The following editorial appeared in the March 11 edition of
Honduras This Week. The entire
editorial is worth reading, but the section entitled Conservative
Society seemed to Jill and me to be an accurate view of Utilian
culture.
Build it, and they will come:
The rape of Utila by the government of Honduras
By ERLING DUUS CHRISTENSEN
Some years ago in the United States, during the years when greed was officially sanctified, that is, the Reagan years, a concept evolved from government planners which called for the Great Plains to be designated "a national sacrifice area."
The notion was that this region was not productive enough, and was expendable as far as its human communities were concerned. These should be cleared away to make way for whatever projects the government, large corporations, and an expanding military might determine.
But the reaction to this when it first surfaced was so negative that it disappeared, at least formally. Most Americans did not really believe that their government would turn against its people in such a fashion.
The Honduran citizens from the island of Utila have never had much faith in their government, but nevertheless it would have been difficult for them to imagine that they might be targeted as a "national sacrifice area." But the thoughtful among them are concluding that this is exactly what has taken place. To tell this sordid and shocking tale of government corruption and criminality, a little history must first be reviewed.
Utila, a one-time British possession peopled historically by English-speaking folk, black and white, British citizens, was "returned" to Honduras along with the rest of the Bay Islands in 1861 for reasons of big power politics. This gratified somewhat the ego of the Honduran government, but otherwise the islands offered very little at that time which was of much interest.
LEFT ALONE
Other than imposing the Spanish language on the natives as best they could, the government was content to mostly leave the islands alone. The islanders were glad to be left alone. They felt far closer to the British Caribbean, and increasingly to the United States. Over the decades that followed, nothing much happened to change this. Until recently, that is.
When this writer lived in Utila during the winter and spring of 1989, there was little tourism, and those who did come were usually church related, or were adventuresome people in search of places far off the beaten track.
But two years later, this situation had begun to change rapidly. This change was effected by social and economic developments, especially in Europe, and the creation of a spawn of highly alienated, but essentially conformist and affluent youth who sought, at least for a time, to escape the smothering strictures, vapid materialism and rigid traditions of their ancient countries. The collapse of communism and socialism in Europe had evaporated the last hope that there might be some alternative to the consumer society.
So these youths no longer hoped even slightly to create a better world. They were not, for the most part, either rebellious or idealistic. But they were in a position where they could more or less drop out, at least for a time. Their affluent societies afforded them the luxury of bumming around the world, on a small budget, perhaps, but nevertheless in a state of unconcern, and without the need to work. Some few of them were genuinely adventurous or curious, but most emphatically were not. What they did seek was some exotic, low budget, laid-back environment which they could Europeanize, where they could drink beer, smoke dope, and generally engage in a hedonistic life-style with others of their age and disposition without fear of restraint. Somewhere around 1992, they discovered Utila. Scuba diving and the underwater marvels of the coral reef provided the context, but the life style was the deeper attraction.
CONSERVATIVE SOCIETY
There was only one problem. Traditionally, Utila had always been a very conservative and moralistic society. When he had first arrived on the island 20 years earlier, Gunther Kordovsky had been arrested for walking down main street without a shirt. Scores of very righteous Methodist ladies kept track of people's behavior and let them hear about deviations.
Of course, there were, and are, members of the community who marched to a different drummer; these mostly men, hard-drinking and rough talking, who went to church, if at all, only on New Year's Eve, and for their own burial service. But even they were not rebels, and in theory at least they supported the standards of the Methodist ladies. They thought that others, their wives and daughters certainly, should live up to them.
Plainly then, if Utila was to become a backpacker's paradise, a gathering place for alienated, hedonistic European youth, the traditional Methodist culture of the island would have to give way, or at very least learn tolerance, a virtue heretofore not much embraced on the island.
There was another problem. A few Utilians had money or access to some, but if facilities were to be developed to cater to the needs of a growing group of visitors whose potential numbers began to seem unlimited, then money, a great deal of money would have to be found, a huge financial investment would have to be made.
However, this proved to be a surmountable obstacle. Over a period of a very few years, hotel and restaurant development of many kinds went up. Entrepreneurs from the United States, not to mention Denmark, Germany, and the Netherlands joined in with the locals in exploiting the opportunities. In no time at all the traditional culture was either co-opted or overwhelmed.
How much of a tragedy one thinks this is will depend upon how much one valued the old. Utila has certainly become more lively and interesting, with many more places to lodge, dine, or drink, and far greater human diversity as well. On the other hand, in the old Utila there was virtually no crime or violence. During the last years, there have been several murders, drug trafficking has gained a hold, and there is even a juvenile gang. In the old Utila these would have been inconceivable.
FEW OPPORTUNITIES
The difficult and easily compromised condition of the Utilians needs to be appreciated. Most undoubtedly valued the life-style available on the island, but there were so few ways to earn more than a subsistence living. Only so many could own stores, or be the captains of cargo boats. Most became fisherman, not out of any love for the life, but because that was available. Many men left the island, taking positions as crew on large ships of various kinds, and spending only a few weeks annually with their families on the island.
So, when tourism opened up, and the real estate boom began, whole new possibilities developed. But here too there was a problem. Most Utilians had always manifested a singular lack of interest in the island or the sea around them and under them. Most of the island, including its most beautiful parts, were uninhabited, and unexplored by most. Islanders lived bunched together in the village on the protected south-side, and expressed aversion if trepidation about the swamps and rain-forests of the island.
And if their life was lived in close conjunction with the sea, it was no romance. Pantheistic expressions of love for the sea were heard as rarely as the Honduran national anthem. But if Utilians were to take advantage of the tourism boom and not leave it to the foreigners, they would have to transform themselves into divers, explorers, and hotel operators. If they were going to sell their island, they would have to know it.
No imaginable force on earth could have achieved such a dramatic transformation save one; the opportunity to make money, to achieve affluence without having to leave home. Many Utilians rose to this challenge with imagination and courage, for which they deserve credit.
But whether or not they have in the process opened the lid to Pandora's troublesome box, and set in motion a process that will eventuate in their losing their island and their culture is as we shall see a matter that may already be out of their hands.
RECONSTRUCTION
After Hurricane Mitch, the government of Honduras received a great deal of money for purposes of reconstruction from many sources. It was under pressure to not encourage or allow corruption, to not only rebuild, but imaginatively re-conceive the nation, and it was under pressure to enhance the tourism possibilities of the country, under sway of the oft-repeated but disastrous notion that in increased tourism lay the foremost hope for a speedy rejuvenation of the Honduran economy. The failed attempt to repeal Article 107 represented a part of this push for an invigorated tourism.
In Utila, there was a new mayor, Monte Cardenas -- young, inexperienced, well-meaning. In all of his efforts to discern the will of the people of the island, a few priorities had emerged. Utilians wanted a decent water and sewage system, 24-hour electrical service instead of 16, and improvements of their primitive airport.
In the old days people had not cared much about such things, but the advent of tourism had taught them to care. The pre-historic state of the infrastructure was incompatible with being a major tourist destination. Additionally, some tourist operators were getting tired of the back-packers, not so much because of their etiquette as because of their small budgets. The more up-scale operators longed for a different class of tourists. In the last analysis, how much money are you going to make on people with a $25 a day budget. And if you happen to be one of the operators who invested in $200 a day kind of facilities, you will feel the need with a particular urgency.
Such individuals are the type who are particularly eloquent about the beauty of the island, and the delights of its relaxed life-style, but who nevertheless work ceaselessly to change not alone the culture, but also the topography and ecology of the island. Drain the swamps, cut down the mangroves, move sand unto artificial beaches, build a new airport; all part of the formula to bring in the $200 a day tourist, with the $500 a day variety hopefully on the way. All this, and almost no taxes to pay!
ECOLOGY IGNORED
Island ecology was hardly on the table at all, except in the minds of a few "zealots" from the Bay Islands Conservation Association, just a bunch of trouble-makers, in any event. Tree-huggers, and that sort of thing. For his efforts on behalf of the island's ecology, Shelby McNabb the director of the BICA, got punched out by one of these noble foreign exploiters.
It is difficult to know what happened next, and most likely we will never know. It is believed that the government of Sweden gave Lps. 250 million to the country for airport improvement. True or not, the Honduran government made that sum available, and last summer notified Mayor Cardenas of that fact. Later, perhaps in September, engineers from SOPTRAVI, the Ministry of Public Works, came from Tegucigalpa to see what could be done about the old airport.
After looking around for a time, they announced that the present airport could not be improved substantially. Any significant expansion would damage the coral reef, and impinge on the village. They were then informed of the existence of a survey that had been done some years earlier during the Callejas administration, which explored a possible airport on the interior of the island with aerial access near Pumpkin Hill.
The gentlemen looked around at this site and expressed enthusiasm before returning to Tegucigalpa. Jimmy Gabourel, the principal landowner affected, had approved the earlier survey and willingly gave his consent to having the land considered.
For months after that nothing happened in Utila. But there must have been a great deal happening in Tegucigalpa. The 25 million project was put up for bids, and a company named SERCOIN put in the lowest bid, reputedly 16 million, and won the contract. Supposedly, it was later determined that the bid was too low, and they were allowed to raise it. It is rumored in Utila that a high-ranking member of the government is one of the principal owners of SERCOIN. This has not been confirmed, though it would explain some things.
CONSTRUCTION BEGINS
Suddenly, in December, things began to happen in Utila too. A Honduran naval vessel arrived and dropped off some bulldozers. On Dec. 18, Mayor Cardenas called Jimmy Gabourel and invited him to come out to the airport to meet informally with some engineers from SOPTRAVI.
When Gabourel arrived, they asked him for permission to cross his property with the power equipment, because they needed to do some preliminary, exploratory work. Gabourel refused permission, but said that Monday they could go to the judge and draw up a statement that would carefully specify at what point they could enter and cross the property. This was on Friday. That afternoon the bulldozers began to move unto the property of Jimmy Gabourel, knocking down fences and trees.
The next day, Mario Pineda, a high-ranking official from SOPTRAVI flew to Utila. On the flight down he had spoken openly about the great things THEY were going to do in Utila. They were going to build a massive international airport, put in a 4-lane highway connecting the village with the airport, and build some luxury hotels. But Pineda ran into an angry Jimmy Gabourel who ordered the equipment off his land, and threatened a lawsuit. The dozers withdrew to the airport where they sat, waiting. When Gabourel demanded an explanation from Monte Cardenas, the mayor said that he had not known what SOPTRAVI was going to do.
Utila was now into the holiday season, and though there were plenty of rumors, nothing happened. But in January, as if to celebrate the new millennium, the dozers again without preliminaries, entered the doomed properties and went to work. Property owners were contacted, and it was promised that a meeting would take place and terms negotiated for the confiscated land. But no negotiation ever took place.
Meanwhile, as island people began to see the scale on which the bulldozers were working, shock turned into rage, and wild rumors began to circulate. The national press reported that the United States was rumored to be building a military base. BICA got involved, focused some media attention, and began to make things hot for SOPTRAVI, not to mention the mayor of Utila, Monte Cardenas.
JUST DOING HIS JOB
This is a good place to say a word about the involvement of Utila's mayor. Being that this is Honduras, there is no lack of suspicion that his cooperation in SOPTRAVI's big project was purchased, that he was bought and paid for. But there is no proof of that. For his part, he maintains that he was doing what the community wanted, and that since being elected that has been his only objective. He feels that he gave people sufficient opportunity to know what was going on and to express an opinion. He feels that only a few land-owners and troublemakers are upset, though he freely acknowledges that the government has not gone about doing things in a good way.
The fact appears to be that the mayor has been used, and that he did not clearly know what was going on. These were high level government engineers, and they were telling him what they were going to do, and why. He had no city engineers to consult, and no environmental lawyers looking over his shoulder and demanding an environmental impact study. So he did what Hondurans are prone to do when confronted with power and money: he went along.
Now he attempts to rationalize or justify what has been done, but it seems likely that when he looks at the holocaust of the big tractors, his throat constricts, and his heart sinks. Anyone with eyes to see and a brain to think with, whose good sense and conscience has not been beclouded with the lure of dollars, cannot possibly miss the fact that this project has been conceived and carried out by a deadly combination of ignorance, insensitivity, arrogance, and greed. Nor that it constitutes an inexcusable, indefensible, and highly illegal violation of the human rights of islanders, and the desecration of a fragile ecosystem that belongs, finally, to all of humankind.
What exactly has been done? Consider that the small island of Utila is about 60 percent swamp. Of what remains, perhaps 10 percent is given over to human habitation. Of the 30 percent remaining, no less than 20 percent has now been devastated, and much more than that affected. The island has been more or less cut in half, the range and habitat of countless creatures disturbed. It is reported that some 200 lbs worth of dead iguanas have been found in the debris.
We do not have the exact dimensions of the proposed air-strip. The present runway at the old airport is somewhat less than 1/4 of a mile, and perhaps 60 yards wide. The projected airstrip looks to be at least a mile long, and perhaps 300 yards wide. Additionally, a road has been cleared to the village that is being called the "boulevard." It is projected as a 4-lane highway. This on an island where there are almost no automobiles, and nothing that could in good faith be called a highway.
RESIDENTS NOT CONSULTED
And all of this has been done without the approval of the residents, and without serious consultation with the community, not to mention the approval of land-owners whose property has been trespassed and sacked. The only islander who has been consulted has been the mayor, and his role has been to be recipient of the plans concocted elsewhere, and to attempt to put a civilized and democratic face on what has been in truth a raw act of tyranny. Even Mario Pineda, in a sober moment, admitted to Jimmy Gabourel that "we invaded your property."
The deed has been done. That much is clear. Now what happens? Some feel that since the project has come so far, it should be finished. Others, drawing on their knowledge of Honduran habits, feel that the government will run out of money and simply abandon the project.
But it would be good if the focus is kept on two things. The first is that a massive violation of human rights has taken place as well as a monumental destruction of the environment. These are crimes, and they should be prosecuted. The second thing for Utilians to keep in mind is that the 4-lane highway and everything else about this project should make clear that it is not Utilians who the government imagines living on Utila. The island and its people are obviously deemed expendable.
What is being conceptualized is a playground for the rich, cozy deals for the Honduran plutocracy, and big money flowing, not into the pockets of Utilians, or really even into the coffers of the government, but into the bank accounts of financial elites. Soon Estilo magazine will be featuring Utila, but their will be no photos of Boddens or Coopers or Morgans. Miguel Facusse will be shown at the helm of his yacht at the Pumpkin Hill boat club.
Honduras This Week has covered a long debate over the future and value of tourism for Honduras. My colleague, Howard Rosenzweig, and others have called for the government to get more involved in promoting tourism, especially a environmentally sustainable ecotourism. If we lived in a different realm and dimension they might be right. But unfortunately, we do not and they are wrong.
As for Utilians, their dislike, contempt for, and fear of their government has once again been proven to be well founded.