It’s difficult to get a feel for exactly what is happening in the city – you’ll hear one thing from one person and something different from others. Around noon yesterday I spoke with one friend in Tegucigalpa, who said things were calm for the most part. Late last night I spoke with another friend who told me things are quite “feo” – pretty ugly – in the city. He said people have been going crazy in the streets – riots and protests all over the place. Then I spoke with a long-term visitor here at NPH who was just in the city today, and he said he wouldn’t have known anything was going on just based on what he saw in the city. So, I guess the intensity of it all just depends on where you are and when.
We are all still fine here on the Ranch, but we are beginning to feel the burden of what is taking place in the city. Our office has been closed since Friday. All child care workers that live in Teguc that had the weekend off remain in Teguc, as all public transportation has stopped running. Our bus from the orphanage is not running either. This also means the teachers from our school are not coming out from the city, so our kids aren’t in classes. The child care workers are getting anxious to get a break, and get back home to see their families. And well, some of us are running low on supplies and it would be fantastic to be able to get in the city to go to the store. Especially since we have/had a nice 4th of July part planned for this weekend. Happy Independence Day, huh??
One of the nurses from our clinic that has been in Teguc since Friday showed up this afternoon to organize charts to take a bunch of our children into the city tomorrow for specialist consults. She has been in the public hospital in the city for the past two days, taking care of one of our young children who had a small operation yesterday. She said that when she was getting ready to leave the hospital yesterday afternoon, she ran into complete chaos in the streets. She said the HSBC bank just across the street had all of its windows shattered, and the protesters in the streets had gone crazy – throwing rocks and who knows what else at the other surrounding businesses. She said the door of the Dunkin’ Donuts just across the street had been shattered – and an armed guard was trying to prevent people from rushing in. Why Dunkin’ Donuts???
She said as she was walking through the hospital preparing to leave, there were protesters running in off the streets from every corner– with bandanas on their faces and Che Guevara t-shirts on. The idea was to run into the hospital because they thought the police wouldn’t be able to take them that way. Let me tell you…that certainly didn’t slow the police down. She said the emergency room was overflowing with injured rioters and police officers. The doctors of course are on the side of the protesters, therefore denied attention to the police and only took care of the injured protesters. I can only imagine what a mess that was. Well, the nurse decided to stay a couple of extra hours in the hospital until things calmed down a bit.
I suggested to the nurse that maybe we just cancel our appointments in the city tomorrow, especially after hearing the stories of what was going on there today. Luckily she was able to get a hold of the doctors and got the consults postponed until a later date.
So – news. Mel’s plan is to return to Honduras on Thursday along with the leader of the Organization of American States. However, the new foreign minister has warned that there is a warrant for the arrest of Mel Zelaya if he returns to Honduras. The UN is backing the president, and is not recognizing the newly formed government, under the “control” of Micheletti. They are calling for the reinstatement of Zelaya as President of Honduras. Zelaya has made a pledge that once he is put back into power, he will not attempt to run for a second term in office as President, as he had previously hoped.
In response to the illegal removal of President Zelaya, several countries have removed their ambassadors from the country. Guatemala, Nicaragua and El Salvador have all agreed to close off commercial transportation across the border of Honduras. This supposedly will last 48 hours. From what I hear, it is just that – commercial transport. All private travel and tour buses are still passing – as of this afternoon.
From what I have heard, international aid also is being cut off until Zelaya is put back into power.
That’s about it for now. I’ll do my best to keep you posted. Our electricity is pretty hit and miss, which means internet isn’t always working. But, I’ll do my best.
Thanks for all the continued support. The Honduran people are getting pretty down about their country these days…
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