A Little Clarity

Hey, again. So nothing new to report here. My health and spirits are in good shape. We, as PCVs, have been on STANDFAST (Phase 2: Stay in site. Pack a bag. Prepare for consolidation.) since noon on Friday. It is supposed to end at noon today but could quickly change. We have also had two nights, Sunday night and Monday night, of country curfew (9PM until 6AM). Classes were canceled yesterday and today, and there are some roadblocks near the presidential palace. There were demonstrations yesterday in the capital city involving riots and police response. Although we currently have two presidents and cabinets in Hondu, Zelaya is supposed to return to the capital this week to regain his position as President. It seems that a majority of the world disagrees with his arrest and is asking for his reinstatement. A lot of the news stations in Honduras have been blocked, so most of the information received here is through commentaries on the radio and through the internet.

As for Gracias, there was a demonstration yesterday by local teachers who are in support of reinstating Mel because of the reforms that he has made in the past in their favor. Today there was supposed to be a meeting of all of the mayors of the department of Lempira in Gracias. I have no idea if it actually happened and, if so, what took place. I have not gone in to work for the past two days and have tried to stay indoors as much as possible. Although I feel safe and haven't experienced any ill sentiments personally, I am keeping a low profile.

Here is an excerpt from an email that our Country Director sent us that will hopefully give a bit more clarity on the encuesta on La Cuarta Urna that was supposed to take place this past Sunday:

"Presidential elections are scheduled to be held in November 2009. Honduras' constitution does not permit a President being elected for a second term.
President Zelaya proposed that there be a national encuesta (survey) to allow the Honduran people to decide whether or not they would like to be able to vote in the November elections for a cuarta urna (fourth urn) that would call for a constitutional assembly to be held at some future date. The purpose of a constitutional assembly would be to change the Honduran constitution, possibly including permitting presidents to be re-elected. This national encuesta and the cuarta urna in the November elections have been ruled as against the law by Honduras' top court."

That's about all I got for ya now. If you would like to get in touch with me, try sending a free text through the Tigo site (and I will respond to you directly if you keep the dialogue box open) or feel free to call my cell phone. I have limited access to the Internet so will send out another update as soon as I can.

Love to all.