| Author | Message | ||
     Jordan Briggs |
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| Lorenzo Dee Belveal |
Vox Pop participants - one and all: As Mark Twain is authoritatively reported to have responded to a gratuitous obituary, "The report of my demise has been seriously exaggerated". I couldn't possibly improve on that disclaimer. It has, indeed, been a hard trip and there have been several occasions during the last two or three years especially, when I didn't like the odds posted on the celestial tote-board a bit. But on each occasion, the balance in the "clean living" column more than cancelled the total of accumulated debits - and I arose from the sick-bed like the fabled Phoenix (but without the feathers, it must be added.) I have taken my opportunities now and then, to review the encomiums and brickbats that have been inscribed upon this record and continually marvelled at the diametrically opposed opinions that have been vented in this domain. I wish to convey my warmest thanks to those of you who have risen up in my defense - and I forgive those of you who have misunderstood my dogmatics or violently disagreed with my admittedly scrambled politics. Nobody is infallible they say, so I guess I just have to try harder! I really shall try to do better in the future, if this is possible. (You too?) I have heard it said that a close brush with the grimmest of reapers has been known to introduce more than a small dollop of moderation into even the veriest curmugeon who evades the proverbial scythe. Perhaps my protracted illness has had such a beneficial effect on me. Frankly, I doubt it - but we shall see. Warm regards to Stephen Goodfellow and everyone else who kept this bulletin board alive during my trip to the drydock. I'm glad to be back. Lorenzo Dee Belveal | ||
| Carlos Urbizo Solis |
Your article on Honduras democracy is still quite valid some modification to the immunity law.Though that special and privileged protection has been abused, I believe you missed a most important provision of the Electoral Law...Article 108 and 116 , as amended in 2004 (previously Article 19, sections b) and k).This secondary law violates our primary law, the constitution, by allowing only the "movimeintos, corrientes, or tendencias"(factions within a party) to present and candidates for elective office. The Constitution , Art. 37, states that it is a right of the individual t "elect or be elected". That simply means, in a democracy, that a citizen may vote for a person or may present himself, under his party label, as candidate for the nomination of presidential candidate, mayor, councilma, congressman, delegate to the convention,etc. of his party. NOT in Honduras. To be a candidate for a nomination, a person has to be "accepted and approved" by the leader of a "mivimiento" (faction) invariably headed by a presidential candidate for the nomination of his party. Running with him there may be some other 4 thousand vcandidate for nominations to various positions ....even those of the party's local, departmental, and national committees!!!!!!In other words, a party member may not run on his name,record, proposals, and merits. He HAS to go througha a "movimiento". That being the case, many peope who could be great elcted offcials do not participate. The presidential candidate, on his judgement, whim, own interest or whatever, selects who will be in his "planilla" (slate), vertically and nationally for all elective offices. Now the barrier does not stop there. For a presidential candidate for the nomination to be accepted by his party, he MUST present slate of candidates for mayor, vice-mayor, and councilmen, for a minimum of 150 municipalities!!!That means collecting about 1500 names of people "willing" to run for office. He must equally present slate for congressmen and their alternates for at least 10 departments/provinces out of 18 total( over 100 names),slates for local, departmental, and national committees ( about 2 thousand minimum), together with some 20+thousand signatures!!. The paperwork is humongous. This system perpetuates the political machinery of the parties. I hope I have written enough to stimulate the reader to read the electoral law which makes a mockery of democracy in Honduras...the root of the Honduras people's evil. | ||
| Carias |
Very good example of why Honduras has been a failed country since August 27, 1876, despite its many positive characteristics. I too would like to know what happened to Mr. Belveal. | ||
| Stephen |
Lorenzo Belveal is fighting the last battle of his 80-odd years life at the moment - the one we all lose in the long run. However, he's hauled himself back from the abyss more than once, so you never know. In the meantime, as his web administrator, I've pledged to keep this site running as long as possible. Ultimately, we can all console ourselves with the knowledge that we are made immortal through http://archive.org |