Conference and curfews in Copan

By now many of you will be aware that there is chaos in Honduras right now. Exiled President Manuel Zelaya has found his way back to Tegucigalpa and is holed up at the Brazilian Embassy. The interim / defacto / golpista government has responded with what seems to be to be alarming overkill, breaking up protests, shutting airports and borders and putting the entire country under a 24 hour curfew. While this is supposedly for the protection of the citizens, those same citizens are suffering as people can’t work and can’t get food. Businesses are suffering. News reports are conflicting and it is very hard to get an honest report here. What I do know is that the whole situation is causing significant suffering for the ordinary people here, and the longer the power-hungry leaders in Tegucigalpa continue to refuse to negotiate properly, the more they will suffer and that breaks my heart.

As a family the situation is causing some difficulties but we are quite safe. I am supposed to be at the conference on Honduras starting tomorrow, and I will, but it has been shortened and will be small as conferees may not be able to get here. Luckily we came early, before the return of Zelaya, as Ruth (my sister) was visiting and we wanted to show her Copan. However it wasn’t so lucky for her as she arrived in San Pedro Sula to catch her flight home just as all airports were closed. She is still in SPS, holed up in a guesthouse and waiting for the first plane out.  Luis, Maya and I were planning to be in Copan until Sunday anyway so don’t really feel trapped here (and it is a wonderful place to be trapped anyway), but we are hoping and praying things resolve enough for us to get home to Zamorano early next week.

Here in Copan the streets are quiet, but the curfew has not been enforced so we are able to get out and about (and I am able to do my work and blogging from a sun-drenched rooftop cafe!). I am enjoying the relaxed pace here, and the personal and cheerful service from businesses who are so grateful for my custom, but I would far rather things returned to normal as quickly as possible. Honduras, and Hondurans, can’t afford this shut-down.