That same HONDURAS - how do they live in one of the most dangerous countries in the world? Banana republic unvarnished

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

Probably every first Russian has heard about this banana republic, in which fish falls from the sky (about this a little later), thanks to the euphonious name and proverb “The wrong country was called Honduras.” In fact, in Spanish this word means “depths”, and this name is associated with Columbus, who is considered the discoverer of this country, although this is just one of the versions.

The main population is mestizo - a mixture of Indians and Spaniards. And this population in the whole country is one third less than in Moscow alone - only 8 million. Today Honduras is one of the most dangerous and dirtiest countries in Central America. There is a constant war with drug cartels and street gangs. On every corner there are people with weapons, and instead of the city's police, the military is patrolling. Drug cartels squabble over control of the transit of cocaine from Colombia to the United States. It is in this country that San Pedro Sula is located, the most dangerous city in the world, with a per capita murder rate higher than anywhere else. On average, 3.5 people per day in this city are killed by murderers. There are bars and barbed wire all around. They enclosed almost everything: houses, shops and even cemeteries.

The law practically does not work here. The only place in the city where order is somehow maintained is in the central quarters, which are occasionally patrolled by the police. On the outskirts of the city, the servants of the law do not poke around, as there are numerous bandit groups in full operation.

Honduras is the third poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, poorer only by Haiti and Nicaragua, Honduras' neighbor. 60% of the country lives below the poverty line, and 40% of them make ends meet with a dollar a day, which is the threshold of absolute poverty according to the World Bank criteria. This poverty is visible everywhere - many live in villages where box houses are hammered together from pieces of roofing with a hole instead of doors. At the same time, there is no running water or any other attributes of civilization.

There is unemployment in the country, constant shortages of gasoline, constant strikes. The average citizen of the country finishes two or three classes, and then goes to earn money. And many Hondurans earn them by petty theft. The police can't do anything about it, and theft has come to be considered almost a national landmark.

Another chance to make money, especially for the young generation of the country, and young people under 19 make up more than 50% of Honduras residents, is given by organized crime. These are local gangs, the so-called "maras". First of all, they are involved in drug smuggling from Latin America to the United States. They turned Honduras into a real drug transshipment center, and it is thanks to them that Honduras ranks among the first in the world in terms of crime. Gangs "maras", numbering, according to various sources, from 40 to 100 thousand "fighters", terrorize the population, rob the already poor entrepreneurs, ruthlessly killing everyone who tries to resist.

The economic devastation in the country is to a great extent connected with this bandit lawlessness. The government has no comprehensive development strategy and no way out of this situation. Honduras remains an exporter of bananas and coffee, with villagers cultivating and harvesting crops like centuries ago. Industry is a few dozen small assembly plants - a drop in the ocean.

The country is very bad with roads, education and medicine. How did Hondurans come to this life? After all, they have a magnificent Caribbean coast, unique nature, very interesting cuisine? They themselves explain the current situation as follows: “We live from one corruption scandal to another. The Europeans gave large funds for social programs, improvement of urban infrastructure, modernization of agriculture - and what then? Almost all were stolen. Tradition! . Therefore, donor countries, one after another, refuse charity in favor of Honduras.

By the way, it is customary not only to call the inhabitants of this country by name, but also to mention their type of activity. It would be cool to introduce such a rule in Russia. Write in the comments how ordinary dialogues would sound in our country, it will be interesting to read.

And now let's amuse our pride a little. A resident of Honduras with an average salary of 10,000 rubles and the cost of gasoline is 63 rubles will buy 159 liters of gasoline for it. And a Russian with an average salary of 38,000 rubles, which you can hear about on TV, but difficult to see live, will buy 844 liters at the cost of gasoline of 45 rubles.

And there is also constant dancing around the Constitution. 10 years ago, President Manuel Zelaya decided to stay for one more term. His desire was complicated by the fact that the country's constitution prohibits not only being re-elected, but even expressing an intention to re-elect the president.