AP's Honduras correspondent navigates violent land

WPXI.COM ^ | Dec. 30, 2012 | Alberto Arce

[Half Vast Conspiracy]

Still not as bad as there.

Agree

[virgil283]

" There is no militia culture in Honduras, and has never been, so refrain from looking at their problem through gringo eyes "....Thanks for your insight, could you explain what is diferent in the mind set or thinking there as compared to those in the USA? In particular as to the 'militia culture'. I would like to understand . Thank you....

[Salvavida]

Hondurans have no historic foundation of the concept of "WE THE PEOPLE". Hondurans, as wonderful as they are, will not stick their neck out for each other: it is totally absent from their culture. That is the root issue. Their culture was built off of old world traditions from Spain, where priviledge is found in family roots. Therefore they have no heritage of every male being expected to muster at arms for the protection of the community. Their default thinking is that safety must come from the State; and when it doesn't, there is nothing to fall back on. This breeds a state of mind of being potential prey, not being able to "form" a force able to repel evil. The average Honduran today is get to and from work as quickly as possible and hope that the big bad wolf doesn't single you out. With no relief in sight, the gangs get stronger, and the central government is creeping towards becoming a failed state.

It's very similar to the Arab Spring in Egypt. Egyptians complained of Mubarak for decades; some even blamed the United States for his corruption. But what escapes most Egyptians is they had the power within themselves to attain self-government: in fact, they did it without the help of the United States or any outside force. They never knew they could do it because it isn't part of their heritage. Unfortunately, they were equally naive in how to form a democracy similar to ours: it isn't in their heritage.

Every once in a while, a Honduran will experience the "lightbulb" going on, and they will finally "get it" after immigrating to the United States. But I have never seen that in an Egyptian. They don't seem to be capable of grasping American concepts of self government or the concept of militia.