Latin Analysis: Where is the Honduran Money?

AFP

“¿Dónde está el dinero?” is one of the most popular phrases nowadays in Honduras, particularly, in its capital: Tegucigalpa. Nowadays, that sentence can be seen on walls, streets and banners made by protesters to demand more clarity regarding the high sums of money the government has allegedly used for buying equipment and pharmaceuticals to fight against COVID-19, but that, however, has “disappeared” as hospitals are yet to receive any of the supplies.

In social media, during the last months the trending topic #HondurasLoExige, which translates to “Honduras demands it” has also been one of the most popular worldwide, as has been accompanied by manifestations outside of the country and written protests on international monuments, like the Eiffel Tower.

And so, hospitals continue (as these have been for the last several months) to be ill-equipped and trying to work over-capacity with thousands of Hondurans sick with coronavirus. Without a doubt, one of the most talked-about cases within the country was that of Juan Orlando Hernández (JOH), current president of the nation, as he (allegedly) tested positive in the midst of the pandemic.

Nevertheless, given the social tension given the Honduran anger due to a lack of medical equipment and high governmental expenses, local press has pointed out that JOH has never actually been sick, but that he lied to distract the media from the corruption scandal and to divert the attention from the more than USD 46 million which are currently missing.

The rumors have been further intensified by the suspicious mystery through which his sickness has been managed, as the hospital in which he was being treated, refused to comment on the president’s status. Additional to that, JOH was not treated with the governmentally-distributed medicines which are used for the thousands of Hondurans in public hospitals, but instead, he imported pharmaceutical products from the US to handle his sickness. 

Moreover, media has further released the alleged laboratory testing made to the president showing that he had actually tested negative, which has made the Honduran population ever more convinced that JOH’s sickness was a smokescreen, even when the leader recently declared to have been very grave and in high risk of dying. Also, the Honduras Government, in an attempt to provide an explanation for the missing money and trying to calm down the social hysteria, declared that the reason why the money had been missing was that it had purchased large amounts of medical supplies to a Turkish company which had failed to deliver and had and failed to refund. Nevertheless, this attempt ultimately failed when said company declared that the purchasing contract was never celebrated and that they had proof that no money was paid on behalf of the Central American country’s government. Thus, resulting in further skepticism of Hondurans regarding the credibility of their government.

Nowadays, the president is still under isolation in his residence, waiting to be completely recovered from the sickness to get back to the office. Nevertheless, as time goes by and the does not appear, it is not likely that Hondurans will lessen their anger towards JOH’s government. Similarly, the president will have to respond to the World Bank, which lent approximately USD 119 million back in April to aid the country to improve the capacity and efficiency to provide public health services to the Latin American country, which has now registered more than 49,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and more than 1,500 registered deaths. Considering the nation’s small territory, reduced population, and ‘developing state’ condition, these numbers reflect a severe and alarming situation, particularly given that the country has already received significant funds by International Organizations at a time that multiple (or all) countries are in need for financial help from transnational institutions and multilateral cooperation.

Truth is, even when this topic would be deserving of more international coverage, the Coronavirus outbreak has exacerbated the weaknesses of transnational regimes and governments worldwide which have been the focus of international media attention. For that reason, it has become most uncertain if the location of such large amounts of money will be soon to be uncovered, as well as it indicates a state of acute and continuous vulnerability for Honduras, a country which is yet to reach the “peak” of its COVID-19 curve, and thus, will continue to accumulate masses of ill people in hospitals which are operating over-capacity.

Notwithstanding, Honduran’s social protests only keep becoming increasingly crowded and increasingly intense, as well as they have been using social media to try to grab the attention of the Latin Americans and worldwide leaders. Evidently, they are fighting for so that their voices can be thus heard beyond their borders which are still closed to the international community. It is, then, a matter of time to see if the social pressure will suffice to make the government respond the most salient question: ¿Dónde está el dinero?.