What They Say; What They Do

By: Lorenzo Dee Belveal

The confident Economist view reminds me of an equally optimistic piece I wrote when Carlos Flores Facusse was elected to the Honduras Presidency, on November 30, 1997. (You can check out this reporter's rose-colored
insights as a political prophet by reading the unrealized hopes set forth in
that article at) <http://ldbelveal.net/november30.htm>

In retrospect, it is plain to see that I mistook the Flores disdain for
conventional campaigning to be a reliable indicator of his personal and
political independence.  I have always given independence high marks in my "worthy candidate" sweepstakes. Especially since I saw more than enough
of "machine politics" during my years spent in Chicago.

In the eventual unfolding of the Flores administration, it was clearly proven
that what I had erroneously taken to be independence was merely a beguiling mix of political naivette and public administrative incompetence.

Seldom if ever has Honduras been subjected to a more bland, anemic,
uneventful, non-functional, inept, uninvolved dispensation of ministerial-
type government than that provided by El Presidente Carlos Flores
Facusse. This was one and the same Chief Executive for whom I had so
hopefully - nay, prayerfully - entertained such great expectations.

So much for journalistic punditry.

In the current situaton, I concur with the view of those who believe that in
giving the ballot-box nod to Ricardo Maduro, the better man of the front-
running choices has won. Indeed, his declarations concerning zero-tolerance
for crime, high priorities on education, economies in political administration
and other great expectations to come, almost too numerous to mention, tend
to fill the political hoi-polloi (and this reporter) with shared visions of sugar plums galore.

Anxious expectations aside, a word of caution is surely in order.

Ricardo Maduro, for all of his presumed personal qualities and stentorian oratorical protestations that the eager electorate was anxious to hear, he is a rank political neophyte. The closest exposure he has ever had to the levers of
political power was in his position a Governor of the Honduras Banco Central.
He has never sat as a legislator, a judge, nor an alcalde. He is an economist
and a (highly successful) businessman. Period. Is this sufficient portfolio for an aspirant to the highest executive office a sovereign nation can bestow?  

A hard if odious parallel comes to mind: Carlos Flores was a highly successful
publisher before launching himself on his own uniquely undistinguished tour of duty as Presidente of the Republica de Honduras. This political misadventure should, at the very least, urge us to mix our high hopes with a liberal dollop of reserve for the questionable talents of a political tyro in residence in the Palacio
Presidencial.

Students of "banana republic" politics have long since learned that there tends to be a real, if regrettable, disconnect between the words and the deeds of successful political candidates. The history of Honduras is replete with hard reminders of this anomaly. To the extent that it might be considered the functional rule, rather than just an occasional aberration.

Like millions of other Honduras loyalists, I wish Don Ricardo Maduro the very
best of both luck and planning, as he takes on his onerous duties of State. Yet, I reserve my final judgement on his adequacy until he shows us by palpable
accomplishments that in his victorious campaign he really said what he meant, and in his administration he still remembers - and intends to honor - what he said back then.

                                          ------- END ------                 

Lorenzo Dee Belveal
<http://ldbelveal.net>