Border Saga
The border dispute between
Nicaragua and Honduras continues to spark fires from the Nicaraguan
side, which is intent on making Honduras seem as the "bad
guys" despite the fact that it is the other way around. On
Monday, February 14th general Joaquin Cuadra, chief commander
of the Nicaraguan Forces accused Honduras of having a military
outpost on a small key located within the maritime border
area under dispute and known as Cayo Sur. As a result of the
accusation, the Honduran minister of Defense, Edgardo Dumas
Rodriguez invited military attaches of several countries,
amongst them The United States, El Salvador, Chile, Venezuela
and China, who in company of Marco Antonio Rosales Abella,
undersecretary of defense visited Cayo Sur on the 15th of
February.
The group found the 200
square meter cay, inhabited by approximately 20 civilians,
all fishermen, roughly half of them Honduran citizens and
the other half of Jamaican origin. Although the military attaches
did not make any comments to the press, it was more that obvious
that a military outpost on a 2000 square foot cay is not a
logical or feasible reality. As such, Nicaragua has once again
been proved wrong in the dispute. On other matters, Nicaraguan
president Aleman has finally agreed to ask his congress to
cancel the decree that authorized the 35% tax against Honduran
goods, and which goes against the Central American integration
treaty that both countries have signed. The Nicaraguan Congress,
on their part have now argued that they will review the petition
next month, because it was not requested as an urgent matter
by President Aleman. All and all, it is clear that Nicaraguan
Government has no good will intention of solving the dispute
and that as far as they are concerned, they will drag their
feet as long as possible on these matters. They have already
proved that with their other neighbors, Costa Rica, with whom
they have had a problem pertaining the navigation rights on
the Rio San Juan along the border for over a couple of years!
|
 |
The National Soccer team
of Honduras
The National Soccer team
of Honduras plays well and defeats its Jamaican couterpart
in the Gold Cup series, being played in Miami, Florida In
a bold move, the Honduran Soccer Team defeated Jamaica in
its first Gold Cup match last Monday by a score of 2 - 0.
Jamaica, considered a tough rival after having defeated Honduras
in previous matches, proved to be a relatively easy rival
on this occasion, as the Honduran team controlled the field
from start to finish, despite the fact that team member, David
Suazo was not participating with the national selection because
of administrative mistakes between the National Soccer team
and the Cagliari Italian Soccer team, where Suazo plays. The
second match, scheduled for today, Tuesday 16th, will be against
the Colombian team, which also defeated Jamaica during an
earlier match. Because of the better score that Honduras had
against Jamaica, a tie with Colombia would leave Honduras
in the first place of its group and insure its pass to the
next round. The local atmosphere in Honduras is one of great
expectation as the vast majority of Hondurans are soccer fans
and get highly motivated when the national team wins!
Virgin of Suyapa
Honduran Catholics celebrated
the most important event within the national environment last
February 3 in honor of their patron saint, the Virgin of Suyapa.
Many a fervent catholic did their customary annual pilgrimage
to the sanctuary of the Lady of Suyapa, located on the outskirts
of Tegucigalpa. The massive basilica of Suyapa welcomed visitors
from around the country and was bustling with activity during
the days just before and after the 3rd of February, date when
the devotion to the virgin of Suyapa is celebrated. Curiously,
the impressive basilica is closed most of the year, as common
belief is that the figure of the Virgin is more at home in
the old sanctuary, located nearby in the original church built
to house the image in the village of Suyapa.
|
As
a result of a long expected event, Aerocaribe a regional carrier
with a Mexican flag and based in Cancun, Mexico had its inaugural
flight this week. The service, offered in a new J32 (Jetstream 32)
turboprop aircraft with a capacity of 19 passengers is operating
4 times a week during its startup period and expected to become
daily in the very near future. In a ceremony held at the San Pedro
Sula airport, Honduran ambassador to Mexico, Roberto Reyes Mazzoni,
who flew in with the flight, accompanying Mr. Rigoberto Gallegos,
Sales Manager for the airline and a group of travel agents and press.
The new flight, which offers connections to Mexico City, Cozumel,
Merida, Monterrey, and Guadalajara in Mexico, as well as Miami,
USA and La Havana, Cuba. In addition, connections from a variety
of other South American, European and North American flights are
also available, allowing travelers to Honduras to take advantage
of the affordable airfares and excellent air service into Cancun.
The new route, already being promoted in the European markets allows
discounted fares using the Maya Pass promotion, which offers discounts
of 30% on regular fares for travelers using at least three different
segments within the Aerocaribe route system. We are confident that
Honduras will become more accessible to travelers flying within
the Mundo Maya region with this new service, and hope that this
is the beginning of an alternative to flying to Honduras and more
affordable airfares.