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Honduras: Firings Undercut Judicial Independence via May 19th, 2010 at 16:11

(Washington, DC) - The firing of judges who opposed the 2009 coup is a serious blow to judicial independence in Honduras, Human Rights Watch said today. read...

Honduras: Investigate Attacks on Journalists via March 19th, 2010 at 19:38

(Washington, DC) – Honduras should conduct a prompt, thorough, and impartial investigation into a recent wave of killings and threats against journalists, Human Rights Watch said today. Three journalists have been killed in March, and five others have been threatened. read...

Honduras: Investigate Attacks on Coup Opponents via March 3rd, 2010 at 19:53

(Washington, DC) - Honduran authorities should ensure that recent killings and other attacks on opponents of the 2009 coup are promptly and thoroughly investigated, Human Rights Watch said today in a letter to Attorney General Luis Alberto Rubí. read...

Acceso Abierto a Información Agraria en Centro América via AgInfo News from IAALD January 15th, 2010 at 11:47

image Hablando en la Reunión RIBDA 2009 en Lima, Hugo Gallo, Jefe de Biblioteca de la Escuela Agrícola Panamericana en Honduras, reflexiona sobre las experiencias en Acceso Abierto a la Información Agraria en Centro América y Honduras. Click To Play Acceso Abierto - RSS...

Honduras: Investigate Murders of LGBT People via December 16th, 2009 at 18:32

(New York) - The killing of an HIV/AIDS outreach worker on December 14, 2009, is part of a pattern of violence against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in Honduras that seems to have accelerated in the turbulent months since the June 28 coup, Human Rights Watch said today. read...

Honduras: Reject Amnesty for Abuses During Coup via December 11th, 2009 at 19:12

(Washington, DC) - The proposal by Porfirio Lobo, winner of Honduras' disputed presidential election on November 29, 2009, for an "amnesty for all" of those involved in the June coup d'état violates the country's international obligations and undermines the rule of law, Human Rights Watch said today. read...

Honduras: Investigate Abuses, Repeal Repressive Measures via October 30th, 2009 at 21:39

(Washington, DC) - The restoration of constitutional order in Honduras should be accompanied by the immediate repeal of repressive decrees issued by the de facto government, and a full investigation of abuses committed in the aftermath of the coup, Human Rights Watch said today. read...

Honduras: Stop Blocking Human Rights Inquiries via October 16th, 2009 at 16:17

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Transmitirán precios de los alimentos en Honduras vía celular via AgInfo News from IAALD October 10th, 2009 at 01:30

Un artículo del Heraldo informa que A un costo de 31.97 lempiras al mes, los productores podrán recibir vía celular el precio diario del café, de los vegetales y del maíz producido por más de 260,000 agricultores diseminados en todo el país.La Fundación para el Desarrollo Empresarial Rural (Funder) y el Proyecto Pymerural, auspiciado por la Cooperación Suiza, lanzaron recientemente el Sistema de Información de Precios vía celular (AGROCEL) mediante el cual los productores recibirán información diaria de precios y de la condición climática en el país.Funder identificó a unos 260,000 productores que podrían participar en este sistema, de los cuales 150 mil cultivan maíz; más de 100,000 café y 10,000 agricultores producen vegetales.Con este sistema, el productor...

UN Human Rights Council: “Traditional Values” Vote and Gaza Overshadow Progress via October 3rd, 2009 at 14:47

(Geneva) - The UN Human Rights Council concluded its session with mixed results, Human Rights Watch said today. The council adopted helpful resolutions on the human rights situations in Burma, Somalia, Honduras and Cambodia and unanimously supported resolutions on freedom of expression, migrants' rights, HIV/AIDS and access to medicines. read...

Honduras: Restore Press Freedom Immediately via September 28th, 2009 at 19:43

(New York) - Honduras's de facto government should immediately rescind an emergency decree that severely restricts press freedoms, Human Rights Watch said today. Honduran security forces seized the offices of Radio Globo and Cholusat Sur television early today and shut down their broadcasting, two days after the decree was issued. read...

Honduras: OAS Should Press for End to Abuses via September 23rd, 2009 at 22:25

The Organization of American States should press the Honduran de facto government to halt the excessive use of force against protesters and to guarantee other fundamental rights, Human Rights Watch said today. read...

Honduras: New Reports of Abuses via September 22nd, 2009 at 22:29

Honduras's de facto government should refrain from using excessive force against supporters of the ousted president, Manuel Zelaya, Human Rights Watch said today. The authorities should also refrain from abusing emergency powers to undermine the basic rights of protesters, journalists, and others in Honduras. read...

Hondureños en zonas rurales podrán tener acceso gratis a Internet via AgInfo News from IAALD September 20th, 2009 at 01:30

A partir del hoy, cientos de hondureños con una línea fija de Hondutel podrán tener acceso gratis a Internet. El subgerente de la estatal, Luis Irías, señaló que el acceso a Internet será gratis, solamente se pagará la llamada conmutada. “El servicio de Internet, principalmente en las zonas rurales del país, es muy caro. Estamos listos para competir fuerte con otros proveedores”, explicó.El funcionario asegura que el servicio será muy veloz por la capacidad instalada de la estatal. El consumo de Internet tendrá el valor equivalente a una llamada. Su costo por minuto será de 35 centavos.Lea el artículo completo....

Honduras: Rights Report Shows Need for Increased International Pressure via August 25th, 2009 at 20:18

(Washington, D.C.) - The finding by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights of widespread abuses in Honduras should compel the international community to take firm action, such as targeted sanctions, to resolve the country's ongoing crisis, Human Rights Watch said today. read...

June 28th: One Month Later via CIPE Development Blog August 10th, 2009 at 13:01

image One month and one day after the military coup of President Manuel Zelaya in Honduras, de facto President Roberto Micheletti expressed possible support of a compromise, according to a New York Times article on July 29th. The compromise led by Nobel Prize winner and former President of Costa Rica Óscar Arias is known as the San José Accord and through a 12-point plan would allow for Mr. Zelaya to finish his term as President with significantly limited powers. Unfortunately, this news does not provide much cause for optimism. After two rounds of talks in Costa Rica, the chances of a successful resolution to the power struggle remain bleak. Micheletti reportedly warned Arias that he had not been able to persuade other parts of the Honduran government or leaders of the business community...

A documentary on Honduras making the film festival circuit via Poverty News Blog July 27th, 2009 at 20:10

A new documentary that focuses on Honduran poverty is making the rounds at film festivals. Blinded by Open Arms is produced by Alexie Elfmont a 24 year old recent College graduate from Miami. Elfmont and some friends traveled down to Honduras to film a fund raising video for a non-profit, but decided to stay longer and make a film. From the Miami Herald, reporter Susana Montes-Delgado details some of the young film crews encounters. For 17 days, the filmmakers interviewed former M-13 (Mara Salvatrucha) and M-18 gang members, drug addicts, lawyers, policemen, politicians and prison officials.They filmed children begging on street corners, inhaling glue and sleeping on sheets of cardboard. Their stories have a common theme: extreme poverty, low education rates and broken homes. More than 50...

Honduras: Evidence Suggests Soldiers Shot Into Unarmed Crowd via July 8th, 2009 at 20:22

Evidence obtained by Human Rights Watch suggests that Honduran soldiers may have used excessive force against supporters of the ousted president, Manuel Zelaya, outside the Tegucigalpa airport on July 5, 2009, Human Rights Watch said today. read...

Honduras: Decree Suspends Basic Rights via July 2nd, 2009 at 19:10

The Organization of American States (OAS), should press Honduras' de facto government to ensure full respect for human rights guarantees, Human Rights Watch said in a letter released today to OAS Secretary-General José Miguel Insulza. read...

A Challenge for the OAS: Honduras via CIPE Development Blog July 1st, 2009 at 12:06

image How the events unfold in Honduras will reshape the role of the Organization of American States in Inter-American affairs within the next couple of years. In the last year, the Organization’s Permanent Council, General Assembly and its Secretary General remained rather quiet in the face of rigged elections in Nicaragua, attacks on media outlets in Venezuela, Ecuador, or Peru by their governments, or actions by some branches of government - specially the executive - in the Western Hemisphere to alter the structure of checks and balances in their countries. These actions clearly undermined the rule of law and the principles of (liberal) democracy that the organization and its members agreed to defend and promote. In Honduras, President Zelaya effectively shrugged off decisions from the...

Honduras: Military Coup a Blow to Democracy via June 28th, 2009 at 18:09

(Washington, DC) - The Organization of American States (OAS) must act quickly to push for the reestablishment of democracy in Honduras after a military coup, Human Rights Watch said today. read...

Honduras: End Violence Against Transgender People via May 29th, 2009 at 17:30

(San Pedro Sula) - Honduras should act to end an epidemic of violence against transgender people by investigating, prosecuting, and convicting those responsible, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. read...

Students Helping Honduras via Poverty News Blog May 11th, 2009 at 19:07

CNN helped to introduce us to a charity that helps to fight poverty in Honduras. Students Helping Honduras has chapters at several college campuses to raise money for development projects in the country. Co-Founder Shin Fujiyama was profiled for CNN's story. Our snippet of the printed story begins with a trip to Honduras that served as inspiration to Fujiyama. The video of CNN's story follows our snippet. Today, his organization, Students Helping Honduras, brings education and community projects to children and families in need through student service trips and fundraisers. Do you know someone who should be a CNN Hero? Nominations are open at CNN.com/Heroes"Seeing the country and being able to make a difference really opened my eyes to a lot of things," he says. "I saw such a great need....

Honduras: Investigate Murder of Transgender Activist via January 12th, 2009 at 22:46

(New York, January 12, 2009) - the Honduran authorities should fully investigate the murder of Cynthia Nicole, a leading Honduras transgender rights defender, and other attacks on the transgender community, Human Rights Watch said today. Nicole's killing is the latest in a series of violent attacks against transgender people in Honduras. read...

Cardinal Oscar Rodríguez Maradiaga via Thembinkosi Foundation October 8th, 2008 at 20:36

Cardinal Oscar Rodríguez Maradiaga is the leader of the Catholic Church in Honduras and a leading proponent of Catholic Social Teaching. He is my modern day hero!Here are some quotes from a recent Tablet article that I found absolutely inspirational: (www.thetablet.co.uk/articles/12086/)On the $700 billion bail out of Wall Street:"Seventy billion?” incredulous at the figure, then he realises his error. "No, seven hundred billion!" President of Caritas Internationalis, the Vatican-based umbrella organisation for Catholic charities in 162 nations, Rodríguez shakes his head and says: "I am very sad that the riches of this country [the United States] are being used to save big corporations who we don't know are honest or corrupt."He repeats the astonishing sum: "Seven hundred billion. Can...

World Bank `Destroyed Basic Grains’ in Honduras via Poverty News Blog May 14th, 2008 at 21:25

image from Bloomberg By Alison Fitzgerald, Jason Gale and Helen MurphyMay 14 (Bloomberg) -- Fidencio Alvarez abandoned his bean and corn farm in southern Honduras because of the rising cost of seeds, fuel and food. After months of one meal a day, he hiked with his wife and six children to find work in the city.``We would wake up with empty stomachs and go to bed with empty stomachs,'' said Alvarez, 37, who sought help from the Mission Lazarus aid group in Choluteca in January. ``We couldn't afford the seeds to plant food or the bus fare to buy the food.''Honduran farmers like Alvarez can't compete in a global marketplace where the costs of fuel and fertilizer soared and rice prices doubled in the past year. The former breadbasket of Central America now imports 83 percent of the rice it...

‘Magic bean’ transforms life for poor Jacks of Central America via Poverty News Blog April 23rd, 2008 at 13:08

image from the Independent By Julian Pettifer in Guinope, HondurasIn the nursery tale, a handful of magic beans rescued Jack's family from poverty. In Central America, there are tens of thousands of poor Jacks whose fortunes have been transformed by planting beans; and that is no fairy story. This magic bean is called mucuna, or the velvet bean, and extraordinary claims are being made for it: maize crops have been tripled, erosion has been halted, destruction of the rainforest curtailed, and migration to the cities reversed.In the nursery tale, a handful of magic beans rescued Jack's family from poverty. In Central America, there are tens of thousands of poor Jacks whose fortunes have been transformed by planting beans; and that is no fairy story. This magic bean is called mucuna, or the velvet...

Fredericksburg-area college students and businesspeople experience poverty, hope in the squatter village of SietedeAbril via Poverty News Blog January 21st, 2007 at 16:08

From The Fredericksburg Free Lance Star College students, businesspeople from the Fredericksburg area travel to Honduran village where poverty is the normBy RUSTY DENNENEL PROGRESO, HONDURAS--Outside this teeming Central American city sits a village on a garbage-strewn dirt road at the foot of a mountain shrouded in mist.As a bus carrying Americans--mostly from the Fredericksburg area--lumbers past, barefoot children in worn clothes smile and welcome the visitors to Siete de Abril. Men carrying firewood and machetes say hola --hello.Chickens, pigs and dogs roam freely in the shade of banana trees and coconut palms. Papayas hang from trees behind some houses.The sound of hammering, English and Spanish voices, and handsaws is everywhere. To the 70 families who live in this poor squatter...