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"...

The U.S. national soccer team, which will play the first of its five final-round home games in World Cup qualifying Friday in Commerce City, Colo., announced the venues for the remaining four matches Thursday, and all four are Major League Soccer stadiums. "Winning your games at home is crucial and we know that at each of these stadiums we will get amazing support from the fans," U.S. Coach Juergen Klinsmann said. "There are so many great facilities in this country and to be able to play in this many soccer-specific stadiums in MLS cities shows how far this sport has come.

Increasing violence in Honduras has prompted the State Department to issue a warning for that country, which has what the U.S. government says is the most violent city in the world. In its Nov. 21 warning , the State Department said San Pedro Sula, an industrial center in northwestern Honduras, last year had 159 murders for every 100,000 residents. An article last month by the Associated Press said Honduras was “considered the world's most dangerous country, with 91 homicides per 100,000 people, according to the United Nations and the Organization of American States, 20 times the rate in the United States.” Part of the blame for the increased violence is attributed to Honduras' new importance to the drug trade.

U.S. national soccer team Coach Juergen Klinsmann has called the World Cup qualifier Friday night with Costa Rica a crucial, must-win game. It may be bigger than that. After losing to Honduras in last month's opener of the six-nation, final round of qualifying for Brazil 2014, the U.S. needs a victory over Costa Rica to climb out of last place in the group standings ahead of next week's match with unbeaten Mexico in Mexico City. But the U.S. will have to do that without nine players who suited up for the Honduras match, including former captains Tim Howard and Carlos Bocanegra.

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.

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.

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.

When Bertha Oliva's husband was kidnapped by a death squad during the darkest chapter of Honduran history, she was three months pregnant. She never saw him again. Coming to her defense during that time 28 years ago was Ramon Custodio, a champion of leftists and militants persecuted by a brutal army. The two worked together for years, founding one of the first independent human rights organizations in a country that has slowly shed military rule and attempted to move toward democracy.

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.

Friday's matches Group B (at Miami) Jamaica 2, Guatemala 0 Honduras 7, Grenada 1 Saturday's matches Group C (at Tampa) Canada (0-1) vs. Guadeloupe (0-1), 3 p.m., Galavision U.S. (1-0) vs. Panama (1-0), 5 p.m. TeleFutura, Fox Soccer Update: The U.S. can join Mexico in the quarterfinals with a victory over Panama, but the Central Americans, ranked 67th on the FIFA world list, figure to offer a tougher test than Canada, the U.S. opening-match opponent.

TIJUANA - The question bores Joe Corona. Yet it's always the first one people ask. Is he Mexican or American? "I always say 'both.' Because I have both cultures," says Corona, who was born in Los Angeles but raised in San Diego and Tijuana by a Mexican father and Salvadoran mother. "I know it's a little weird but I feel part of [me] is Mexican because of my family, because I was raised in Tijuana. And American because I was raised here, went to school here. " So while others may see the hyphen in "Mexican-American" as a barrier separating the two countries, Corona sees it as a bridge linking them together.

The United States is expanding its military presence in Honduras on a spectacular scale. The Associated Press reported this month in an investigative article that Washington in 2011 authorized $1.3 billion for U.S. military electronics in Honduras. This is happening while the post-coup regime of Honduran President Porfirio Lobo is more out of control than ever, especially since the Honduran Congress staged a "technical coup" in December. But as the Obama administration deepens its partnership with Honduras, ostensibly to fight the drug war, Democrats in Congress are increasingly rebelling.

Oscar Boniek Garcia's goal with about 12 minutes left in regulation lifted Honduras to a 2-1 win over the U.S. in a World Cup qualifier Wednesday in steamy San Pedro Sula, Honduras. It was the first match of the final round of regional qualifying for both teams -- and the loss marked the first time the U.S. has lost its CONCACAF opener Garcia converted a deft pass from Jerry Bengtson, with Honduras taking advantage of miscues from U.S. defenders Geoff Cameron and Omar Gonzalez.

The teeming Honduran city of San Pedro Sula is the most violent in the world, according to the U.S. Department of State. Which makes it an unwelcoming place for the U.S. soccer team to begin the final round of its World Cup qualifying Wednesday afternoon. Yet, the crime rate is among the least of the worries facing a U.S. team that has been under heavy guard since arriving in Honduras on Monday night. Of more concern is the sauna-like weather, with temperatures in the mid-80s and humidity that is almost as high.

From a Honduras tycoon to the Benghazi attacks, here are five stories you shouldn't miss from this past week in global news: Panel faults security failures in Benghazi attacks In Honduras, a controversial tycoon responds to critics In Israel, Labor Party chief's shift to the right causes dissent U.S. under pressure over Rwanda involvement in Congo fighting Philippine Congress OKs bill to offer birth control to poor...

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras - Miguel Facusse has his share of enemies. Even his friends acknowledge that the man who may be the most powerful person in Honduras is no angel. Around his neck, he wears gold medallions of Jesus and the Virgin Mary; on his desk, he usually keeps a pistol - although he tells a reporter in a rare interview, "I removed it so you wouldn't see it. " The 89-year-old businessman travels this capital city in an armored SUV followed by bodyguards in a chase car and crisscrosses the country in his King Air turboprop, swooping down in other Central American nations where he also has businesses.

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.

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Increasing violence in Honduras has prompted the State Department to issue a warning for that country, which has what the U.S. government says is the most violent city in the world. In its Nov. 21 warning , the State Department said San Pedro Sula, an industrial center in northwestern Honduras, last year had 159 murders for every 100,000 residents. An article last month by the Associated Press said Honduras was “considered the world's most dangerous country, with 91 homicides per 100,000 people, according to the United Nations and the Organization of American States, 20 times the rate in the United States.” Part of the blame for the increased violence is attributed to Honduras' new importance to the drug trade.

Honduras is under siege. Its judicial system is almost completely dysfunctional, and more than 10,000 complaints of human rights abuses by state security forces have been filed in the last three years, according to the Committee of Families of the Detained and Disappeared in Honduras. At least 23 journalists have been killed since 2009. The United Nations, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have all raised grave concerns about the country's dire situation. But despite all of this overwhelming evidence, the U.S. State Department this month reported that the Honduran government is taking adequate measures to address congressional concerns about human rights.