Honduras: Tourism minister tells vistors to stay away

[Joanne98]

Source: Wired News

The Honduras tourism minister suggests tourists should not visit the country under the current governing regime.

Honduras (WiredPRNews.com) – The minister of tourism in Honduras is telling tourists to stay away due to problems under the country’s current governing regime. As reported by TIME, Ricardo Martinez recently remarked after showing a video at a convention, which showcased a clash between police and individuals who support ousted Honduran president Manuel Zelaya in the capital, that the current conditions there do not warrant tourist travel.

Martinez is quoted by TIME as stating, “I’d like to tell everyone to come to Honduras, and that it’s a tranquil place and everything is beautiful, but you think I’d be successful with that message? Of course not.”

Martinez is further quoted as stating of the present issues, “We are still a state without individual guarantees. The police can come into your house without court order, you can be arrested without reason, and there’s no freedom of movement… I’m not saying I am encouraging travel to Honduras, because I have shown you that the situation does not exist. But what I am saying is please don’t forget us, because we are going to solve this crisis and once we do, we are really going to need your help.”


Read more: http://www.wiredprnews.com/2009/10/26/tourism-minister-tells-vistors-to-stay-away_200910266608.html

[Peace Patriot]

1. The article does not make clear whether this is a minister of the Zelaya government-in-exile

or a minister of the coup regime. The Zelaya government-in-exile is a functioning government in some respects. It still controls many Honduran embassies, where the legitimate ambassadors have managed to retain control of the embassy and where the host government (most governments in the world) are hostile to the Honduran junta. Zelaya's cabinet is still functioning. I believe some of his cabinet ministers are with him in the Brazilian embassy in Honduras (which is surrounded by junta troops), and others may be operating from nearby countries. I read somewhere that the Junta military is interfering with Zelaya's cell phone and limiting him to 45 second conversations. Hard to run a government that way, but he is trying. Ricardo Martinez's remarks sound like he is a Zelaya minister. And if he is a Junta minister, it sounds like he may not be one for long.

[Vidar]

2. Can't imagine why.