From the looks of it, next week Honduras will sign on to become a full fledged, card carryin’ member of the Venezuelan economic cooperation agreement, commonly known ‘round these parts as ALBA. Voices for and against Honduras’ participation are being flipped around in the media like pancakes hot off the griddle, although on the streets of Copan there is the distinct thud of utter silence, both in terms of pro or anti ALBA sentiment.

It seems Honduras will join with other like-minded nations such as Venezuela, Nicaragua, Bolivia, Cuba and the diminutive, hard to locate on the map, island of Dominica. What will ALBA bring to the table in Honduras?
Those in favor say it will bring a fresh breath of new economic and political cooperation, especially from oil rich Venezuela, flush with cash from oil sales, and provide a much needed counterweight to the historically, often heavy handed U.S. political and economic hegemony in the region.

The other side of the aisle (mainly the private sector) sees the agreement as a dangerous, 360-degree turn away from long time friend, ally and trading partner, the U.S. Aside from the long term implications of the agreement, in the short term, one big question does remain unanswered: Will the Honduran Congress give the thumbs up or the thumbs down to the treaty?

The President of Honduras will host Presidents Chavez, Ortega and Morales next week in Tegucigalpa for a gala signing ceremony, but in the weeks after the ceremony, the Honduran National Congress still must approve or disapprove the international treaty. Right now it’s anybody’s guess, so stay tuned.

Inflation has hit record levels in recent weeks with increases in everything from basic foods, construction supplies, imported goods, etc.

According to Honduran government statistics, the “canasta basica,” or the average amount spent for basic food supplies for a month, an average size Honduran family now spends L5,825 ($308), an increase of L232 ($12) since July.

This means the average family must spend the equivalent of more than double the monthly minimum salary (approximately $140 per month, depending in which sector of the economy the breadwinners work), just to purchase food. As most families in Honduras fall below the poverty line, this means a large number are severely cutting corners on food in order to make it through the month.

Did you know that cultivated shrimp brings in some $180 million to Honduras each year? The shrimp industry, located in the southern part of the country in what were once Pacific mangrove swamps, provides 7,000 direct and 18,000 indirect jobs to the zone. Honduras produces approximately 60 million pounds of shrimp each year, 50% to European markets and the rest to the U.S. and Mexico. Honduras and Ecuador are major farmed shrimp exporters.

In other economic news, according to the president of the Honduran College of Economists, in order to be considered “middle class” in Honduras, a family must now earn L30,000 per month ($1,588), and L15,000 ($794) to be considered “ lower-middle class.”

In more economic news, did you know Honduran teachers use up 53% of the national budget for salaries for 2008? Some 65,000 teachers make up two-thirds of the total number of government employees with the national government dedicating 33% of the entire national budget to education.

In still other economic news, it is estimated by the United Nations Program for Development (PNUD) that if current economic trends continue, some 128,000 additional households (which make up 10% of the Honduran population of 7 million) will become poorer, due to the difficult economic situation of recent months. According the U.N. study, eight of ten surveyed say there will be no change or things will get worse economically and 55% say they are prepared to emigrate in search of brighter economic horizons.

Per that same report, if this number of families does in fact fall back into poverty, then most of the gains of the past two decades in reducing poverty will be lost.

Did you know Honduras is one of the biggest exporters of socks to the U.S.? 20 million dozen pairs were exported last year - that’s a lot of socks! Honduras’ maquila manufacturing sector, which is heavy on clothing, underwear and of course, socks, is the largest employer in the country and sends 95% of its product to the U.S. Honduras is a member of CAFTA-DR (the Central American Free Trade Agreement) which gives preferential treatment to member country exports to the U.S.

And finally, the August vacation period for Salvadorans is now history. The first days of August bring an annual mini-avalanche of Salvadoran tourists, the majority venturing into Honduras, to the North Coast, Copan Ruinas and the Bay Islands. The Ministry of Tourism estimated that some 17,000 Salvadorans would visit Honduras, spending some $1.9 million during the vacation period.

The Ministry of Tourism invested approximately $200,000 on a media campaign to attract Salvadorans this year. Officials in Honduras expected an 11% increase in the number of Salvadorans visiting compared to 2007. Anything Honduras can do to increase the number of regional tourists visiting is good news for the economy.

With new projects on the way, especially in Roatan and the under construction mega Tela Bay/Los Micos Resort Project in Tela, expect to see a healthy increase each year in the numbers of Salvadoran tourists visiting Honduras for r&r.

A CHANGE IS AS GOOD AS A REST

This is a Canadian slogan or maybe I first heard it from a Canadian. The message is obvious, if you cannot take a rest, change something and trick your mind and body into feeling good. I just went in and boldly changed the colors on my Palm day-to-day/telephone/camera/thingy and what a difference it made. I feel young again and I seem to be getting better mileage with my car. Challenge yourself: go in and change that old password for your e-mail; risky but so very exciting.

Then start up a Hi-5 account and keep busy all hours of the day and night.
Another excellent, easy change might be the ring on your phone. You may have to get a young person to do this for you, as it is second nature to them but watch out they don’t install a punk-rap or ‘Reggaetonto’ song that will embarrass you in the bank-line when it goes rings. I know, I know, the phone should be off while in the bank line but sometimes we tend to forget. Worse yet, we most always forget to turn it back on when we leave.

HOW TO STEAL LEGALLY

What’s that you say? Think about it: the value of those big gas-guzzlers has dropped by as much as fifty percent since gasoline prices spiked. Now is the time to grab one of them and hold on. We can step up a few dozen notches with the deals that are available right now. Already gas prices are slowly coming down, we see new sources of crude oil being investigated, we know it is only a matter of time until things straighten out, and by then you will be driving a big, beautiful SUV or power truck and stylin’ down those wide Roatan roads. Then you drop us a thank you via our ‘Letters to the Editor’ column and we will all feel like we accomplished something. Now, if fuel costs stay up there it will still take 4.73725 years to burn up what you saved on the Escalade or Prado or Hummer, so live life to the fullest and go gas-guzzler.

CHARITY BEGINS AT HOME: THE “WE WILL ROCK YOU” CONCERT

SEPTEMBER 10, HONDURAN CHILDRENS’ DAY: An event has been designed to raise funds for Miss Peggy, the wonderful lady who is always helping someone else. It will be on the beach at Half Moon Bay and tickets are available at the Pink Shack, Tito’s Superstore, Chippy’s Fish & Chips, Coconut Tree Divers, West End Divers, Lighthouse Restaurant and Woodie’s Store. Tickets will sell for a mere $5.00/L100.00 at the door as well.

We’re not sure yet how it will work but we bet it will be a lot of fun. They say there’ll be “guess the band” on Live Satellite hook-up on a 20 x 30 ft screen. They claim it will be heard all the way to Utila and they drop names like Led Zeppelin, the Police, the Stones, Queen and The Who.

GOD’S PARAGRAPH(s)

We are down to number seven in the “Most Awesome Ten Commandment” count-down: Thou shalt have no other gods before me. I noticed the word gods was not capitalized and yet the God in heaven is always capitalized. That tells us something, does it not?

Again, this commandment needs little or no explanation. We are not to pray to or worship in any way, anyone or anything except God Almighty. I guess knocking on wood for good luck does not break this rule but we all know in our hearts it is a silly gesture. I just know we will be getting into the tougher Commandments in the weeks to come, but so far, all easy to understand, easy to not break and a cinch to remember.

THE FISCAL AND LAND-GRABBERS

Once again, a big blank has been drawn. No one can get any information out of that office and no one is bothering the ‘illegals.’ Can anyone out there help? Contact me at dpearly@hotmail.com and let’s plot.