President George Bush and Mexico’s President Felipe Calderón speak to reporters in Merida, Mexico, March 14. (© AP Images)

Bush Renews U.S. Commitment to Latin America

Washington.  March 19.  In a March 14 joint press appearance with Mexican President Felipe Calderon, President Bush highlighted the need for closer bilateral and regional cooperation on trade, immigration reform and security in the Americas.  “The future of Mexico and the United States — and of the whole North American region — is now, more than ever, a shared future,” read a joint communiqué signed by the two leaders following the event. “Our commitment to the advancement of democracy, the respect for human rights, the promotion of free markets, the rule of law, security, sustainable development, and expanding opportunity for all … will contribute to the consolidation of a prosperous, just, and peaceful future for all citizens in the Americas.” (more)

Illegal migrants crossing into Mexico.

University of San Pedro Sula Hosts Immigration Debate

The University of San Pedro Sula will host a debate on the theme of immigration June 21st, at 10am. Mr. Jerry Kammer, a Pulitzer prize winning journalist from Copley News Service, will answer questions from Washington, DC via video conference while Mr. Edgardo Dumas, a former Ambassador to the U.S. who has held many high level positions in the Honduran government, will respond to questions at the University.  Each debater will have 5 minutes to respond to each question.  The event is part of the Honduran Dream contest, which focuses on alternatives to emigration for young Hondurans.

White House on Immigration

Immigration Brief from The Washington Post

Black History Month Honors Stories of Determination and Triumph

Washington.  February 16.  Each February, Black History Month honors the struggles and triumphs of millions of American citizens over the most devastating obstacles -- slavery, prejudice, poverty – as well as their contributions to the nation’s cultural and political life. (more) Photo Gallery: The U.S. Civil Rights Movement

File photo, AP Images

Illicit Drug Trade Seen as Destabilizing Global Community

Washington.  March 12.  The latest U.S. State Department International Narcotics Control Strategy Report warns that the world’s illicit drug trade is destabilizing democratic governments, corroding efforts to protect the environment and helping organized crime to flourish.  No country is immune from the evils of the drug trade, which produces more than $400 billion in revenues worldwide, according to estimates by the United Nations.  The State Department’s Anne Patterson said March 1 that the legal, economic and social institutions of countries around the world are “undermined” by the drug trade and its relationship with crime and corruption. (more)  

Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor and Los Angeles Supervisor Yvonne Braithwaite Burke pay tribute to Clara Shortridge Foltz, California's first female lawyer, seen in the painting. (© AP Images)

The United States Celebrates Women's Achievements in March

Washington.  March 5.  In 1981, the U.S. Congress passed a resolution establishing National Women's History Week. In 1987, Congress expanded the week to a month, and has since passed such a resolution every year. Congressional action is followed by a U.S. presidential proclamation declaring March as Women’s History Month.  Since its founding in 1980, the National Women's History Project has recognized and celebrated the rich and varied contributions of women to the history and culture of the United States.  (more)

Martin Luther King Day

Americans Celebrate Achievements of Martin Luther King Jr.

Washington.  January 15.  On the third Monday of January Americans honor the life and achievements of the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. (January 15, 1929 - April 4, 1968), the 1964 Nobel Peace laureate and the individual most associated with the triumphs of the African-American civil rights movement during the 1950s and 1960s.  As political organizer, supremely skilled orator and advocate of nonviolent protest, King was pivotal in persuading his fellow Americans to end the legal segregation that prevailed throughout the South and parts of other regions, and in sparking support for the civil rights legislation that established the legal framework for racial equality in the United States. (more)

Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick

Congressional Black Caucus Champions Issues Concerning Minorities

Washington.  January 19.  In 1969, 13 African-American members of the U.S. House of Representatives saw a need to unite in order to draw attention to issues that concerned African Americans and other minorities.  Today, the group they founded, the Congressional Black Caucus, is considered by many political experts to be among the most powerful organizations in Washington. (more)

Americans Celebrate Black History Month

Washington.  February 2.  Originally established as Negro History Week in 1926 by Dr. Carter G. Woodson, a noted African-American author and scholar, this event evolved into the establishment of February as "Black History Month" in 1976. This commemoration has also been referred to as "African-American History Month." Both names are currently in use.  When Carter G. Woodson established Negro History week, he realized the importance of providing a theme to focus the attention of the public. The intention has never been to dictate or limit the exploration of the Black experience, but to bring to the public's attention important developments that merit emphasis. (more)

Clean energy

Energy Projects Can Play Key Role in Reducing Poverty

Washington.  January 29.   Renewable energy is the fastest growing energy technology in the world and has a major role to play in reducing poverty while protecting the environment, according to the World Bank.  In its report Improving Lives: World Bank Progress on Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency in Fiscal Year 2006, released January 23, the bank said its annual commitments for renewable energy and energy efficiency projects totaled $668 million -- nearly double the 2005 level. (more)

Ambassador John Miller

Human Trafficking Battle

Washington.  December 15.  The world needs a 21st century movement to fight the scourge of human slavery, says Ambassador John Miller, the State Department’s top anti-human trafficking official.  Miller has been tackling the problem for the last four years as the director of the State Department’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons and senior adviser to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on human trafficking. The Bush administration, recognizing the seriousness of the trafficking problem, made the United States the first country to designate an ambassador-at-large to deal with the issue, appointing Miller to that position. (more)

Free press helps ensure governments remain accountable to their citizens. (© AP/WWP)

Freedom of Information Laws Benefit Government and Public

Washington. December 14.  Freedom of information (FOI) laws benefit both the public and the government, although governments are sometimes reluctant to adopt them, says William Ferroggiaro, a Washington-based writer and consultant with more than 15 years of experience as an advocate for government accountability.

In the United States, the Freedom of Information Act ensures the public's right to access U.S. government records and is an important component of ensuring the government's accountability to the people it serves, Ferroggiaro said. (more)

Miguel Gomez and his family (AP Images)

United States remains world's largest refugee-resettlement country

Washington.  January 22.  The United States remains a welcoming country to immigrants and refugees and is a leader in assisting refugees and migrants worldwide, says U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees, and Migration Ellen Sauerbrey.  Sauerbrey's January 12 speech marked the Vatican’s 93rd World Day of Migrants and Refugees on January 14.  Acknowledging the day as an occasion to build awareness and recognition of the importance of improving the lives and the opportunities of migrants and refugees, Sauerbrey spoke to students and community members at Georgetown University in Washington. (more)  

Peace Corps Volunteers Working Globally To Combat HIV/AIDS

Washington.  December 8.  Every day in communities throughout the developing world, U.S. Peace Corps volunteers are teaching people how to fight the spread of HIV/AIDS and helping to organize services for those already affected by the disease.  The spread of HIV/AIDS is one of the most serious threats to development. (more)

Athena Ren from China (© AP Images)

U.S. Schools Attracting Growing Number of Non-U.S. Students

Washington.  November 13.  The number of non-U.S. students enrolled in U.S. higher education institutions during the 2005-2006 academic year remained within a fraction of a percent of the previous year's totals, at 564,766, but new enrollments rose sharply, according to the Institute of International Education's (IIE) 2006 report on international education exchange. (more)

U.S. Congress

Energy, Trade Likely 2007 Priorities for House of Representatives

Agriculture, foreign investment also to be key legislative issues

Washington.  January 8.  In her opening statement to the U.S. House of Representatives, newly elected Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi called for: “A new America that declares our energy independence, promotes domestic sources of renewable energy, and confronts climate change.”  In doing so, she signaled that the Democratic leadership sees energy policy as one of the priority issues for legislative action for the 110th Congress. (more)

Corporate Social Responsibility Focus of Brazil Conference

Washington.  December 15, 2006.  “Prosperous communities are good for business,” according to the head of a U.S. agency dedicated to promoting grassroots development in Latin American and the Caribbean. Larry Palmer, president of the Inter-American Foundation, called on the private sector to help the poor “discover within themselves the capacity to thrive and prosper.”

Palmer was addressing the Fourth Inter-American Conference on Corporate Social Responsibility, at which he and other speakers discussed such issues as how the private sector can generate profits while also acting as responsible corporate citizens who offer quality jobs and serve communities as a whole. (more)

President George W. Bush (© AP Images)

Bush To Seek Common Ground with Democrats Following Election

Washington.  November 8.  Acknowledging Republican Party losses in U.S. midterm elections, President Bush expressed confidence that he will be able to find “common ground” with the confirmed Democratic majority in the U.S. House of Representatives and the potential Democratic majority in the Senate on issues such as Iraq, immigration, education and the economy.

Speaking at the White House November 8, Bush also announced that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is resigning and will be replaced by former CIA Director Robert Gates. (more)

U.S. Foreign Assistance Reaches Record Level

Washington.  October 19.  Total U.S. financial flows to the developing world -- official development assistance, private capital flows and private grants -- reached a record-breaking $104.4 billion in calendar year 2005, according to new figures released by the government.

The latest figures, issued in mid-October after a six-month review, also show that official development assistance (ODA) from the U.S. government -- nonmilitary grants and loans -- attained a record $27.6 billion, an increase of $7.9 billion over 2004. (more)

World Aids Day December 1, 2006

 World Aids Day, December 1, 2006

Washington.  November 27.  The number of people living with HIV/AIDS climbed in 2006, the 25th year since first detection of the virus, according to an annual survey of the epidemic conducted by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the World Health Organization (WHO), released in Geneva November 21.  The report -- 2006 AIDS Epidemic Update -- points out the “promising developments” made in the last few years to increase access to treatments and expand prevention programs. Still, an estimated 39.5 million people are living with HIV/AIDS worldwide, with 4.3 million new infections in 2006 and almost 3 million deaths. (more)

United States Pledges $3 Million To Protect Intellectual Property

Washington. October 16.  The State Department will provide $3 million for a combined 13 bilateral and multilateral training and technical assistance projects aimed at protecting intellectual property rights (IPR).

The funding agreements, announced October 11, represent the latest in commitments totaling $8.5 million that the United States has made to fighting international property crimes since 2004. (more)

Thanksgiving Day Parade, 2003. (AP/WWP Douglas M. Bovitt)

Thanksgiving Day in the United States

Washington.  November 20.  Almost every culture in the world has held celebrations of thanks for a plentiful harvest. The American Thanksgiving  holiday began as a feast of thanksgiving in the early days of the American colonies almost four hundred years ago.  In 1620, a boat filled with more than one hundred people sailed across the Atlantic Ocean to settle in the New World. This religious group had begun to question the beliefs of the Church of England and they wanted to separate from it. The Pilgrims settled in what is now the state of Massachusetts.  (more) 

National employment policy to create dignified jobs

Honduras This Week. September 11. Creating 400,000 dignified jobs over a period of four years. That is the goal of the government's recently presented Dignified Job Plan, the first integral national employment policy in Honduras. The Ministry of Employment will coordinate the work, while the executors are the respective ministries and government entities. Also the private sector and the workers' unions have been involved in developing the plan. (more)

BioDiesel: Potential Energy Alternative for Honduras?

With Honduras still shouldering the highest gasoline prices in Central America, it could be time to consider a more ecologically and economically friendly alternative: Palm oil.   Honduras currently imports just over 1.1 million tons of diesel fuel every year. Dinant Corporation statistics show that were all the palm oil from the 70,000 hectares in Honduras used to produce biodiesel, it would satisfy just over twenty percent of this national demand.  (Honduras This Week) 

National biodiesel coordinator Moises Starkman will coordinate the production of 200,000 more hectares of African Palm oil.  Urban tests involving over 600 city buses will soon be underway to stimulate domestic demand for biodiesel (Starkman's BioDiesel plan, in Spanish).

More info:  What is BioDiesel?   U.S. BioDiesel efforts.   U.S. President George W. Bush at Virginia BioDiesel.

Puerto Cortes port        (Photo Diario El Heraldo)

New U.S. Port Security Measures Move Closer to Becoming Law

Washington. September 18. The U.S. Senate unanimously passed the Port Security Improvement Act of 2006 on September 14.  The bill is similar to one passed by the U.S. House in May, and the two versions must be reconciled before a final measure can be sent to the White House for the president’s signature.

President Bush said, “I look forward to the House and Senate resolving their differences … and sending this legislation to me for my signature.” (more)

U.S. Agency Helping To Implement Central American Trade Pact

Washington. September 6. USTDA awards grants to boost trade capacity in CAFTA-DR countries-- The U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) has recently awarded grants totaling $1.2 million to help implement the U.S.-Central America-Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR) and to build trade capacity in countries that are parties to the pact, the USTDA said September 1. (more)

Plan for hotel construction accelerated

Honduras This Week.  August 28.  Some 46 businesses will sign an agreement, this 18th of August, for the construction of a hotel and recreation area in the Bahía de Tela, said the Minister of Tourism, Ricardo Martínez. The businesses will invest some 22 million US dollars, of which, some 11 million will be immediately invested in the construction of the first hotels. They expect to begin construction in the first months of 2007. The total land area covered by the project will be 312 hectares. Martínez estimates that Honduras will earn some 500 million US dollars from its tourist industry this year alone. This would put it in third place for sources of foreign revenue, behind family remittances and the maquila industry.

Honduras to Sell Oil Firm

Tegucigalpa, Aug 28 (Prensa Latina) Henry Arevalo, executive president of the Honduran oil company Distribuidora e Importadora de Petroleos (DIPPSA), confirmed Monday the venture will be shortly sold for $100 million.

He explained they are offering DIPPSA, with 180 nationwide gas stations, because its actions will not be profitable once the State is the single operator in fuel imports.

In a few days, Honduran President Manuel Zelaya will notify of the first international tender to purchase fuels. (more)

Economic growth continues in Latin America, Caribbean

Economic commission report forecasts 5 per cent growth for region in 2006

August 25. Latin America and the Caribbean will enjoy a fourth consecutive year of economic growth in 2006, reports a UN economic commission for the region.

In a July 25 statement, the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) said the region's gross domestic product (GDP) will grow by about five per cent in 2006.

The forecast was made in ECLAC's new report issued called Economic Survey of Latin America and the Caribbean, 2005-2006. In 2007, the region's GDP is predicted to be 4.5 per cent, which ECLAC said will be within the context of a moderate slowdown in the world economy.

Endesa to invest 265 mln eur in Central America interconnection ops

MADRID (AFX) - Endesa SA said it plans to invest some 265 mln eur in an electricity interconnection project involving six Central American countries.

In a statement, Endesa said the Siepac project will be operational in the second half of 2008 and will provide electricity services for 39 mln inhabitants of Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama.

The Spanish utility controls 12.5 pct of Siepac and is also the project's manager. Electrica de Colombia is one of the other shareholders.

Honduras: IMF Evaluation Begins

India Daily. A technical mission from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) began Aug. 22 in Honduras. The IMF is evaluating the effectiveness of subsidies. The mission's goal is to focus the subsidies to the most needy sectors of the population.

Telrad wins $4m contract in Honduras

The tender was conducted by the United Nations Development Program.

August 23. Telrad, of the Koor Industries (NYSE: KOR; TASE: KOR) group, announced this morning that it had been selected by Hondutel, the national telecommunications provider in Honduras, to carry out an upgrade project for its digital telephony systems.
The tender was conducted by the United Nations Development Program, and is worth $4 million.

Telrad said it beat bids from ECI Telecom (Nasdaq: ECIL) and Alcatel in the tender.

Delta Apparel to Open Honduras Plant

Duluth, Ga. August 18.  Clothing maker Delta Apparel Inc. said Friday it plans to open an offshore textile manufacturing plant in Honduras.

Ceiba Textiles, a 300,000 square-foot facility in San Pedro Sula, will knit, dye, finish, cut and sew fabrics into apparel, primarily for the activewear segment.

The clothing maker will invest about $25 million in the plant, which it will lease from Green Valley Industrial Park. It will pay roughly $15 million in the next three years for new equipment for the project. (more)

Ambassador Ford Delivered Key Policy Speech in San Pedro Sula

Tuesday, 28 Feb 2006 - Ambassador Charles A. Ford delivered a key policy speech on U.S.-Honduran bilateral relations, regional integration, security, the economy, and immigration, at the Expo Center in San Pedro Sula.  The speech was followed by a town hall-style question and answer.  The event was hosted by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Cortes.   Ambassador Ford made the speech as part of a week-long visit to the San Pedro area, that included a town hall meeting in Roatan yesterday and the launch of the new Virtual Consulate San Pedro Sula, the inauguration of a sewage treatment project in La Lima funded by USAID, and other public and private events to come.

Ambassador Charles Ford

Ambassador Ford discusses U.S. - Honduran relations

Tegucigalpa. July 3.  At the residence of U.S. Ambassador Charles Ford, the preparations for the traditional Fourth of July celebrations are in full swing, and by the entrance a group of workers are busy improving the paintjob on the white gate. On Sunday July 2nd, hundreds of prominent Honduran and international guests are expected at the traditional reception.

Ambassador Ford, working from home on the day of the interview, meets up in the library together with Press Attaché Julie Nickles. Lately, their focus has been less on the upcoming festivities and more on the somewhat strained relations between Honduras and the United States, although Ambassador Ford describes the relations.  (more)

Central American Fires Affect Weather, Climate Continentwide

Washington. October 10.  Pollutants expelled from widespread biomass fires in Central America can influence air quality, visibility and climate over vast stretches of North America, according to research announced October 10 by NASA.

Studying a two-month period of burning in 2003, the research team of government and university scientists found that smoke plumes degraded visibility and air quality in coastal regions along the Gulf of Mexico, and increased the concentration of airborne particulate matter in the nearby state of Texas, according to an October 10 press release. (more)

A Northern Cheyenne Indian, applauds Southern Cheyenne Indian, during American Indian Heritage Month celebration. W. Richard West Jr. (© AP Images)

American Indian Heritage Month

Celebrated in November

Washington. November 13.  What started at the turn of the century as an effort to gain a day of recognition for the significant contributions the first Americans made to the establishment and growth of the U.S., has resulted in a whole month being designated for that purpose.  Early Proponents: One of the very proponents of an American Indian Day was Dr. Arthur C. Parker, a Seneca Indian, who was the director of the Museum of Arts and Science in Rochester, N.Y. He persuaded the Boy Scouts of America to set aside a day for the “First Americans” and for three years they adopted such a day. (more)