Recent events in Honduras have motivated me to write another installment of Fantasy Politics, this one regards the controversy surrounding the application of the general amnesty to members of the military. The way I see it, both sides are guilty of human rights abuses, by both those who sought to violently overthrow the established system by employing guerilla tactics, and by those who fought to preserve it. We will even go so far as to assert that the head of the armed forces at that time, former General Gustavo Alvarez Martínez (R.I.P.) was a patriot who never received the public recognition that he deserved for cleansing the country of leftist troublemakers (ñangeras). Through his direct efforts (and with the assistance of Colonel Oliver North and the Central Intelligence Agency), Honduras did not suffer through a civil war, unlike its three neighboring countries of El Salvador, Guatemala and Nicaragua. We admit that human rights abuses were committed during this dark period of Honduran history, but we feel that like any cancer that is operated on, some good cells must be sacrificed in order to save the patient.

Another recent event that merits mention in this installment of Fantasy Politics is the decision by the National Congress to not reduce the number of its representatives. Eduardo Facussé, President of the Honduran Council of Private Enterprise, eloquently described the opposing voters as raising their hoof rather than their hand when asked to vote in support of the proposal. Some of the hoofed opponents of this incentive argue that the proposed reduction would leave areas of the country with only one representative. Others claimed that the proposed reduction did not go far enough. They argue that the reduction should be greater, and include electoral reforms so candidates would be elected separately from other government offices and should include the candidate's photograph so that voters would be forced to choose individually, and not by default based on their party choice for president. Other individuals reportedly stated that they would have supported the reduction if the salary paid to them would had been raised at the same time (we suppose the argument behind this inane assertion is that they feel they would need additional income in order to serve more constituents per representative).

Whatever the reasoning behind each individual's decision not to support the reduction, the bottom line is that personal interests overruled the will of the people. Surveys throughout the country indicate that the general populace overwhelmingly supported the proposed reduction, and the failure to ratify this proposal has been met by strong criticism from all levels of society. Interestingly enough, the backbone of resistance came from the National party and other minority parties. Obviously they were all afraid of losing their say in the government if there were less positions available. This whole debacle has weakened the support for the minority parties, and has strengthened the Liberal party position since they can now rightfully claim that they actively fought against government largesse, but were frustrated in their efforts by the opposing minority parties. Another valid perspective is that the failure of the President of the National Congress to convince his colleagues to support this initiative clearly indicates his lack of leadership abilities. This analysis is especially valid considering that he had previously publicly proclaimed that it was a done deed, and predicted that the proposal would pass without any problems.

In summary, what we originally had anticipated to be a political time bomb for the Liberal party has turned out to be a brilliant strategic maneuver that exploded in the greedy faces of their adversaries.

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