{"code":"24507","sect":"Internacionales","sect_slug":"internacionales","hits":"1516","link":"https:\/\/elfaro.net\/en\/202006\/internacionales\/24507","link_edit":"","name":"Starvation Politics in Honduras","slug":"starvation-politics-in-honduras","info":"","mtag":"Corruption","noun":{"html":"Jared Olson","data":{"jared-olson":{"sort":"","slug":"jared-olson","path":"jared_olson","name":"Jared Olson","edge":"0","init":"0"}}},"view":"1516","pict":{"cms-image-000033788-jpg":{"feat":"1","sort":"33788","name":"cms-image-000033788.jpg","link":"https:\/\/elfaro.net\/images\/cms-image-000033788.jpg","path":"https:\/\/elfaro.net\/images\/cms-image-000033788.jpg","back":"","slug":"cms-image-000033788-jpg","text":"<p>A man wearing a protective mask cuts a papaya in the central\u00a0marketplace of San Pedro Sula. May, 23rd 2020. Photo: Seth Berry<\/p>","capt":"\u003Cp\u003EA man wearing a protective mask cuts a papaya in the central\u00a0marketplace of San Pedro Sula. May, 23rd 2020. Photo: Seth Berry\u003C\/p\u003E"},"cms-image-000033789-jpg":{"feat":"0","sort":"33789","name":"cms-image-000033789.jpg","link":"https:\/\/elfaro.net\/images\/cms-image-000033789.jpg","path":"https:\/\/elfaro.net\/images\/cms-image-000033789.jpg","back":"","slug":"cms-image-000033789-jpg","text":"<p>A woman selling ice cream walks down a once-bustling downtown street--now empty due to the lockdown. San Pedro Sula. April, 17th, 2020. Photo: Seth Berry<\/p>","capt":"\u003Cp\u003EA woman selling ice cream walks down a once-bustling downtown street--now empty due to the lockdown. San Pedro Sula. April, 17th, 2020. Photo: Seth Berry\u003C\/p\u003E"},"cms-image-000033790-jpg":{"feat":"0","sort":"33790","name":"cms-image-000033790.jpg","link":"https:\/\/elfaro.net\/images\/cms-image-000033790.jpg","path":"https:\/\/elfaro.net\/images\/cms-image-000033790.jpg","back":"","slug":"cms-image-000033790-jpg","text":"<p>A father and son stand on the side of the street asking for help from passersby. Once the lockdown went into effect thousands of vulnerable\u00a0people, without jobs or help from the government, flocked to the streets hoping the common citizen would empathize. San Pedro Sula. April, 20th, 2020. Photo: Seth Berry<\/p>","capt":"\u003Cp\u003EA father and son stand on the side of the street asking for help from passersby. Once the lockdown went into effect thousands of vulnerable\u00a0people, without jobs or help from the government, flocked to the streets hoping the common citizen would empathize. San Pedro Sula. April, 20th, 2020. Photo: Seth Berry\u003C\/p\u003E"},"cms-image-000033791-jpg":{"feat":"0","sort":"33791","name":"cms-image-000033791.jpg","link":"https:\/\/elfaro.net\/images\/cms-image-000033791.jpg","path":"https:\/\/elfaro.net\/images\/cms-image-000033791.jpg","back":"","slug":"cms-image-000033791-jpg","text":"<p>Citizens in need get upset after a local charity runs out of bags of essential food. San Pedro Sula. April, 17th, 2020. Photo: Seth Berry<\/p>","capt":"\u003Cp\u003ECitizens in need get upset after a local charity runs out of bags of essential food. San Pedro Sula. April, 17th, 2020. Photo: Seth Berry\u003C\/p\u003E"}},"pict_main__sort":33788,"date":{"live":"2020\/06\/04"},"data_post_dateLive_YY":"2020","data_post_dateLive_MM":"06","data_post_dateLive_DD":"04","text":"\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EInvoking the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and reiterating the state\u2019s responsibility to provide assistance to the poor, \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.consejosecretariosdeestado.gob.hn\/content\/creaci%C3%B3n-la-operaci%C3%B3n-honduras-solidaria\"\u003EHonduras Solidaria\u003C\/a\u003E, an emergency response plan ordered by President Juan Orlando Hern\u00e1ndez\u2019s executive decree on March 28, is intended to help Hondurans at risk of starvation during the COVID-19 shutdown.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EOn paper, the sweeping emergency relief program, whose stated objective is \u201csupplying food rations in a basic basket to at least 800,000 Honduran families\u201d affected by the pandemic, marshals the Honduran Armed Forces and the National Police to deliver relief to the country\u2019s most vulnerable. The bolsa solidaria, or \u201csolidarity basket\u201d as it is known, brings rice, coffee, sardines, flour, and hygiene products, among other essentials, to those trapped at home while the virus sweeps the country. It mobilizes 355 million lempiras ($14.2 million USD) to provide supplies to those unable to work to earn money for food and supplies. \u201cI thank God, and the President, for remembering us, the poor people,\u201d \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.sedis.gob.hn\/node\/5935\"\u003Eone woman said \u003C\/a\u003Eof the aid program in a government press release.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EBut according to many, the ruling conservative party, Partido Nacional, is both targeting delivery to supporters to expand their political base and neglecting communities with majority support for opposing parties. \u201cThe bolsas solidarias are arriving only and exclusively to the communities that are already aligned with the Partido Nacional,\u201d Mario Arge\u00f1al, a teacher and TV show host in Danl\u00ed, told me over WhatsApp, speaking from his rural home in the El Para\u00edso Department near the Nicaraguan border.\u00a0\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003E\u201cThe bolsa solidarias are not arriving to everyone who needs them,\u201d says Ram\u00f3n \u2018Moncho\u2019 Soto, a congressperson for the opposition LIBRE party in Col\u00f3n. \u201cIt\u2019s not getting to the whole poor population of Honduras. In fact, it\u2019s not just being used as a political instrument by the ruling party, but also as an instrument of corruption.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E \u003Cfigure class=\"pict pict_land pict_move_posc 0 cs_img cs_img--curr rule--ss_c\" data-shot=\"pict\" data-hint=\"pict\"\u003E \u003Cdiv class=\"pict__pobj text-overflow\"\u003E\u003Cimg src=https:\/\/elfaro.net\/get_img?ImageWidth=1200&ImageHeight=801&ImageId=33791 class=\"pobj\" style=\"max-width: 100%\" rel=\"resizable\" alt=\"Citizens in need get upset after a local charity runs out of bags of essential food. San Pedro Sula. April, 17th, 2020. Photo: Seth Berry\" \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E \u003Cfigcaption class=\"pict__text cs_img_caption folk_content typo_buttons line--ss_s0c line--ss_s0c--auto block full-width text-overflow rule--ss_l relative\"\u003E \u003Cdiv class=\"__content block-inline full-width align-top tint-text--idle relative\"\u003E Citizens in need get upset after a local charity runs out of bags of essential food. San Pedro Sula. April, 17th, 2020. Photo: Seth Berry \u003Cdiv class=\"photographer text_italic rule--ss_l tint-text--idle\"\u003E \u003C\/div\u003E \u003C\/div\u003E \u003C\/figcaption\u003E \u003C\/figure\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003E\u00a0\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003E\u201cThe delivery has been selective,\u201d says Ju\u00e1n L\u00f3pez, an activist and former political prisoner living in the Col\u00f3n Department. \u201cThey\u2019ve prioritized delivering supplies to people from the party, leaving other families with nothing.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003E\u201cIn some municipalities, the deliveries didn\u2019t even come,\u201d says Len\u00edn La\u00ednez, a LIBRE member of congress from the Intibuc\u00e1 department, along the Salvadoran border. \u201cIn others, like the important municipalities in the department, the deliveries only arrived because of political activism (on the part of the National Party).\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EDisparities in food distributions under the COVID-19 quarantine, many say, reflect deepening divisions in a society already in crisis. In response, the government\u2014besieged by mounting accusations of complicity in drug trafficking and corruption scandals\u2014s politicizing a global pandemic to bolster its political base.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003E***\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EThis late February and early March the pandemic threatened to take hold in the country\u2014where sixty percent of the population lives in\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/tradingeconomics.com\/honduras\/urban-population-percent-of-total-wb-data.html\"\u003E dense slums\u003C\/a\u003E with poor, if not nonexistent, healthcare and sanitation systems\u2014Honduras began bracing itself for an outbreak that seemed all but inevitable. The first case, a Honduran national returning from Switzerland, \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/mundo\/noticias-america-latina-51835525\"\u003Ecame on March 4\u003C\/a\u003E. By March 16 the government \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.apple.com\"\u003Edeclared a state of exception\u003C\/a\u003E, upping the ante soon thereafter by issuing a stay-at-home order on March 28. Within the parameters of the ongoing quarantine, people can leave their homes no more than once a week, and only according to the number on their government mandated ID. As of June 2, the country has experienced \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/fonac.hn\"\u003E5,263 confirmed cases and 217 deaths\u003C\/a\u003E,the majority of them concentrated in the Cort\u00e9s Department around San Pedro Sula.\u00a0\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EOver a \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/defensoresenlinea.com\/informe-2-del-mitch-al-golpe-y-de-la-pandemia-al-autoritarismo-contra-los-derechos-humanos\/\"\u003Emillion Hondurans are now out of work\u003C\/a\u003E, with millions more economically incapacitated after the shuttering of the informal sector by the nationwide stay-at-home order. Protests against the lack of food have been widespread, as have been \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/defensoresenlinea.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/2do-INFORME-SITUACI%C3%93N-DH-EN-HONDURAS-marco-Covid19-abril20.pdf\"\u003Eviolent state repression\u003C\/a\u003E of those protests, with over 11,000 people detained in the past two months of quarantine, \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/defensoresenlinea.com\/agentes-de-la-pmop-asesina-a-joven-en-el-paraiso-omoa\/\"\u003Evendors killed\u003C\/a\u003E on the streets by military police, as well as accusations of torture by security forces.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E \u003Cfigure class=\"pict pict_land pict_move_posc 0 cs_img cs_img--curr rule--ss_c\" data-shot=\"pict\" data-hint=\"pict\"\u003E \u003Cdiv class=\"pict__pobj text-overflow\"\u003E\u003Cimg src=https:\/\/elfaro.net\/get_img?ImageWidth=801&ImageHeight=1200&ImageId=33790 class=\"pobj\" style=\"max-width: 100%\" rel=\"resizable\" alt=\"A father and son stand on the side of the street asking for help from passersby. Once the lockdown went into effect thousands of vulnerable\u00a0people, without jobs or help from the government, flocked to the streets hoping the common citizen would empathize. San Pedro Sula. April, 20th, 2020. Photo: Seth Berry\" \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E \u003Cfigcaption class=\"pict__text cs_img_caption folk_content typo_buttons line--ss_s0c line--ss_s0c--auto block full-width text-overflow rule--ss_l relative\"\u003E \u003Cdiv class=\"__content block-inline full-width align-top tint-text--idle relative\"\u003E A father and son stand on the side of the street asking for help from passersby. Once the lockdown went into effect thousands of vulnerable\u00a0people, without jobs or help from the government, flocked to the streets hoping the common citizen would empathize. San Pedro Sula. April, 20th, 2020. Photo: Seth Berry \u003Cdiv class=\"photographer text_italic rule--ss_l tint-text--idle\"\u003E \u003C\/div\u003E \u003C\/div\u003E \u003C\/figcaption\u003E \u003C\/figure\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EHonduras Solidaria was an expansion on \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.consejosecretariosdeestado.gob.hn\/pcm-2020\"\u003Ea series of preceding decrees\u003C\/a\u003E designed, alongside the imposition of loathed \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.consejosecretariosdeestado.gob.hn\/content\/presupuesto-general-de-ingresos-y-egreso-de-la-rep%C3%BAblica\"\u003Eausterity measures\u003C\/a\u003E, to fight dengue\u2014a disease the country\u2019s underfunded public healthcare system, gutted by cutbacks and privatization, is in large part ill-equipped to fight.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EIn February of this year, focusing on the persistent threat of dengue, President Hern\u00e1ndez had already ordered a \u201cState of Sanitary Emergency\u201d. On March 21, shifting tack towards fighting the already expanding coronavirus pandemic, that state of emergency was extended until the end of 2020. Honduras Solidaria, giving the government the power to \u201crestrict or suspend some constitutional rights with the end of safeguarding human life, supreme end of society and the State.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAmong the rights repudiated by the March 21 executive decree were Article 69 of the Honduran Constitution, which states that \u201cpersonal liberty is inviolable\u201d; Article 99, which says the \u201chousehold is inviolable\u201d\u2014in essence, preventing unwarranted home invasions by the police; and Article 103, which reasserts the sanctity of private property \u201cin the widest concept of its social function.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EDespite the ominous retractions of basic rights, the primary criticism remains focused on food distribution. \u201cThe big problem we have is that the regime prioritizes the communities where the majority of the population supports them,\u201d says La\u00ednez.\u00a0\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003E\u201cThere have been a series of complaints throughout the whole country about how the food isn\u2019t going to the families most in need,\u201d says Willy Mu\u00f1oz a doctoral student in sociology at the National University of Honduras, part of a network of activists in Tegucigalpa. \u201cThat it\u2019s only going to the activists of the National Party\u2014who the gu\u00edas de familia have registered in their own lists, and to whom they\u2019re delivering the food in a personalized way.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAccording to Mu\u00f1oz and La\u00ednez, \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/presidencia.gob.hn\/index.php\/sites\/vida-mejor\/4977-coordinadores-de-guias-de-familia-y-promotores-de-vida-mejor-se-capacitan-en-siguatepeque\"\u003Egu\u00edas de familias\u003C\/a\u003E are paid activists for the National Party, and there are least one to two of them in nearly every community around the country. They work to identify National Party supporters, organize events, galvanize people to support their cause and identify potential recruits to join them.\u00a0\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E \u003Cfigure class=\"pict pict_land pict_move_posc 0 cs_img cs_img--curr rule--ss_c\" data-shot=\"pict\" data-hint=\"pict\"\u003E \u003Cdiv class=\"pict__pobj text-overflow\"\u003E\u003Cimg src=https:\/\/elfaro.net\/get_img?ImageWidth=800&ImageHeight=533&ImageId=33789 class=\"pobj\" style=\"max-width: 100%\" rel=\"resizable\" alt=\"A woman selling ice cream walks down a once-bustling downtown street--now empty due to the lockdown. San Pedro Sula. April, 17th, 2020. Photo: Seth Berry\" \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E \u003Cfigcaption class=\"pict__text cs_img_caption folk_content typo_buttons line--ss_s0c line--ss_s0c--auto block full-width text-overflow rule--ss_l relative\"\u003E \u003Cdiv class=\"__content block-inline full-width align-top tint-text--idle relative\"\u003E A woman selling ice cream walks down a once-bustling downtown street--now empty due to the lockdown. San Pedro Sula. April, 17th, 2020. Photo: Seth Berry \u003Cdiv class=\"photographer text_italic rule--ss_l tint-text--idle\"\u003E \u003C\/div\u003E \u003C\/div\u003E \u003C\/figcaption\u003E \u003C\/figure\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003ENot everyone says that Honduras Solidaria has been exclusively clientelistic program\u2014the presence and success of food delivery has in several limited cases arrived at opposition-ruled neighborhood.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EMu\u00f1oz attests that there are in fact some communities where\u2014spurred by opposition party mayors, who have made loud enough complaints to the national government\u2014the military eventually arrived to deliver supplies.\u00a0\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EFor Juan Lopez, his own firsthand understanding of Honduras Solidaria has been idiosyncratic: supplies are still arriving in Tocoa, where the mayor, Ad\u00e1n Funes, is a member of the opposition LIBRE party. But despite his nominal posture of political opposition, F\u00fanes has been \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.aquiabajo.com\/blog\/2017\/3\/10\/world-bank-funded-dinant-corporation-implicated-in-drug-trafficking-again\"\u003Eimplicated in drug trafficking\u003C\/a\u003E in a US Court trial of Fabio Lobo, the former conservative President Porfirio \u201cPepe\u201d Lobo\u2019s son. Even as the aid has arrived to the community, L\u00f3pez says, it has only gone towards families who support the National Party.\u00a0\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EIn other cases, even communities loyal to the National Party haven\u2019t received sufficient supplies.\u201cIn the town of Danl\u00ed, there has been only one delivery of the bolsa solidaria. In two months, only one delivery,\u201d says Arge\u00f1al, the TV host. According to Arge\u00f1al, only three of El Para\u00edso department\u2019s 19 municipalities are governed by the conservative party. Yet that hasn\u2019t prevented a lack of supplies arriving there, a fact he attributes to what he believes to be widespread corruption. Arge\u00f1al says that on his own TV show, as well as several others, there have been dozens of on-air calls in which people have complained about the unfair distribution of aid packages.\u00a0\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003ESome callers have contended, Arge\u00f1al told me, that authorities delivering supplies have registered recipients into National Party databases in exchange for receiving food aid.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003E\u201cThey\u2019ve given it to people in exchange for their ID numbers, so they can then register them in this party, which is already considered a criminal organization,\u201d says Ana Melgar, of La Esperanza, Intibuc\u00e1. An activist and member of Frente de Juventudes en Resistencia (Front of Youth in Resistance), Melgar has often clashed with the National Police in the protests which have become ever more frequent since the 2017 electoral fraud. \u201cThey\u2019ve played with the hunger of the people. They\u2019re delivering food in exchange for people becoming part of the National Party.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003ERamon Soto confirmed that the authorities associated with Honduras Solidaria are in fact taking down recipients\u2019 cell phone and identification numbers as they give out supplies. The government insists the practice constitutes part of an effort to maintain transparency and provide information for oversight watchdogs. Neither Soto in the Agu\u00e1n nor Mu\u00f1oz in Tegucigalpa claim that authorities are registering people into the National Party in an explicit manner in exchange for relief packages, as La\u00ednez and Melgar assert.\u00a0\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003E\u201cUsing aid to consolidate power has been an old practice waged by political parties in Honduras\u2014impoverishing the people and then offering them ephemeral solutions in order to win their loyalty,\u201d said Diego Aguilar, a resident of San Pedro Sula. \u201cHonduras Solidaria has, in effect, come to consolidate that practice.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E \u003Cfigure class=\"pict pict_land pict_move_posc 0 cs_img cs_img--curr rule--ss_c\" data-shot=\"pict\" data-hint=\"pict\"\u003E \u003Cdiv class=\"pict__pobj text-overflow\"\u003E\u003Cimg src=https:\/\/elfaro.net\/get_img?ImageWidth=1200&ImageHeight=801&ImageId=33788 class=\"pobj\" style=\"max-width: 100%\" rel=\"resizable\" alt=\"A man wearing a protective mask cuts a papaya in the central\u00a0marketplace of San Pedro Sula. May, 23rd 2020. Photo: Seth Berry\" \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E \u003Cfigcaption class=\"pict__text cs_img_caption folk_content typo_buttons line--ss_s0c line--ss_s0c--auto block full-width text-overflow rule--ss_l relative\"\u003E \u003Cdiv class=\"__content block-inline full-width align-top tint-text--idle relative\"\u003E A man wearing a protective mask cuts a papaya in the central\u00a0marketplace of San Pedro Sula. May, 23rd 2020. Photo: Seth Berry \u003Cdiv class=\"photographer text_italic rule--ss_l tint-text--idle\"\u003E \u003C\/div\u003E \u003C\/div\u003E \u003C\/figcaption\u003E \u003C\/figure\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBuried within Honduras Solidaria is a plan for austerity measures, the proposed implementation of which has provoked frequent, widespread, and sometimes violent protest throughout the country in the decade since the coup. As the quarantine continues, as protests spread, the ruling party continues to implement Honduras Solidaria in an effort to save its most vulnerable populations\u2014or what its detractors say is an attempt to reinforce its crumbling legitimacy.\u00a0\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThis effort is for all Hondurans\u2014absolutely all of them\u2014for Hondurans most in need,\u201d an unseen narrator says in a \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=9FERKkRIyU4\"\u003Epromotional government video\u003C\/a\u003E.\u00a0\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFor La\u00ednez, however, the reality is darker: \u201cAll the state apparatuses are working in the service of one person, and one political party: the Partido Nacional.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/jolson321\"\u003EJared Olson\u003C\/a\u003E is a \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/jaredolson.org\/\"\u003Ewriter\u003C\/a\u003E, freelance journalist, and former \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/pulitzercenter.org\/people\/jared-olson\"\u003EPulitzer Center grantee\u003C\/a\u003E with a current focus on the struggle for justice in Central America.\u00a0\u00a0\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003ESeth Berry is an \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.ai-ap.com\/slideshow\/LAF\/8\/?status=selected%234\"\u003Eaward-winning photographer\u003C\/a\u003E focused on documenting threats to the human condition in Central America and beyond. You can follow his work \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.sethberryphoto.com\/\"\u003Ehere\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E"}