The former president of Chile, Patricio Aylwin arrived in Tegucigalpa and spent this past week meeting with key representatives from different sectors of Honduran society. He stated that post Mitch Honduras should not try to apply theoretical models (economic and social) constructed abstractly, but rather society should choose the most adequate route with the active contribution of different sectors.

The Gala Industries factory located on the outskirts of San Pedro Sula, burned down last week. This factory had been in operation for thirty years producing wallets, suitcases and other items for both the local and international markets. The owners have publicly announced their intention to rebuild the factory.

The Ministers of Defense and Security met with President Flores to outline a plan to combat the recent increase in delinquency in Honduras. The armed forces will send 8,000 soldiers into the streets to patrol them and help the national police in its efforts to ensure a safe Holy Week for all Hondurans.

The leader of the Human Rights Commission in Honduras, Leo Valladares has presented a preliminary report that lists seventeen alleged cases of corruption, inefficiency and possible crime with regards to the handling of international aid. This report does not list any names since the pertinent investigations are still being conducted. This report was presented during a special event entitled "Social Auditing and the Management of International Aid" that was held in Tegucigalpa and attended by key government employees and human rights representatives from other nations of the world.

Saúl Noé Coello has been imprisoned and accused of being one of the kidnappers of Dalton John Barrose. This individual was identified by Dalton's mother, Doris Peña and pointed out in a police lineup as one of the men who took over her car and subsequently kidnapped her son.

United States Treasury agents have begun a trial against Allan Rosen, for trying to sell a moon rock that had been given to the former president of Honduras Oswaldo López Arellano by former president of the United States, Richard Nixon. This rock had been given to Honduras in 1973 and the accused is charged with attempting to sell it for five million US dollars. The Honduran authorities have also expressed their keen interest in having the moon rock returned in order to initiate legal proceedings against the "big fish" who are involved in its illegal extraction from a government office.

The European - Latin American Relations Institute (IRELA) has recommended condoning 67 % of Honduras' debt to the Paris Club only once the economic structural reforms recommended by the World Monetary Fund (FMI) are implemented.

One of the most dangerous fugitives was captured by the local police in Tegucigalpa. José Francisco Flores Valle, known as "Luz Baja" (Low Light), was apprehended on the Morazán boulevard in Tegucigalpa while he was driving around in a suspiscous looking vehicle. He escaped from the Central Penitentiary five years ago and has been implicated with vehicle theft, drug trafficking and the murder of Lieutenant Gustavo Andrés Domínguez of INTERPOL.

The San Pedro Sula jail caught on fire this week and some inmates have been temporarily transferred to the army brigade # 105, whereas the most dangerous ones have been relocated to the National Penitentiary in Támara. A preliminary investigation indicates that the fire was started by an inmate that set fire to a mattress and within twenty minutes the entire building was engulfed in flames.

Key representatives of the private sector have expressed their desire to help finance and build a replacement jail on 47 acres of land near Cofradia reportedly owned by the San Pedro Sula municipality.

The Court of Appeals has resolved that the executive decree # 0106-EP-97 issued during the administration of Carlos Roberto Reina, is illegal and null. This controversial decree had been designed to regulate costs charged by private schools throughout Honduras.

President Carlos Flores officially inaugurated the Mayan tunnels "Los Jaguares" and "Rosalia" and they are now open to the public. These tunnels total about three kilometers in length and reflect twenty years of investigative work by various prestigious US colleges and universities and the Honduran government to explore the Mayan culture and learn more about them.

The US Senate has approved a law to provide emergency programs and aid to Central America but tagged on conditions that the Clinton administration presently considers inacceptable. The present political battle over these funds is being waged between Democrats and Republicans and adversely affects Honduras that desperately needs the proposed aid programs and funding.

President Flores inaugurated the new Honduran - Korean training center in San Pedro Sula. This center was constructed in accordance to an agreement signed by the San Pedro Sula City Hall and KOICA - The International Cooperation Agency of South Korea and includes work shop areas for teaching technical skills including electricity, refrigeration, welding and technical drawing.

Bessy Carolina Martínez Guillén, a thirteen year old girl, faked her own kidnapping. The scam was uncovered by the police when they followed one of the supposed kidnappers from a public telephone when calling the family with demands. Apparently they made the mistake of using the same public phone a second time and the police were watching it. Reportedly, this kidnapping scam was devised by Bessy and executed with the help of two of her friends after seeing a movie containing a similar plot. Two other suspects were also captured who tried to extort money from the family taking advantage of the situation.

Vehicle registration for next year will commence in July and will include an additional two hundred lempiras for new license plates.

The most dangerous criminals who were housed in the San Pedro Sula jail that recently burned down will be transferred to the National Penitentiary in Tamara.

The Plan of National Reconstruction contemplates a reduction in the number of congressional representatives. Other goals of the plan include a modernized national registry (RNP), a stronger judicial system, a modernized police force and enhanced citizen participation in key governmental decisions.

Governmental and environmental authorities have recommended that people abstain from swimming in rivers in the southern area of the country to avoid a risk of possible illness. Rivers became contaminated during Hurricane Mitch by all kinds of different substances, including pesticides and chemicals that had been stored in various warehouses. Although the rivers are constantly monitored by government authorities who indicate the rivers are presently safe, they warn that there still exists a risk of latent contamination to bathers.

Representatives from the World Food Program (PMA) and the United Nations Organization of Food and Agriculture (FAO) indicated that Hurricane Mitch adversely affected 360 thousand Hondurans directly. They also project a food deficit of 191 thousand metric tons of basic grains including beans, rice and corn. They also stated that they are taking corrective measures to overcome this deficit, and cited the example of a 2.582 tons of metric rice that is scheduled to arrive in Puerto Cortés next Saturday, March 27th in 118 containers and represents a donation from the Italian government.

Reports from the 250 students who are now in Cuba to initiate their studies of medicine with scholarships from that country indicate that they had a very warm welcome upon their arrival. These students are the first batch of Hondurans from low income and rural areas that will study medicine in that island under a special program to help nations affected by Hurricane Mitch. Additional scholarships will be granted for the next four years, 250 each, to yield a total of 1,250 possible beneficiaries of this scholarship program.

Government Ministers Gabriela Nuñez and Reginaldo Panting met with key officials of international financial organizations. Honduras has requested that these institutions "humanize" their aid plans in reference to possibly condoning some of Honduras' debts and its inclusion in the list of Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC). Should the government qualify for a reduction in its international debt, then the actual relief will be in the year 2002 at the very earliest.

Taiwan has announced a loan of six million dollars to help finance the construction of 2,000 houses for Hurricane Mitch flood victims. This loan represents part of a twenty million dollar aid package that Taiwan plans to provide Honduras.

The National Congress has approved a special law that will allow the government to expropriate land that is considered necessary for reconstruction of areas that suffered damage, specifically those near the landslide area of the "El Berrinche" hill and around the dike that formed in the Choluteca River and around the Chile bridge in Tegucigalpa. Payments to the affected land owners for their property will be determined as outlined in the Constitution and requires negotiations between the owners and the government.

Some 25 independent cooperative coffee producers began a hunger strike to protest the impasse in negotiations regarding the proposed new coffee regulations. They protest the fact that the management of the Honduran Association of Coffee Growers AHPROCAFE, has refused to join the negotiations. The same association AHPROCAFE, was responsible for pressuring the National Congress to not approve the proposed reforms which are presently subject to a six month moratorium as per mandated by the National Congress in its attempt to defuse the situation and reach a final agreement between the opposing factions.

The president of the local chamber of commerce for the department of Cortés (CCIC), Mario Canahuati, warned of a tendency of large maquila textile companies to move their operations to Mexico. The tax paid by Mexico which benefits from free trade zone agreements is 2.4 %, versus present duties levied on Honduras of 17.7 %.