Yearbook 2008
Honduras. In early October, Honduras's congress approved the
government's proposal to allow the country to join
Alternative Bolivarian para las Américas (ALBA), the Latin
American cooperation organization created and led by
Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez. The opposition chose to
cast its votes in the congressional vote.
According to
Countryaah reports, the high crime rate in Honduras continues to be an important
item on the government's agenda. Among other things, a law
was passed that increased the powers of the police, but both
the Supreme Court and human rights groups objected to giving
more power to an already corrupt police force and called the
law "a monument to impunity". In protest of the corruption
in the country, the head of the Prosecutor's Association,
Victor Fernández, also hungered for 38 days in April and May
in front of the congress building in Tegucigalpa and later
created "The Movement for Dignity and Justice".
Foreign Minister Milton Jiménez was forced to resign in
January after a video, showing how he beat a traffic police
and refused to do an alcohol test, was posted on the YouTube
website and then shown on TV.
|
