The vice president of the United States will meet with isthmus leaders during his visit to Costa Rica on March 29 and 30.
The Costa Rican president, Oscar Arias, summoned his counterparts from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama. He announced that he will also invite the prime minister of Belize and the winner of next Sunday’s presidential elections in El Salvador.
They are calling out for an agreement to be signed with the IMF and for adjustments in the application of the new minimum wage rate and in the anti-crisis plan announced by the government.
The Honduran Council of Private Enterprise (COHEP) requested the government to confront the crisis that is already affecting Honduras, and to stand a the forefront of a joint effort among all the national sectors, stressing the need to reach a stand-by agreement with the International Monetary Fund. This would allow Honduras access to credit lines for countries in a precarious condition.
The Honduran Private Enterprise Council sees an opportunity to expand export markets in the agreement.
COHEP Vice President, Oscar Galeano, said in statements to La Trubuna that "Cuba has characteristics somewhat different from ours, but there is always the chance to explore them and determine the potential degree of consumer purchasing power and competitive advantages."
From May 31st to June 2nd, the Honduran city will be host to the 39th Assembly of the OAS and to particular Latin American forums of businesspersons and youth.
The visitors will fill the hotel capacity of the industrial city, although by those dates two new hotels will have been inaugurated, according to declarations by Deputy Mayor Eduardo Bueso, as submitted by Lisseth Garcia in her article in La Prensa.hn.
The President of Chile, Michelle Bachelet, and her Honduran counterpart, Manuel Zelaya, signed three covenants regarding free trade, science and technology, and the environment.
Radioamerica.hn publishes in its website: "This afternoon, the President of Chile, Michelle Bachelet, was received in the Presidential House by Honduran President Manuel Zelaya, his wife, Xiomara Castro de Zelaya, and the Honduran Chancellor, Patrician Rodas, among other special guests."
The Government increased to $530 million the funds that will be used to stimulate sectors such as the construction and maquila industries.
According to Reuters: "In mid December, the Government of President Manual Zelaya said that they would inject 210 million dollars into the state and private banks so that they can provide credit to those sectors, but now they have indicated that the figure will be doubled.
The Association of Bakers announced that the sector is preparing to lay off 15,000 workers because they can absorb the increase in minimum wages.
According to latribuna.hn "After a meeting of business owners from the sector, it is estimated that each bakery has an average of 70 to 75 employees of which 10% will have to be fired, for a total of 15 thousand persons.
The country has not managed to sign a letter of intent with the IMF, and economic growth will decrease due to the global crisis.
In his three years of government, President Manual Zelaya has not managed to negotiate a new agreement with the IMF which has blocked access to other sources of credit.
The recent decision to increase minimum wages from $157 to $289 has been received positively by the unions, but it has been strongly rejected by the business community.
Businessmen point to negative effects due to the measure, such as the loss of competitiveness because of cheaper labor in neighboring countries such as El Salvador, Nicaragua and Guatemala.
According to elsalvador.com, "workers who earn 3,400 lempiras (some $170) will now earn 5,500 lempiras (some $300).
Amilcar Bulnes, president of the Honduran Private Businesses Council, lamented that the Honduran Government has raised wages to the same level as Costa Rica, which has a higher income than the rest of countries in Central America, except for Panama.
The president Manuel Zelaya passed two decrees that were approved in an extraordinary session by Congress.
The executive decree 174 - 2008 authorizes the Central Bank of Honduras to inject in the domestic financial system $ 265 million to continue the monetary policy to boost the production and development, and the other one is the executive decree 175-2008, to strengthen the entire national financial system, which consists of $ 105 million to provide credit for the Honduran financial system.
The SICA summit ended with a declaration that includes a dozen measures that they are seeking to implement in order to deal with the global financial crisis.
DECLARATION
The session ended with the reading of the "Declaration of San Pedro Sula", which sets out the resolutions that the leaders of the region plan to carry out immediately and in the future, within the framework of a series of meetings that SICA will continue to hold next year.
The government has asked InterAiports to decide whether or not they will participate in the management of the airport.
The plan to use Palmerola as a commercial airport is still on the table.
It has been reported that President Manuel Zelaya gave an ultimatum of 96 hours for the airport company to reply, however InterAirports said in a press release that the time given is to update the proposals presented in June 2008.
The Government announced that it will re-examine using the Palmerola military base as an international airport.
The announcement came after receiving approval from the International Civil Aviation Organization as the country faces the emergency airport situation.
The private secretary of president Manuel Zelaya, Eduardo Enrique Reina, explained that the government presented a formal request a few months ago to the Organization to convert Palmerola into an international civilian airport and that they have responded positively. They have now presented an action plan to carry out the remodeling and development of the airport.
Honduras joins the Bolivarian Alternative for American Countries, a club promoted by Venezuela and Cuba.
On October 9th the Honduran Congress ratified the country’s membership in the Alternativa Bolivariana para los pueblos de nuestra América (ALBA, Bolivarian Alternative for American Countries), a regional grouping promoted by Venezuela and Cuba.
There was initial resistance from most legislators, including the members of the ruling Partido Liberal (PL) and the opposition, who were concerned that ALBA was part of the strategy of the Venezuelan president, Hugo Chávez, to increase his political influence in Latin America. However, most Honduran legislators changed their positions between September 9th, when the bill was introduced, and the actual vote. Only the opposition Partido Nacional (PN) abstained.