincent Gray and others in local government just this week blocked traffic in protest over the budget deal and the failure of both major parties to even consult with district representatives before making policy for the District, throwing those few DC carrots to Republicans in the budget deal. No wonder our local license plates say “Taxation without Representation.” Probably the rest of the country doesn’t know or care, but people elsewhere would scream bloody murder if their own Congressional reps were eliminated.

There is agreement that our country must get public finances under better control. The disagreement and bitter fight comes over who is going to make the necessary sacrifices in dividing a shrinking pie. When the economy was expanding, social programs and defense could grow, while taxes for wealthy political donors could shrink. But now, it’s a different story. Tea Partiers’ desire to have a more direct voice and to become more involved in decision making is understandable, but they don’t always foresee the impact of their choices.

The newest census data shows a big increase in the Latino population, mostly from births in this country, probably accelerating the push in some quarters to eliminate birthright citizenship. A proportion of native-born whites, fearing loss of their majority, have mounted fierce opposition to any kind of path to citizenship (it wouldn’t be automatic) for long-time undocumented residents. They talk incessantly about the importance of laws and legality, but place continual obstacles in the way of actually creating a legal system to incorporate obvious “facts on the ground.” Immigration and citizenship laws, after all, are not handed down from on-high; they are made by human beings and can and do change. Some states have sanctioned gay marriage, giving official status to unions that began when gay sex was completely illegal. But even in Maryland, a fairly progressive state, there was a pitched battle over whether to grant in-state college tuition to undocumented students brought here as children—a modest investment in education likely to yield benefits to society as a whole. Ultimately, these frantic opponents are supporting a lost cause by fulminating against “illegals”—the train has already left the station and, legal or not, most of the folks they’d like to get rid of are here to stay.

Likewise, efforts to paint Barak Obama as “other,” not really one of “us,” have failed, as he was neither born in Kenya nor is he a Muslim and, more importantly, he is the sitting president, elected by a majority of voters. No one made a peep about McCain’s birth in Panama. Yet a uniquely unqualified would-be presidential candidate like Donald Trump, a blowhard self-promoter, now cynically seizes on the birthplace non-issue to trump up his own prospects and still manages to garner support, beating out more seasoned politicians in recent polls. Really, it would be wonderful to be able to isolate his supporters in their own country, maybe the states of Texas and Arizona, and let them fly Confederate flags, elect Trump and Palin, tote concealed weapons, rail against gay marriage, and put up a fence to keep out all immigrants and to keep themselves barricaded inside their own enclave, leaving the rest of us alone. Then they can return, as they seem to want to do, back to the 19th century.

As an addendum to my report on our Amnesty International conference posted last time, our purpose as activists is not only to advocate for political prisoners, humanitarian laws, and the protection of people at risk, but to enlarge the pool of advocates and sensitize our members and the general population to human rights issues. We want to be the leaven for raising more societal awareness of human rights, serving as role models and examples in order to educate and permeate the thinking and action of the citizenry of this country and the world, admittedly a very tall order. Our efforts therefore include consciousness raising, going beyond taking action on this or that specific issue or individual, trying to involve and engage others outside our movement.

While I was in San Francisco at the Amnesty conference, I stayed in an area called Noe Valley. The weather was cool, windy, and rainy the whole time and it wasn’t easy walking up and down the city’s famous hills. In some places, the sidewalks were so steep, they had steps and railings. I had forgotten that SF has palm and citrus trees (I attended UC, Berkeley, across the bay, many years ago). The citrus trees were heavy with fruit. On one of my flights, my seatmate ordered four alcoholic drinks in quick succession, causing the stewardess to refuse him any more, after which he fell asleep practically on my shoulder. On another flight, I was sitting on the aisle right in front of the john, unable to recline my seat, while the guy in front of me inclined his to the max. After our long night-time flight from Honolulu, the smell from the bathroom and the constant opening and shutting of that door really got to me. I would not have voluntarily chosen that seat.

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April 21, 2011, at 11:30 a.m.

Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs William Burns will present the Diplomacy for Human Rights Award, the Human Rights and Democracy Achievement Award, and the Human Rights Defenders Award in the Department of State’s Treaty Room, The Human Rights Defenders Award recognizes individuals or non-governmental organizations who show exceptional valor and leadership in advocating the protection of human rights and democracy in the face of government repression. The Department will honor the Cuban NGO Damas de Blanco – “Ladies in White”. Damas de Blanco’s visible, consistently observed vigils focused international attention not only on political prisoners, but the overall human rights situation in Cuba.

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Tuesday, 04-12-11

Honduran police ignore rise in attacks on journalists, gaysBy TIM JOHNSON

McClatchy Newspapers

PUERTO GRANDE, Honduras -- In a nation with the highest murder rate in the Western Hemisphere, it's perhaps not a surprise that someone armed with a 9mm pistol opened fire last month on Franklin Melendez, wounding the radio journalist in the thigh.

What astonishes is what happened next: Police refused to go to the crime scene. Later in the evening, the three officers on duty also didn't budge when the alleged assailant waved his gun out of a moving vehicle and threatened to shoot another reporter for the radio station.

"He pointed the pistol at me and said, 'You're next, bitch. We're going to kill you,'" recalled Ethels Posada, a 30-year-old part-time reporter.

Numerous witnesses saw the assailant shoot Melendez and threaten Posada, but the police wouldn't act without a formal complaint. Once the complaint arrived, eight days later, they still refused to do anything, saying an arrest order was needed. The assailant has now fled the area.

"They didn't lift a finger to help us," Posada said of the police.

That inaction underscores why gunmen in Honduras have gotten away with a string of attacks that have claimed the lives of at least 10 journalists, 60 lawyers, 155 women, and 59 gays, lesbians or transgender people since 2008.

Those cases remain unprosecuted, a trend that's alarmed international human rights advocates. In its annual human rights report last week, the U.S. State Department noted the upswing in "hate crimes" against the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community in Honduras, including two transvestite leaders, one of whom was executed by gunmen on a motorcycle.

The Obama administration has deployed FBI agents and prosecutors to Honduras to help investigate murders in several of the more prominent cases. In response, Honduran Security Minister Oscar Alvarez in March announced the creation of a special unit to look into the murders.

Yet no one is expecting much to happen.

The number of murders committed in Honduras has soared, from 4,473 in 2008 and 5,265 to 2009 to 6,236 last year, a 39 percent increase in two years. One is five times more likely to be murdered in Honduras (population 8 million) than in Mexico (population 112 million), making Honduras the deadliest country in the hemisphere.

Experts say killings have risen because of a surge in narcotics trafficking, general crime and the chaos after the June 2009 coup, which monopolized Honduras' attention for months. Of the 10 journalists killed, most died in the year after the coup.

They also say the government bears some blame for the murders.

"This isn't to say that the state commits the crimes, but by not investigating ... it is complicit. It sends a message to the criminals, the paramilitaries and the hit men that they can do as they please," said Osman Lopez, who heads the Committee for Free Expression, a news media advocacy group.

Homicides roiling the gay, lesbian and transgender community have earned Honduras comparisons to Uganda, the African nation that recently debated a proposed law that would make homosexuality subject to the death penalty in some instances.

In late December, two assailants kidnapped and stabbed a 45-year-old transgender leader in Honduras, Oscar Martinez Salgado, known as Lady Oscar, tied him to a chair and set him on fire.

Journalists have been gunned down primarily in parts of Honduras where landownership is in dispute or where drug-trafficking gangs proliferate.

The root of the assault March 13 on Melendez, 35, appears to be differences over who owns the land on Zacate Grande, an island in the Gulf of Fonseca on the nation's Pacific Coast.

With a 2,100-foot dormant volcano and a rudimentary causeway to the mainland, the island is both an enclave for Honduran tycoons and politicians and home to impoverished farmers and shrimp netters in dusty hamlets. Melendez's family has lived on Zacate Grande for nearly a century. Like many residents of the island's 10 villages, the Melendez family had no title to its holdings, thinking that it was all state land.

Then, nearly half a century ago, a Honduran mogul named Miguel Facusse obtained a deed to most of the island from a Nicaraguan-born woman. He and dozens of other rich Hondurans proceeded to build mansions, swimming pools and a heliport in a resort development known as the Club de Coyolito. They hired villagers to tend their gardens, wash their clothes and wait on tables as they enjoyed their Jet Skis, sunbathed and played tennis.

The trouble began last year, when Melendez and other island residents received seed money from Italy to start a tiny radio station, the Voice of Zacate Grande. The 250-kilowatt station became an outlet for those, such as Melendez, who claim they have a legal right to part of the island.

They question how a Nicaraguan could have sold the island to Facusse when Honduran law at the time prohibited foreigners from owning land on the nation's islands (that prohibition has since been changed). The claims have split the island's population, with many of the villagers employed by the owners of the 60 or so mansions labeling those involved in the radio station as troublemakers.

Tension is palpable among the 1,200 residents of this hamlet of wooden shacks and rutted dirt tracks. The station's 18 volunteer reporters move about only in pairs. "All of us are at risk," said Aaron Rivera, who's 23.

Land development has been an issue in other shootings. On Jan. 6, assailants sacked the transmitter and two computers of Radio Coco Dulce, on Honduras' Caribbean coast, and set the building afire. The station, which gives voice to the minority Afro-Honduran Garifuna community, had opposed real estate developments on ancestral lands.

A year ago, gunmen armed with AK-47 assault rifles killed Nahum Palacios, the news director of Channel 5 TV in Tocoa, a town on the north coast of Honduras where private militias have helped Facusse expand his African palm plantations. Palacios was shot 20 times.

Lying on a bed while his wife tended to the wound in his left thigh, Melendez reflected on the telephone calls and messages of support he's received since the shooting from news media advocates and authorities in Colombia, Mexico, France and the United States.

No such signs of concern have come from anyone in his own government.

"They haven't called," Melendez said. "They haven't done anything."

Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/04/12/v-fullstory/2163169/honduran-police-ignore-rise-in.html#ixzz1JslcqmFv

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Raul Castro proposes term limits in CubaBy PETER ORSI, Associated Press, April 16, 2011

HAVANA – Raul Castro proposed term limits for Cuban politicians on Saturday, a remarkable gesture on an island ruled for 52 years by him and his brother, but one unlikely to have a major effect on his own future. The 79-year-old president told delegates to a crucial Communist Party summit that Cuban politicians and other important officials should be restricted to two, five-year terms. Castro officially took over from his brother Fidel in 2008, meaning he'd be at least 86 when his second term as Cuban leader ended, depending on how the law is written.

The proposal was made at the latter stage of a long speech in which the Cuban leader forcefully backed a laundry list of economic changes which together represent a sea change for the country's socialist system, including the eventual elimination of the ration book and other subsidies, the decentralization of the economy and a new reliance on supply and demand in some sectors.

Still, he drew a line in the Caribbean sand across which the reforms must never go, telling party luminaries that he had rejected dozens of suggested reforms which would have allowed the concentration of property in private hands. Castro said the country had ignored its problems for too long, and made clear Cuba had to make tough decisions if it wanted to survive."No country or person can spend more than they have," he said. Two plus two is four. Never five, much less six or seven — as we have sometimes pretended."

Dressed in a white guayabera shirt, the Cuban leader alternated between reassurance that the economic changes were compatible with socialism, and a brutal assessment of what has not worked in the past. Castro said the monthly ration book of basic foods, perhaps the most cherished of subsidies, represented an "unbearable burden ... and a disincentive for work." Still, he said that in Cuba, "there will never be room for shock therapy."

Of the term limits, Castro said: "We have decided to limit politicians and other key positions to two terms of five years each."

As with the proposals on economic changes, the idea does not yet carry the force of law since the party gathering lacks the powers of parliament. But it is all but certain to be acted on quickly by the national assembly.

Fidel Castro was not present for the speech, but a chair was left empty for him near his brother.

Faithful readers, if you are still out there, excuse my long absence from writing on this blog. I did post photos, so you got an idea of my Honduras trip and its aftermath. A thousand pardons. I have yet to file my tax returns.

As many already know, I’m featured in the current issue of Woman’s Day magazine, April 17, 2011,

http://www.womansday.com/Articles/Lifestyle/Achieving-Your-Dreams-Over-40.html.

As you will see there, my book is deliberately not mentioned to avoid stealing the glory of the first woman featured, a writer who struggled valiantly to find her literary voice.

Knowing my long-time interest and involvement in Cuba, including as volunteer Caribbean coordinator for Amnesty International-USA, people have been asking whether I think the Jasmine revolution will spread there. I doubt it (and would be happy to be wrong), but Cuba has an older population and virtually no access to the internet and cell phones for ordinary people. Cubans have probably been getting very little and very slated news about unrest elsewhere. Furthermore, state control is pervasive and, frankly, intimidating. Not every attempt at mass protest ends in a democratic opening, in fact, sometimes just the opposite—think China and Iran. It’s a risky business with an uncertain outcome—we still don’t know how Egypt and Libya will end up.

As most readers are aware, American USAID contractor Alan Gross, a resident of the DC area, was given a 15-year prison term (see article below) and former President Jimmy Carter was unable to free him on a recent trip to Cuba. Less well known is that all those arrested in a 2003 Cuban government crackdown on independent journalists, librarians, economists, physicians, and others have now been released, most of them exiled to Spain.

The earthquake and nuclear facility destruction in Japan has been personally devastating to me because of previous close ties with that country. I became interested in and involved with Japan thanks to a Japanese beau, who sadly later died. Thanks to my connection with him, in the 1980s I did part-time research for both Mainichi newspapers and NHK, the country’s major television network, where I also appeared on-screen examining archive files—after being filmed doing my tasks. Years later, I had a brief stopover in Japan on my way to meet my daughter Stephanie, who was then in Thailand. And I met and worked with Japanese overseas volunteers when I was in the Peace Corps in Honduras. My contacts with Japanese people throughout my life have always been positive, so I’ve been horrified by the destruction wrought by the 2011 earthquake and resultant nuclear reactor damage, which must have reminded older people of the fallout from nuclear bombs dropped at the end of World War II. Some may have even thought it was divine retribution for supposed failings.

Am now seeing this from Muslims for Loyalty (MuslimsForPeace.org) posted on metro trains, An undulating American flag with the message a “Love for all, hatred for none.”

This from a friend in Yemen:

What is happening in Yemen is a real misinterpretation of democracy. Both the opposition and the ruling party are having difficulty in exercising their duties and responsibilities as it should be. I hope it will be settled soon.

Another friend gave me a copy of When the World Calls by Stanley Meisler, a former Peace Corps staffer whose book commemorates the first fifty years of the agency. I was surprised and pleased to see that my own service and book are mentioned on pp. 165-168. Furthermore, mentioned accurately.

In Honduras news, as mentioned once before, President Porfirio Lobo wants legislative approval for his plan to establish “model cities” on empty land, where volunteer settlers and investors will start from scratch. Thousands of white-clad residents of San Pedro Sula held a silent Sunday march to protest the wave of murder and violence sweeping the country, especially in their own city. Honduran teachers are on strike yet again in some areas, something I witnessed every year when I was in Peace Corps. But President Lobo has declared that 80% of teachers are still on the job. Later, he announced, all the teachers had returned to work.

As for my Honduras trip, it was arduous as usual, partly because of transportation and communication difficulties. I did participate in the International Health Service of Minnesota medical brigade in the Esperanza area and also managed to get two girls shown in photos on my book, Arcenia and Sandra, together again. I had taken them together to have ortho surgery in 2005. Arcenia, now 20, has put on quite a bit of weight. She brought me some corn cakes she’d made herself in an adobe oven. Sandra’s mother, pregnant with her 7th child, brought some potatoes. I gave both their parents money for their schooling and extra for Sandra’s mother to get a tubal ligation at the Esperanza hospital after hits baby’s birth. “Don’t let me find you pregnant again next year when I come back,” I told her. She said in that case, she would send Sandra with her husband or older brother. She and Sandra had to come twice to meet with Arcenia and her dad (see photos) because of a communication mix-up, common where families, even with cell phones, don’t have reception towers near their homes. On Sandra’s first visit, her older brother came with them. He told me he wants to finish high school and study even further. I hope to be able to assist him in that goal. Arcenia’s dad told Sandra’s mom that his wife had 12 children before she finally had her “tubes tied.” Arcenia is in the middle of the bunch.

My other scholarship students, all age 17, proved to be a mixed lot. Jorge, the boy with missing fingers (as per my book), is taking a year of IT studies before going on, so I was able to help him with tuition for that, going with his step-mother to his Choluteca private school to pay the fees, just in time, as classes were almost ready to start. I said I would be willing to help him again next year with more advanced schooling, but he has to keep in touch about his plans and I gave him my e-mail address. Jorge also had a stubborn infection in his eyelid, for which I was able to obtain medication after consulting directly with the pharmacist, something, I imagine, that was common practice in this country in the 19th century. Neris, the girl shown with me on the lower front right of my book cover, had also written a farewell note when I left, reproduced at the end. I see her on every visit, including on my visit last year, when I did not know she was 4 months pregnant. Now she has a baby daughter and has married the father. I asked what this would do to her education plans, but she said she is still attending her last year of high school now in El Triunfo and wants to attend a 2-year nursing course in Choluteca, starting next Feb. I did give her something for her studies this year. She gave me an e-mail address, but my message to her after my return to DC bounced. So Jorge and Neris are probably scholarship students again next year, but I hope to hear from them about their education plans via e-mail before I arrive in the country next Feb..

Marciel, the girl with facial burn scars, whose mother makes tortillas in Guasaule at the Nicaraguan border, proved to be a different story. I found her mother with some of her kids making tortillas as usual, but, she reported that Marciel had just married a young man in the army and had decided not to pursue further studies. I gave the mother some special face cream for Marciel and a little cash for a wedding present, but crossed her off the list of future scholarship students. The mother told me that her son, burned by firecrackers last year when I visited, was doing pretty well, with no serious disabilities.

Bessy, the woman to whom Timoteo and I had given a wheelchair as mentioned in my book, still had not gotten it fixed since last year. Again, she asked for money to fix it and I gave it to her for the last time. If it’s not fixed by next year, no more.

Jose Luis, who last year vowed he would never marry again after his wife’s betrayal, was now planning to marry a young woman from his church, a divorcee with two kids, pregnant with twin girls by Jose Luis. The babies were due this month, but I haven’t heard.

I had many more encounters and adventures in Honduras, including at the school for the blind in Teguc, but I refer you to the photos for details. At the end of the visit, I stopped in Miami where I stayed with Armando, a kidney patient whom I had brought to the US from Cuba because he could not get his medications there. I will post a photo of me with him, his Nicaraguan wife, and her newly arrived daughters when I figure out how. I also saw Jorge Valls, a Cuban playwright and poet, who spent more than 20 years in Cuban prisons for testifying at the trial of a friend who was later executed.

Then, after a brief stop back home in DC, went to Amnesty International-USA’s 50th anniversary conference in San Francisco, where Joan Baez sang for us and Burmese laureate Aung San Suu Kyi spoke with us by speaker phone from Burma. She was recently released after many years of house arrest. Then, it was on to Honolulu, where my kids Stephanie and Jonathan live. There, Jonathan and I participated in a ceremony at the state capitol recognizing Peace Corps’ 50 years. We were allowed to enter the legislative chamber with no screening by metal detectors even though Jon was carrying my suitcase, as I was transferring from Steph’s place to his. Later, a legislator invited us to lunch in his office.

I returned to DC the same day that Charles, a visitor from Kenya arrived. Later, he was joined by Rheah from Zimbabwe. Both are taking a course here offered by GAO. Of course, I’m back at work again as a Spanish interpreter.

So that’s it for now. Please contact me if you like on this blog or via e-mail (address posted at the beginning of this blog). See articles below.

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Arrest warrants dropped for Honduran ex-president

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras — A supreme court judge dismissed three arrest warrants for former Honduran President Manuel Zelaya on Friday, allowing him to return without detention to the country where he was deposed in a June 2009 coup.

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For several weeks, university students around Venezuela have been carrying out hunger strikes calling for the release of political prisoners and other human rights reforms.

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Cuba Gives 15-Year Prison Term to AmericanBy ELIZABETH A. HARRIS, NY Times, March 12, 2011

A Cuban court sentenced an American government contractor, Alan Gross, to 15 years in prison for crimes against the state, Cuban state television reported Saturday.

Mr. Gross, 61, was detained in December 2009 while on a U.S.A.I.D. mission in Cuba designed to weaken the government. Cuban authorities said that Mr. Gross was distributing satellite telephone equipment, which could be sued to access the Internet, to Jewish groups in Cuba. Those groups have denied having anything to do with him.

The prosecution was seeking a 20-year sentence. A panel of judges found that the evidence “demonstrated the participation of the North American contractor in a subversive project of the U.S. government that aimed to destroy the Revolution through the use of communications systems out of the control of authorities,” the Associated Press reported Saturday.

The United State National Security Council spokesman, Tommy Vietor, criticized the ruling and called again for Mr. Gross to be released. “Today’s sentencing adds another injustice to Alan Gross’s ordeal,” he said. “He has already spent too many days in detention and should not spend one more.”

Mr. Gross’ detention has been a point of contention between the United States and the Cuban government, even as President Obama has loosened restrictions on travel for groups like scholars and artists and pledged renewed engagement with the Cuban people.

Most political observers have said they expect Mr. Gross to be released on humanitarian grounds. He has lost some 90 pounds while in detention, and his daughter had a double mastectomy after a cancer diagnosis last year.

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March 5, 2011 (via Cubadebate, a regime website):

Trial of Accused American Alan Gross Concluded for Sentencing

During the trial the prosecutor supplied elements of proof on the direct participation of the accused in the introduction and development of a subversive project intended to tear down the Revolution, which had as its essential targets the youth sector, university centers, and cultural, religious, feminist and racial groups. In the materialization of his anti-Cuban goals he intended to use sophisticated technologies to create clandestine info-communicational networks outside the control of Cuban authorities to nourish counterrevolutionary provocations. Gross admitted that he was used and deceived by DAI (Development Alternatives Inc.), a contractor enterprise of the USAID North American agency, subordinate to the Dept. of State, in charge of political destabilization programs against governments in Latin America and many other parts of the world that are not to the liking of the White House.

He [Gross] accused DAI of having placed him in danger, leading to his current situation, and of ruining the life and economy of his family.... Also taken into account were the declarations of ten witnesses, nine investigators with 26 investigative reports, the report of the instructor [i.e., Gross's State Security interrogator], abundant material proofs and documents presented by the Prosecutor.

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Michel 'Sweet Micky' Martelly wins Haiti electionBy TRENTON DANIEL, Associated Press, April 4, 2011

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – Musician Michel "Sweet Micky" Martelly scored a come-from-behind victory Monday in Haiti's presidential runoff, according to preliminary results from last month's election in which he easily defeated a former first lady for the leadership of a country facing enormous challenges.

Martelly, who has never held political office, received nearly 68 percent of the vote in the two-way race with Mirlande Manigat, electoral council spokesman Pierre Thibault said in an announcement that was immediately followed by noisy celebration in the Haitian capital.

The popular musician, a star of the Haitian genre known as compas, had trailed Manigat in the crowded first-round election in November. But his campaign gained momentum in the second round and many voters seemed enchanted with his lack of political experience in a country where the government has failed to provide many basic services.

Martelly promised profound change for Haiti, vowing to provide free education in a country where more than half the children can't afford school and to create economic opportunity amid almost universal unemployment. "I'm going to celebrate with the people, then I'm going home to my kids," Wilson Goren, a 32-year-old street vendor, said as fireworks erupted around him after the results were announced.

Final results are due to be released April 16.

The candidates were vying to replace President Rene Preval, who was barred by the constitution from serving a third term.

The new president will face a challenging environment that includes a Senate and Chamber of Deputies controlled by Preval's party and widespread anger over the slow progress of reconstruction from the January 2010 earthquake. Haiti also is grappling with a cholera outbreak that has killed more than 4,000 people since October and is expected to worsen with the spring rainy season.

Much of Haiti was paralyzed by riots in December after the electoral council announced first-round results that initially excluded Martelly from the runoff. The Organization of American States later determined those results were incorrect and the musician had come in second, giving him a spot on the second ballot.

Friends, Have not yet posted Honduras trip narrative nor report of Amnesty International 50th anniversary meeting in San Francisco, March 18-20. Am now in Honolulu and will do that upon my return. Meanwhile, here are the photos, in reverse chronological order, starting with SF, since on a blog, what's latest comes first. If you want to view the journey as it unfolded chronologically, you will have to go back to find the first photo, then click "newer post" sequentially until you end up at the end. All Honduras photos are positioned on the left, Florida photos (where I stopped briefly on my way back from Honduras)on the right, and San Francisco photos, just last weekend, in the middle. Hawaii, if any, are yet to come. Even without any narrative, the photos tell you a lot. I will try not to tarry on the narrative after I get back to DC.