“The struggle against corruption in Honduras demands a permanent study of law and the strengthening of judicial institutionalism, but public denunciation as well”.

Daniel Rivera Mena, International Lawyer

One of the most visible legacies of the 2009 Coup d’Etat and its outcomes is the increase of violence and corruption. The government of the Republic has announced a decrease in the rates of violence in the country, but people do not believe it, since deaths resulting from violence occur on a daily basis, especially of youths and children. Human rights organizations recognize a decrease in the rates, but not the percentage claimed by the government and its spokesperson, the Observatorio Nacional de Violencia of the UNAH; also, the official rate (2017) of 42.8 violent deaths for every 100,000 inhabitants, continues to be one of the highest in Latin America and the world.

As for corruption, even with the reinforced Mission of Support Against Corruption and Impunity in Honduras (MACCIH) (with the naming of a new spokesman after Almagro of the OAS unilaterally withdrew support for Jiménez Mayor to get around his renunciation), it is the area where the least progress has been made. An emblematic case which gave life to the “indignados” is the plunder of funds totaling over 7 billion Lempiras from the Honduran Institute of Social Security (IHSS), where not all those responsible are imprisoned and have been condemned, and only a very small part of these funds have been recovered.

What is most disgraceful is that we still do not know how these resources were stolen, since the reports of the Auditing Commission named by the executive have not presented a detailed analysis that quantifies the real amounts and documents the information (contracts, payments, cheques, perks, gravy) that would serve to process and send to jail all of those involved, including the political figures who do not show their faces.

It is in this context that the so-called operation Pandora’s Box (or pot?) took place, involving 38 government officials, activists and MPs of political parties, who have taken resources out of the national budget totaling 282 million Lempiras from the Secretariat of Agriculture and Ranching (SAG) and the Secretariat of Finance (SEFIN) and moved them into private accounts, according to the investigation of the fiscal authorities of the State, especially the National Anti-corruption Council, Special Fiscal Unity against Impunity of Corruption (Ufecic) and MACCIH itself. Those involved used two private foundations: Dibbattista and Todos Somos Honduras (We Are All Honduras) to divert these funds to projects of agriculture and livestock and social and economic development, that do not appear.

The staff of the Agency of Criminal Investigation (ATIC) carried out only three orders for capture, of 36 orders emitted, basically of the so-called “thin” fish, that is a driver, a substitute deputy and a lawyer. The still have to capture the “fat” fish. The latter, through their lawyers, have asked to defend themselves in liberty, since they are not fleeing, and have agreed to the bail conditions demanded by the judge. A former minister of Finance, involved in this scandal, died recently. The judge that brought the case, after the declaration of those accused, decided to send 19 more of those implicated into custody, including well-known leaders and deputies of the National and Liberal Party, and officials of governmental institutions.

From the citizens’ perspective, the question is how, in the case of the IHSS, the guilty can be arrested, judged and condemned, and in addition, the stolen funds recovered (in cash or in goods). The expectations are not very optimistic since the institutions charged with carrying out justice have lost public credibility and have been captured by economic and political elites. There is also talk of institutional corruption involving the Supreme Court of Justice, the Appeal Court, the Superior Tribunal of Accounts and Courts, and this does not allow for full certainty that they will act in a transparent and impartial way when it comes to imposing justice.

From the optic of international cooperation, Honduras is advancing in the struggle against corruption, independently of whether those involved are put in jail, condemned and the peoples’ funds returned; the sole fact of the denunciation, the order of capture and order of the Judge that they spend some days in jail, is considered a great step forward. This perception of the struggle against corruption is wrong, since today more than ever the corrupt feel safer than before, since the weakness of institutions and practice of corruption gives them the certitude that in the end they will come out free, even though they may be guilty.

In a system such as this, the lawyers they contract are better than those in the Court of Justice and trial courts, who respond or are faithful to the political party that supports their election; hence for the greater part of those involved, especially the “fat” fish, it is hardly likely that they will be subject to justice and found guilty. To paraphrase Karl Popper, this should be seen as part of the advancement in the affirmation of justice, freedom and truth, since one cannot think that human beings have a single solution for all the problems that the nation faces; little by little they advance.

The academe is silent, since it is part of the problem by giving support to, and in some cases accompanying, the institutions of government in their fight against corruption, emphasizing the achievements reached (Operation Pandora, for example) and proposing solutions that do not modify the existing clientelistic structure. There is little analysis of the procedures followed to choose magistrates and judges, their background (academic formation and professional experience) and political affiliation; even less of the so-called patrons who are behind their appointments, since there is no free lunch. Absent is a proposal on strategies and institutional policies to reform and modernize judicial power, to broaden the participation and legitimate representation of an independent citizenry, and to document the exercise of transparent and just practices in the administration of justice.

Therefore, Pandora’s pot has a lid that does not allow what has been cooked and is now cooking to come out as the people hope, but only as ordered by the owners of the house.

(Translated for ALAI by Jordan and Joan Remple Bishop)

Tegucigalpa, DC, 23 de julio de 2018