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Issue 5: Civil Society Flexes its Muscles

On The Record
Central America After Mitch
Volume 8, Issue 5 – May 19, 1999

In this issue ...

• Civil Society Flexes Its Muscles
  • Mitch Acts As a Catalyst
  • New Problems Arise
  • Learning to Live With the Internet
  • Debt
  • Preparing for Stockholm
  • In the News
  
  
• Hacia Y Desde Estocolmo – Honduran Civil Society Web Site to Open Page on Stockholm, Publish Daily Press Communiques From The Conference

From the Editorial Desk

Hurricane Mitch raised the stakes for the civil society groups profiled in the last issue: on the one hand, it made their work much harder; on the other hand, it gave them an opportunity to shine. The following issue looks at how some have reacted. It also shows how Mitch has created a movement out of what was a scattering of initiatives. Although civil society has made impressive gains in the last ten years, it has remained fragmented. Groups. Groups of groups, and coordinating bodies were springing up, but they did not speak with a single voice. Part of this, of course, was due to the lack of a common agenda. This was to change with Mitch.

Civil Society Flexes Its Muscles

Mitch Acts As a Catalyst

No one expected the National Jail to explode the way it did – in a torrent of water and mud. Dr. Juan Almendares was at the jail on the night of October 29, when the water began to rise and the prisoners began to panic. Together with Alba Mejia, a colleague from CPTRT (Center for the Prevention of Torture and Rehabilitation of Torture Victims), Juan was present for several hours helping to mediate between the prisoners and their guards in the night and the rain. After the prisoners were eventually taken out in buses to the new jail outside Tegucigalpa, Almendares followed and found that the tension had also moved to the new site. Several prisoners were killed during riots over the next few days.

During a visit to the new jail in March, in the company of Alba Mejia from the CPTRT, we spent two hours in a private discussion with prisoners. There is less overcrowding than there was in the old jail, but food is short and health facilities are also limited. The beds are made from iron, and some of the more violent prisoners make knives. They also face a daunting task to rebuild the workshops that were destroyed during Mitch. Only part of the damage was due to the hurricane, they said: prison guards had stolen everything they could grab before the walls of the prison collapsed.

Adding to the indignity of prison life was the fact that family visitors were forced to undergo humiliating body searches, regardless of age and gender and often with the same gloves. This, combined with the isolation and distance from Tegucigalpa, turned prison visits into a horrible ordeal for relatives.

But the main complaint was less about the prison than the justice system. Out of the 1,620 prisoners there when we visited, only 494 had been formally sentenced. One man had been there for nine years without being sentenced. Another had been arrested over a parking ticket. Youths were in cells with hardened criminals. The same is true of jails throughout the country: as many as 90% of those in prison have yet to be sentenced.

The tension and violence in jails has turned human rights groups like the CPTRT and CODEH (Committee for the Defense of Human Rights) into conflict resolution specialists inside the walls, and support groups outside. The CPTRT has helped to nurture one group of detainee's mothers, which has held several public protests demanding that their children be charged or released. In their own way, these women are building on the work of mothers of the disappeared, who did so much to expose the cruelties of military rule and open the door to democracy in the 1980s.

As noted earlier, Mitch wiped out the produce of small farmers throughout Honduras. This made COMAL's (Comercializacion Comunitaria Alternativa) alternative marketing system more important than ever. During 1998, COMAL established a collective fund for the bulk purchase of basic materials like soap for its members. By March of this year, the fund stood at over 200,000 lempiras ($15,000): 20% comes from members, which they can retrieve if they decide to leave. COMAL now sells through 200 community stores nation-wide, and puts farmers who want to barter directly in touch with each store.

Seventy percent of COMAL's members were hit by Mitch. Some lost everything, says Jose Trinidad Sanchez, COMAL's director in Siguatepeque. In the wake of the crisis, COMAL organized 100 volunteers who put together 10,000 food baskets. By December, they had rebuilt community stores, using donations. COMAL has also purchased seeds and tools for communities, to be sold at half price and repaid to COMAL in the form of produce. Sixteen agricultural workers from COMAL also provide extension services for members.

COMAL even began to offer legal advice after Congress passed the law in December 1998 that reduced the price of maize and otherwise added to the burdens facing small farmers. COMAL worked with ANACH and COCOCH, the peasant associations, to challenge the law. As noted above, they had partial success, and the law was revised. Overall, however, the small farmers of Honduras are on the losing side. While its model clearly works, COMAL on its own is still too limited to arrest the alarming trend towards greater concentration of land ownership and falling productivity.

New Problems Arise

Migration is another issue that elbowed its way back onto the front page after Mitch, with major implications for campaigners in Honduras. The disaster in Honduras was bound to send thousands more Hondurans heading north, but at the same time there was pressure in the United States to continue returning "illegals" who were being picked up under the draconian US immigration policy.

President Clinton announced that the US would provide temporary protected status to Hondurans who arrived illegally in the US before December 30, and suspend the deportation of those who came later. But it was only a temporary measure, and the deportations resumed in March 1999. This motivated FONAMIH, the forum for migrants, to act. They realized that the deported migrants were receiving no assistance upon their return to Honduras, and that most would head straight back to the shantytowns before heading north again. This was one crisis that had definitely worsened with Mitch.

The Global Village Project (PAG), in Siguatepeque, helped to cushion its local partners against the impact of the hurricane. Much of the country outside Tegucigalpa was cut off, and the government was effectively paralyzed for weeks. Mayors did what they could, and some were more effective than others. The mayor of La Libertad lost his own house, and wandered around in a daze for days.

It was left to civic groups to fill the gap, and the 120 communities in the PAG network quickly moved into action. Two days after the storm, on Monday, the office in Siguatepeque called Tegucigalpa by phone and received permission to spend $50,000 on emergency food. PAG's rural development projects had several tractors and lifting equipment that were also used in the emergency. PAG mobile phones were used to keep the 120 communities in touch with each other. All this gave such a reassuring impression that the seven mayors from the surrounding municipalities came to the PAG office and signed an agreement for food for work. PAG was making use of the organization and structure it had established over the previous three years.

PAG did not, however, feel strong enough to hold the mayors accountable for their distribution of relief aid. The mayors decided who was to receive food and materials, which was then delivered directly to the recipient, cutting out middlemen. But clothing was delivered directly to the mayors for distribution. PAG officials admit there was probably plenty of abuse, but that any head-on confrontation would have soured a good working relationship. This underscored the importance of the independent social audit of relief that was carried out by the Human Rights Ombudsman (referred to in Issue 3).

When we visited Siguatepeque, PAG faced another dilemma. Geologists had just warned that the side of a nearby mountain was cracking, and that this could pose considerable dangers for villagers. Anxious to avoid another disastrous mudslide, PAG talked to the mayor of La Trinidad, who was by now a firm ally. Showing a lot more vigor and initiative than the government in Tegucigalpa when faced by land pressure, he managed to purchase new land for the villagers. But the villagers did not want to leave their homes. Under the constitution, people can be evicted for reasons of public safety, but forcible eviction was at best a last resort and certainly not the preferred solution for a project like PAG that supports community initiative.

Learning to Live With the Internet

Before Mitch, Raquel Isaula the coordinator of SDN-HON (Sustainable Development Network) had been wondering how to convince Hondurans of the benefits of the Internet. Since Mitch she has not had to worry.

Raquel is typical of the leaders of Honduran civil society. She was one of six children from a working class family who all went to university, and she has been involved in development all her working life. But, as noted in the previous issue, she had found it hard to rid Hondurans of their fear of information technology.

When Mitch descended on Tegucigalpa, one of the first things to suffer was communications. Raquel recalls crossing the bridge over the Choluteca on Friday, on her way to work and finding that she could not return home at the end of the day. With the city's bridges down, relief agencies faced an obvious problem. Then there was the absolute failure of the government to provide useful information.

Suddenly and unexpectedly, SDN-HON found its information skills much in demand, and also sorely tested. Within two days of the first flooding, on Monday, Raquel had called the government agency (COPECO) and received no reply. She sent a message out to email subscribers asking who wanted to receive information, and 120 agency representatives came to a meeting on Wednesday. She borrowed six computers and pulled together a group of volunteers, mainly students, who worked almost non-stop for the next two weeks, analyzing and circulating information.

Soon, the news was coming in from all over the country and most of it was bad. Raquel created a special email distribution list for those with a special interest in the flat, vulnerable, region of Mosquitia on the northern coast. Private clinics called in offering medical supplies and were put directly in touch with nongovernmental agencies. Aid agencies outside the country were able to identify beneficiaries.

From Canada, the prestigious International Development Research Council (IDRC) used the SDN-HON to announce that it had grants of $10,000 to distribute, and invited solicitations. SDN-HON's network also helped its subscribers in the government (which include the ministries of forestry, justice, governance, and even the fire department) to keep in touch with NGOs.

For Raquel and her colleagues at the SDN-HON, Mitch provided proof that the Internet can save lives as well as distribute information. Two thirds of the organizations working in Tegucigalpa now have access to email, she says. Mitch showed that it saves time and money. At the same time, one of Raquel's volunteer colleagues designed a dazzling website that helped visitors through the aftermath of Mitch.

When we talked, Raquel was wondering how to build on this success, and move forward. Canada has helped by providing two consultants to prepare a strategic plan, and conduct a professional audit. But her main objective is to make the technology more accessible to ordinary Hondurans, beyond the middle class. One of her colleagues has been demonstrating in the poor barrios and finding that the children – like kids everywhere – not only love the computer, but are also good at it. Canada is paying Raquel to conduct a 2-day training session for almost 800 computer users. She has no doubt this is the future for information networks.

Debt

Of all the civil society campaigns that were invigorated by Hurricane Mitch, none caught fire like the campaign to abolish the country's debt. As noted previously, during the 1980s ASONOG, the Association of Honduran NGOs, had shifted from helping refugees in the west to development, and realized in the process that debt was a terrible burden on the economy. This produced a new organization (FOSDEH), which was already publishing hard-hitting reports on debt and its consequences by the time Mitch struck.

With its economy in ruins, Honduras was now even less able to repay its debt (which had risen above $4 billion). This was clear not just to the FOSDEH campaigners but also to the government, and the result was an alliance between government and civil society. On November 13, 1998, the Minister of Finance (a former World Bank official) and the president of the Central Bank, issued an open letter to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), pleading for understanding at the meeting of donors that was scheduled in Washington, DC on December 11.

FOSDEH (The Social Forum on External Debt) was less polite. In a report for the meeting, FOSDEH demanded the total cancellation of the country's bilateral debt, and the start of a "wide and definitive process" for the cancellation of multilateral debt and the modification of any new structural adjustment program. FOSDEH also suggested that that a fund for reconstruction and human development be set up.

On January 27, 1999, the debt campaign received its biggest boost when President Flores and the Archbishop of Tegucigalpa both attended the launch of the Latin American chapter of Jubilee 2000, the international campaign for debt cancellation. The meeting was held in Tegucigalpa, and ended with a rousing call: "Yes to Life; No to Debt!"

Here was proof that civil society and government need not always be at loggerheads. But it was not without risk. The government of Honduras was bound to support any proposal that forgives its debt. But the reports in this issue suggest that the government's own policies – or lack of them – contributed to the havoc wreaked by Mitch on Hondurans. Was it really wise for civil society to find common cause with the government? This was one of the key questions to be answered in the weeks leading up to Stockholm, Sweden meeting of donors, scheduled for the end of May.

Preparing for Stockholm

These first five issues of this series of On the Record have shown how, over the last six months, Mitch has accelerated the coming of age of civil society in one of Latin America's poorest countries. In the process, it has also accelerated the shift in civil society from a mosaic of individual groups into a unified movement. This began in December. Several of the larger groups referred to in this report had met unofficially, but after Mitch they decided the time had come for something more formal.

Eleven separate networks (many of them profiled in the last two issues) met and formed a new coordinating group, called Interforos. They covered all of the major campaigning issues including debt, rural poverty, migration, women's issues, youth, and relief aid. They quickly decided that their first goal should be to develop a new vision for their country's reconstruction, and make sure that it reached the government and donors. They also began to develop links with counterparts in Nicaragua, where 320 organizations had met and formed a coordinating group (la coordinadora). Together, they set their sights on the second goal – to ensure that civil society was guaranteed a seat at the table at the Stockholm meeting.

The significance of this should not be exaggerated. Many individual groups are still not incorporated into the reconstruction effort, and Honduran civil society still has a lot to learn about developing trust between groups. In addition, some are worried that the push for debt cancellation might – with its powerful support from the international Jubilee 2000 movement – overshadow all else, and provide the government with an excuse not to take the tough political decisions required to deal with issues like the consolidation of land ownership.

But something important has begun for Honduran civil society following Mitch. The Stockholm conference will show whether the gains can be consolidated.

Hacia Y Desde Estocolmo – Honduran Civil Society Web Site to Open Page on Stockholm, Publish Daily Press Communiques from the Conference

Es hora de socializar la informacion y compartir con todos y todas ustedes el trabajo que la Red de Desarrollo Sostenible de Honduras ha venido realizando en el ultimo mes de cara a la Reunion del Grupo Consultivo que se desarrollara en Estocolmo, Suecia del 25 al 28 de Mayo proximo.

Para la Red, al igual que para toda la sociedad civil hondurena, la reunion de Estocolmo representa una magnifica oportunidad para impulsar proyectos encaminados a la reconstruccion, pero sobre todo a la TRANSFORMACION del pais.

La reunion de Estocolmo es para la Red un punto de encuentro, en donde el gobierno, los organismos financieros internacionales, agencias cooperantes y la sociedad civil, decidiran el futuro a corto, mediano y largo plazo de Honduras.

En ese sentido y debido a la trascendencia de la reunion, la RDS-HN creo dentro de su pagina web un sitio llamado Hacia Estocolmo en donde ha concentrado las principales informaciones que a nivel nacional e internacional se han vertido en torno a la reunion de Estocolmo.  Estas informaciones las hemos clasificado en:

Breve descripcion de lo que es Estocolmo, Cual es su importancia y cuales el riesgo que corre Honduras en esta reunion Propuestas Gubernamentales SociedadCivil Accionespor cada pais Centroamericano Propuestas Estadisticas Accionesconjuntas de Centroamerica Propuestas Declaracionesconjuntas Accionesde los Organismos Financieros Internacionales Cronologia Articulos de opinion Documentosde temas relacionados.

Sin embargo, los esfuerzos que esta realizando la RDS-HN por socializar la informacion no han querido quedarse hasta este punto y nos empenamos en tener una pequena oficina de prensa en Estocolmo desde donde mantener informados de una manera rapida y eficiente a todos y todas ustedes. Esta oficina de prensa informara desde el mismo lugar de los hechos las acciones, logros, crompromisos que contraiga Honduras y en general Centroamerica en la reunion del Grupo Consultivo y los planes, convenios y proyectos de cooperacion que se amarren con las agencias no gubernamentales europeas.

Las informaciones seran transmitidas diariamente via correo electronico y todos y todas podran hacer las consultas necesarias a traves de Ileana Morales, quien sera la responsable de cubrir periodisticamente la reunion. Asimismo, despues de Estocolmo la RDS-HN se compromete a darle seguimiento periodistico a los acuerdos logrados durante la reunion del Foro Consultivo, tanto del area gubernamental como de la sociedad civil.

Animese, visite nuestra pagina web, y socialice tambien usted la informacion sobre Estocolmo y si tiene sugerencias para mejorar nuestro trabajo hagalas llegar a . Esperamos que visite nuestro sitio, Atentamente, Ileana Morales

Red de Desarrollo Sostenible de Honduras (SDN-HON)
Tel/fax: (504) 220-1115 al 17

Contacts for this issue

• Leo Valladares, the Human Rights Ombudsman
• FONAMIH (migration) and ASONOG (Debt) contact Irvin Jerez
• FOPRIDEH (womens' groups) contact Maribel Suazo Madrid.
• Proyecto Aldea Global (PAG) contact Carlos Soto.
• Mercy Corps - contact Phil Walsh.
   

Notice

Guatemala Partners, one of the sponsors of this series, provided $3,000 to pay for a back-up electrical generator, which allowed SDN-HON to stay online during Tegucigalpa's numerous power cuts. GP has also given SDN-HON $5,000 for pre and post Stockholm work. Several other groups profiled in this series are supported by Guatemala Partners, a tax-exempt 501(c)3 organization that provides funding and technical support to development, humanitarian relief and human rights projects in Guatemala, Chiapas (Mexico) and Honduras. GP also educates in the US about human rights, humanitarian and development issues, and helps US communities and organizations to enter into working partnerships with communities and organizations in the south working on these issues.

Guatemala Partners
1830 Connecticut Ave. NW
Washington DC 20009
T: 202-783-1123
F: 202-483-6730
E: manos@igc.org

Funding and financial contributions

If you would like to make contributions to the work of non-government organizations profiled in this OTR Series (or if you know of foundations that would consider funding these organizations), please contact Guatemala Partners.

In the next issue: The Limitations of Early Warning

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