Honduras prepares for bicentennial of independence from Spanish Crown

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Civil authorities, military, and students of educational institutions participated this Wednesday, September 1, with sanitary measures due to the pandemic of Covid-19 that the country suffers since March 2020, at the beginning of the commemorative acts for the bicentennial of the independence of Honduras from the Spanish Crown.

In the events held nationwide, there was a tribute to the national flag, whose day is commemorated today, in addition to the official circulation of a 200 lempiras bill (8.4 dollars), commemorating the bicentennial of independence.

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In Tegucigalpa, the heads of the three branches of government, Executive, Legislative and Judicial, presided over the homage to the flag in separate ceremonies, as did the Armed Forces in their main military units.

“From the fathers of independence,” Hondurans inherited “the courage to obtain our dreams and face adversities”, said the president of Honduras, Juan Orlando Hernández.

Honduras remembers its 200 years of independence with the worst health crisis it has suffered in its entire history, the Covid-19 pandemic, which since March 2020 has left 8,932 dead and 339,841 contagions, according to the state-run National Risk Management System.

“We want no more wars, no more poverty, corruption, no more organized crime. We want peace, prosperity, justice, and a better life for every Honduran family,” Hernández stressed during the ceremony he presided over at the Presidential House in Tegucigalpa, attended by government officials and the ambassadors of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Nicaragua, among other guests.

INDEPENDENCE REMEMBERED AMID COVID-19 PANDEMIC AND POVERTY

Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua gained independence from the Spanish Crown on September 15, 1821.

Hondurans commemorate the bicentennial of independence affected by the Covid-19 pandemic and other scourges such as poverty, high unemployment rates, criminal violence, drug trafficking, corruption, and injustice.

Analysts and other sectors, including the Catholic Church, attribute the poverty and other ills suffered by the Central American country to the bad governments it has had throughout its history and the lack of true political leaders.

Coinciding with the bicentennial, on November 28, Honduras will hold the eleventh general elections since its return to constitutional order in 1980, after almost 20 years of military regimes.

But the four decades of democratic life have not brought well-being to Honduras, a country of 9.5 million inhabitants, of which more than 60% were poor before the Covid-19 pandemic, more than one million unemployed, deficient education and health systems, drug trafficking, an average of between ten and thirteen homicides per day and foreign debt that exceeds 10 billion dollars, among other ills.

In addition, Hondurans remain socially divided since the June 28, 2009 coup d’état to the then president, Manuel Zelaya, which resulted in a political crisis that worsened after the November 2017 general elections, when the current ruler was reelected, amid allegations of “fraud” by the main opposition forces.

The electoral process for the November 28 elections is happening amid claims by the opposition that Hernández will seek to continue in power, even though the Constitution does not allow reelection under any circumstances.

Despite the constitutional prohibition, Hernández sought reelection in 2017, under the court using a May 2015 interpretation.

Hernández has reiterated that he will not seek a second reelection and will hand over power to whoever wins in November on January 27, 2022.