Honduras

Re "Tide of Misery Surges as Workers Lose Jobs in Wake of Flooding," March 8: How very sad and ironic that the same U.S. government, now offering some few millions of dollars to aid the destitute Honduran banana workers who have lost even their meager jobs, is simultaneously imposing a half-billion dollars of tariffs on European imports to the U.S. This is in retaliation for the European profits that American banana companies like Chiquita were "unfairly"...

As the war on drugs has spread from Mexico to Central America, so has the U.S. role in Honduras. Pentagon contracts are helping to fund new military bases in remote regions of that country, and U.S. troops and special Drug Enforcement Administration agents have been deployed to train local security forces and assist in counter-narcotics operations. It's a delicate partnership, and one that is already causing controversy. Last week the Obama administration confirmed that DEA agents were with Honduran security forces aboard a U.S. helicopter during a botched May 11 operation.

Talks to resolve the coup crisis in Honduras collapsed Sunday after the de facto government refused a mediator's proposal to reinstate ousted President Manuel Zelaya. The failure of negotiations under the direction of Costa Rican President Oscar Arias dashed the most promising diplomatic effort aimed at ending the crisis and raised the specter of more violence. "What is the alternative to dialogue?" a disappointed Arias said in San Jose, the Costa Rican capital. "Possibly . . .

After a week of surprises and upsets, the CONCACAF Olympic soccer trials finally played to form on the final day of group play Tuesday as both Honduras and Mexico advanced to the tournament semifinals with wins at the Home Depot Center The Central Americans, needing a victory to keep their Olympic hopes alive, beat Trinidad & Tobago, 2-0, while Mexico, the only unbeaten, untied team in the eight-nation tournament, beat Panama, 1-0, on Erick Torres'...

Ya basta a basta . Enough is enough. The de facto leaders of Honduras have already made the point they'd hoped to make when they deposed President Manuel Zelaya in a civilian-military coup last June: that he had broken the law by seeking to alter the constitution to extend his rule. What's more, with the passage of time, the interim government led by Roberto Micheletti has ensured that even if Zelaya were to return to serve the remaining months of his term, he would not be able to make such a change.

If You Go THE BEST WAY TO ROATÁN, HONDURAS From LAX, Continental and Taca provide connecting service to Roatán, Honduras. Restricted round-trip fares begin at $631. WHERE TO STAY Anthony's Key Resort, (800) 227-3483, http://www.anthonyskey.com ; $1,049 a person for a week, including all diving and all meals. Dolphin-Scuba summer camp $819 per child, ages 5-9 (includes room, all meals, rooming with an adult). Call your local dive shop for pre-trip training.

De facto, interim or congressionally installed -- no matter the qualifier -- Roberto Micheletti is not the president of Honduras. Manuel Zelaya is, and like him or not, the man who was ousted in a military-civilian coup on June 28 should be returned to Tegucigalpa to finish the last months of his term. On this point, the United Nations, the Organization of American States, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and President Obama are agreed.

Backers of the coup against Manuel Zelaya made progress Wednesday in negotiations with representatives of the ousted Honduran president, but the key point, Zelaya's reinstatement, remained unresolved. Victor Meza, negotiating on Zelaya's behalf, said delegations representing the two factions had agreed on wording regarding that sticking point. But later, the de facto government of Roberto Micheletti, who replaced Zelaya, said no agreement had been reached. "The dialogue on this point has been cordial and both sides have made important advances," said a statement from the delegation representing Micheletti, according to news reports.

As the war on drugs has spread from Mexico to Central America, so has the U.S. role in Honduras. Pentagon contracts are helping to fund new military bases in remote regions of that country, and U.S. troops and special Drug Enforcement Administration agents have been deployed to train local security forces and assist in counter-narcotics operations. It's a delicate partnership, and one that is already causing controversy. Last week the Obama administration confirmed that DEA agents were with Honduran security forces aboard a U.S. helicopter during a botched May 11 operation.

The de facto government of Honduras suspended constitutional guarantees indefinitely late Sunday, outlawing public gatherings and making it easier for the army to make arrests. The measure, announced on a nationwide simultaneous television and radio broadcast, came on the eve of a potentially enormous march by ousted President Manuel Zelaya's supporters. From his refuge at the Brazilian Embassy in Tegucigalpa, the Honduran capital, Zelaya called on people to take to the streets today to mark the three-month anniversary of his ouster.

A conclave of Central American presidents meeting in Guatemala to discuss a major overhaul of their drug laws — including legalization or decriminalization — failed to arrive at a consensus Saturday and agreed to meet again soon in Honduras. Guatemalan President Otto Perez Molina had invited five counterparts to discuss what he described as growing frustration with Washington's anti-drug policy, which many in the region say is exacting too high a price in crime and corruption.

Mexico won the battle Sunday. But it may have set itself up to the lose the war. With Alan Pulido scoring three times, Mexico beat Honduras, 3-0, in the second game of a CONCACAF Olympic qualifying doubleheader, played before a soggy Home Depot Center announced crowd of 16,184. That's a good thing. With two victories in pool play and only winless Panama remaining on its schedule, Mexico is all but certain to advance to Saturday's tournament semifinal in Kansas City as the group champion.

The prison where more than 350 inmates died in a fire this week was packed with more than three times the number of prisoners it was built to hold, according to an official report issued in December. As Honduran officials worked Thursday to remove and identify victims of the deadly blaze, new details about how the Comayagua prison was run appeared to bolster broad criticism of the country's overcrowded and unsafe prison system. The Comayagua prison was built for 250 inmates but held 842, according to the December report on Honduras' prison system by the government-appointed National Committee for the Prevention of Torture.

Angered by a prison fire in Honduras that officials say killed more than 350 trapped inmates, rights advocates on Wednesday decried dangerous and overcrowded conditions that they say have long typified the country's neglected prison system. Officials said at least 356 people were confirmed dead by late Wednesday, after the blaze a day earlier consumed half the prison in the town of Comayagua in central Honduras. The toll is the highest from any prison fire in modern history. Rights advocates called for reforms of Honduran prisons, which for many years have been beset by chronic overcrowding, poor sanitation, inadequate food and ramshackle quarters.

My mother, reacting to the recent spate of alarmist headlines about "raging" violence and increased security measures affecting Peace Corps volunteers in Central America, has taken to calling me on a near-nightly basis. "Just needed to hear your voice," she says to explain the call. "I'm fine, Mom," I respond. Frankly, it's getting annoying. It's not that I don't appreciate the chance to speak with my mother. What bothers me is knowing that she is seriously worried.

Honduras has the highest homicide rate in the world, according to the United Nations, and its government has long been plagued by allegations of corruption and human rights abuses. A 2009 military coup deepened political rifts and eroded public trust in democratic institutions. And a recent Human Rights Watch report found that officials have yet to bring to justice many of those allegedly responsible for violations committed after the coup. Indeed, the crisis appears to be growing more acute.

What happens when a government announces that it is withdrawing in protest from an international organization -- which doesn't recognize the government in the first place? Are they in or out? That is just one of the quandaries facing Honduras these days. Having ousted its president in a military coup and refusing the world's demand that he be reinstated, the tiny country is in legal limbo. Deposed President Manuel Zelaya vows to return to Honduras today.

No Washington analyst predicted that Honduras would pose a defining challenge to President Obama's Latin America policy, but perhaps that it has is not so surprising. After all, something similar happened in 1963, when the administration of John F. Kennedy abandoned its announced policy of withholding diplomatic recognition from regimes that took power by force, convinced by the military coup in Honduras that the United States could not effectively require electoral democracy. In the 1980s too, Honduras became the principal base for efforts funded and directed by the U.S. to overthrow the Sandinista government in Nicaragua and to thwart the guerrilla insurgency in El Salvador.

If you want to have a globe-trotting culinary adventure without leaving the island of Roatán, Honduras, I recommend an evening at Ooloonthoo Indian Cuisine. Owner-chef Paul James, who is from Canada and a classically trained French chef, has been cooking his wife Soden's family recipes in a beautiful restaurant overlooking the ocean just outside West End. Two-course meals from $37.50. Open for dinner, by reservation only. Ooloonthoo Indian Cuisine, Main Road, Mangrove Bight; 011-504-9936-5223, http://www.ooloonthoo.com Robert Helgeson Jr. Monarch Beach

If You Go THE BEST WAY TO ROATÁN, HONDURAS From LAX, Continental and Taca provide connecting service to Roatán, Honduras. Restricted round-trip fares begin at $631. WHERE TO STAY Anthony's Key Resort, (800) 227-3483, http://www.anthonyskey.com ; $1,049 a person for a week, including all diving and all meals. Dolphin-Scuba summer camp $819 per child, ages 5-9 (includes room, all meals, rooming with an adult). Call your local dive shop for pre-trip training.