Peace Corp Pulls Volunteers out of Honduras: 1 Week Later

Honduras Peace Corp Withdrawal: Volunteer Pullout Comes as Blow

The Huffington Post

By Freedy Cuevas and Adriana Gomez Licon

January 18, 2012
Citation: http://huff.to/GJuvSp

 

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras — The U.S. government's decision to pull out all its Peace Corps volunteers from Honduras for safety reasons is yet another blow to a nation still battered by a coup and recently labeled the world's most deadly country.

Neither U.S. nor Honduran officials have said what specifically prompted them to withdraw the 158 Peace Corps volunteers, which the U.S. State Department said was one of the largest missions in the world last year.

It is the first time Peace Corps missions have been withdrawn from Central America since civil wars swept the region in the 1970s and 1980s. The Corps closed operations in Nicaragua from 1979 to 1991 and in El Salvador from 1980 to 1993 for safety and security reasons, but has since returned to both countries

It is no secret that for all of Central America's beauty and mystique, it is tainted by violence. Equally, it is well-known that many US groups have developed organizations aimed to combat this issue through different, dynamic educational programs. However, a week ago the US Peace Corp made the decision to withdraw volunteers from Honduras, which as the author explains, has come as a "blow". While similar withdraws have occurred in the past, most notably in Nicaragua and El Salvador, for safety and security reasons, for now projects in water sanitation, working with youth and HIV prevention are on hold in Honduras as drug-related crime has recently spiraled seemingly out-of-control. The move comes after a 27-year-old volunteer was shot in the leg Dec. 3rd during an armed robbery, and after a robbery and rape that occurred in late January of another volunteer. It is noted that this is a difficult time for Honduran NGO's (clearly) and that additionally, aid from Spain was "drying up" due to that country's own debt issues. A 2011 UN report states that Honduras has more violence than any other country in the world! It is unclear what effect these various changes will have on the Corp agency, and no other groups have pulled out as of yet (for more info. on this topic in Central America, see this article: El Salvador/Crime/Education)

I understand that the number one priority is the safety of the volunteers, and also, in turn, the reputation of the Peace Corps however violence is crippling education efforts leading to reports of rape, robbery, and other random acts of violence that operations no longer continue on a normal basis with Honduras in its' the current state. This is a United States government organization -- it would be incredibly irresponsible, and reprehensible, to maintain operations at the current level. However, the organizations departure from the Central American nation signals a message to the government of Honduras to take action.

As history reveals, the Peace Corp has reacted similarly in other countries, for example, in Nicaragua when the government was going through sharp changes in regime in the early 1990's, and it was simply too a dangerous place to live and work for expats and international volunteers. Bluntly put, this current situation is tragic from any perspective. People wanting to help in a place that so direly needs assistance, but halted, because the situation is actually so bad, that it is dangerous: this is the Peace Corp worker reality in Honduras at the present state. The authors report from Mexico and Guatemala, which is ironic that they too are outside of the country.

We need to consider this case in context of the value of human life. For the last 2 years I have worked as a teacher and most recently, as the Director of Adult Programs for a non-profit in the Nicaragua called the Barrio Planta Project. All humans experience violence but the amount of expose can certainly increase as expats living and working in Nicaragua. For a former co-worker her experience was enough to encourage her to quit her position and leave the country. She took a job in Guatemala and is now working in Antigua, which is relatively safer than other areas of that country but certainly not immune to the same problems found throughout Central America in terms of drug-related violence. I am lucky that nothing has ever happened to me, and I continue to make what I consider to be "smart choices". However, this organization has large implications beyond the individual level and their efforts in development, as United States citizens acting as educational ambassadors with countries around the world. What is the impact of cutting services and which services are specifically affected? 

Taiwan offering student loans to Central Americans

China's wage hikes could benefit Americas

University World News

By Chrissie Long

February 5, 2012
Citation: http://bit.ly/GK03sI

Taiwan is offering students in five Central American countries more than US$20 million in low-cost student loans. Analysts see the move to court the region, which has low higher education enrollment rates, as part of the ongoing battle between Taiwan and China over political allies in the West.

The programme, which is administered by the Central American Integration Bank (BCIE), provides loans to prospective students in Honduras, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Guatemala.

In a region with university enrollment rates of only 18%, compared to 28% in all of Latin America, and limited availability of student credit, the programme is bound to have an impact, said officials from the BCIE.

“We are conscious of the fact that many people can’t access education because they don’t have the financial means to do so,” said Ruben Mora, Costa Rica director for BCIE.

“The idea is to create opportunities for more people to form part of the higher education system, which will lead to better jobs, improved economic conditions and better economic development.”

(clipped; see above link for the rest of the article)

In this article, the author presents a program introduced by the Taiwanese government intended to provide low-interest and long repayment loans to Central American students in Nicaragua, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Honduras and El Salvador, through a program known as the BCIE loan programme (Central American Bank For Economic Integration). The author writes with the assumption that Taiwan acts in competition with China and that it has an invested interest in this offer to Central American university students. As the article explains, the program allows students the opportunity to pursue higher education in these countries through a loan program started in 2011. So far, 50 students have taken advantage of the offer, from Nicaragua and Honduras, and 8 universities are participating. The goal is the program seems to be to promote relations between Taiwan and the Western hemisphere, and to invest in human capital in order to promote economic development through educational advancement and opportunity. 

My initial reaction involves the word investment. What exactly is Taiwan investing in? Is this a form of neo-colonialism in which Central American students are only enslaved to another foreign government? Or, is this a real opportunity for young people to advance and in turn help their countries to advance?

The 5 countries that are offered this loan program are of course known as "third-world countries", and Nicaragua in particular is the second poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. In terms of a "first-world" model, it would seem to be a great opportunity. However, unlike the United States, where students take out loans from their own government, hence supporting their home country, these students are borrowing from a country on the other side of the world!!

This is a tough debate. On the one hand you have a low-percentage rate of college enrollment (18%) due to economic setbacks in this area. Thus, one might assume this is a good solution to that problem and that Taiwan should even be given a pat on the back, per se. However, on the other hand, is this not neo-colonialism at its best? Economic dependence on rich, industrialized country. Check. Aimed at maintaining global inequality. Check. So, it leaves us with quite a dilemma. As a teacher based in Nicaragua, I want my students to attend college. I really do. I know however that without money, that is quite difficult. So, I'd love to see more scholarship and grant programs. While this Taiwanese program appears like an "opportunity" to be taken advantage of, it may just well be in reality another debt trap, and moreover, a power move by Taiwan to attempt to step ahead in Central American relations in front of China. 

We return to the word investment. We might think about students investing in their own education, companies investing in students and countries investing in other countries through development programs like the BCIE. However, which students are affected? In all of the articles that I located on the program I could not locate any specific demographics on the students who are taking out loans through this program, particularly looking for economic demographics based on social class. Furthermore this is run through a bank! The purpose of banks are to make money. They supply no other purpose than that really. I think Central American countries need to find a way to support their own students' search for higher education. I wonder if any heads of these governments are receiving kickbacks. I wouldn't be surprised.