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Teaching by Example

Thomas L. Friedman is a senior editorial writer on the New York Times. Among those who observe and write about international affairs, he stands out as easily one of the top half-dozen interpreters of international behavior. Today (6-5-01) he offers up a piece of wisdom and insight (concerning Turkey) that should be required reading for every politician in the Honduras federal structure. The parallels between Turkey and Honduras are clear and the proper national “medicine”, too obvious for quibble. (LDB)

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For openers, Mr. Friedman writes:

“Quite simply, Turkey’s economy is on the brink of disaster. In mid-February the Turkish currency was devalued by 25% in one day. This was the culmination of decades of mismanagement and corruption, in which politicians used state banks and factories to pass out patronage and their patrons then used the money to buy and support the politicians

“With little fanfare, the Bush team which came to office swearing it would never do bailouts, as President Clinton did, quietly arranged for a US$17 billion rescue package from the I.M.F. and the World Bank. But on one condition – that this time Turkey get real. Because there would be no next time! Turkey’s feckless and squabbling politicians had no choice but to look for someone outside the political system who knew Turkey, knew economics, and was not corrupt.”

Does this scenario sound familiar?

Except for geographical location and size of their economy, Turkey is a mirror image of Honduras. Rather than a "Hurricane Mitch", it was a devastating earthquake that served to push Turkey over the brink and into utter fiscal disaster. But the natural tragedy was only the last straw. Turkish Politicians had been bleeding the country white for countless decades. When the earthquake stuck – as with Hurricane Mitch – there were no national reserves with which to deal with the cataclysmic event.

Turkish authorities and international aid organizations pleaded for donations, but the response was much less than the needs. Potential donors were all too aware of Turkey’s reputation for political corruption and fiscal irresponsibility. (Turkey is ranked in 54^th place on Transparency International’s corruption scale. By comparison, Honduras is in 94^th place – out of 99 rated nations.)

With no prospects for solving the earthquake devastation with internationally donated funds, Turkey had no alternative but to agree to whatever terms the I.M.F., the World Bank and the United States imposed as conditions for granting the loans. It amounted to negotiation with a gun pointed at their head.

Among the lender demands were the appointment of a designated ‘outsider’ to the position of Turkish financial “czar”, along with the passage of fifteen (15) specific laws, covering everything from ending government subsidies, demanding open bidding for government contracts, disposal of state-owned assets and full transparency of government financial activities. Turkey had no choice but to accept the conditions - painful as they are. These laws will, in the words of the editorial writer Friedman, “produce a revolution in Turkish politics.”

Of course, producing a revolution in Turkish politics is the whole idea. Nothing short of a ‘revolution’ will suffice to clean up the corruption, waste, nepotism and irresponsibility that has been the hallmark of Turkish politics for as long as memory runs.

Mr. Friedman concludes: “The last act of this drama is still to be written. Andrew Finkel, a long-time analyst (of Turkish affairs) remarked to me that for decades Turkey’s politicians have enjoyed “power without responsibility” – lining their pockets without worrying about the future. Now, says Mr. Finkel, they have “responsibility without power”. On one hand they deserve it. On the other hand, they may not be up to it. Stay tuned. This is going to get interesting.” (End)

The economic/political situation described in Turkey can be fully ascribed to Honduras without hardly requiring the change of a single word. Moreover, the fiscal medicine that has been prescribed in Turkey is the same – and the only – medicine that will cure the malady that infects the Honduras body politic. As long as blatant and perennial Honduras corruption, favoritism, political exploitation and illicit enrichment can be hidden under a blanket of constitutionally conferred immunity and public hypocrisy, it will continue.

Especially as long as these overt abuses can continue to be bankrolled by low- or no-interest loans, grants-in-aid and outright donations on the part of gullible, well-intentioned institutional and private benefactors.

The Honduras reformation will only arrive when - as in the Turkish example - political crime ceases to be profitable. Honduras will only begin climbing the ladder to national respectability when - like Turkey - it has no other choice.

The International Monetary Fund, The World Bank and the United States of America made the right decision when they imposed iron-clad requirements on Turkey as preconditions to saving it from total fiscal and political ruin. The road to economic redemption must be long and hard, if the lessons involved are to be learned and remembered. It's a form of 'tough love' on an international scale. It's the last chance.

Listen up, Honduras! Your time is coming.

Lorenzo Dee Belveal

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