I know many of you have been waiting for an update on the craziness in Honduras. I will try to explain, from my viewpoint, what has been happening. A little background…
The incumbent president, Juan Orlando Hernandez, won the presidential election two weeks ago by a very slim margin…less than two percent. The electoral commission was very slow with the results and charges of vote fraud began to circulate. The opposition candidate, Salvador Nasralla, and his backers, led by a former president ousted in 2009, refused to accept the results. Protests and riots ensued. There was a partial recount which once again resulted in the incumbent president being named the victor. This past Sunday, the opposition party called on their people to hit the streets on Monday in protest. Some of those protests became violent as I unfortunately witnessed earlier this week via Whatsapp. It is alleged that the violence was instigated by people other than the opposition candidate. The opposition candidate, Mr. Nasralla, was actually not even in Honduras but was in the U.S. when this call for violence happened. I am in hopes he is as appalled as most of the concerned citizens of Honduras.
Hernandez, like Trump, won by less than 2% of the vote. Imagine if you will if Clinton, the losing candidate here, called for all out protests, burning, looting, etc…that’s what’s happened in Honduras. God bless the USA. Many people have died unnecessarily, people are afraid to go out, cannot work and democracy itself is being challenged. The economic and political damage to a country that has struggled to slowly right itself after decades of misfortune has been set back for years.
All that being said I am still committed to the people and the projects we at IC13 have on slate in Honduras for 2018. In fact, we have already approved and launched several 2018 projects (see website for details). That includes imminent trips for a hospital assessment in January and medical clinics in February. Please hear this…I will never knowingly take people into a place that is unstable or dangerous so I reserve the right to pull the plug if I am the least bit unsure about the personal safety of a team. For now we are on as scheduled but I am tracking the situation daily with our boots on the ground. The information we are receiving from Honduras is from multiple sources in multiple locals and is very reliable. We do not take our responsibility lightly. We’ll watch closely and make good decisions that do not risk the lives of our volunteers.
I am greatly encouraged as I write this update as Mr. Nasralla is returning from the U.S. today and is expected to enter into talks with President Hernandez as soon as possible. Let’s all pray that wisdom prevails and this all blows over soon. Thanks to all of you for your willingness to serve, your encouragement and your support of all we do.
IC13
Ty