Honduras

The first war, although this was mostly Guatemala, was the one against one of Cortez's lieutenants, Don Pedro De Alvarado, a man whom Cortez himself loathed. In fact some historians speculate that the whole reason Cortez sent him to what is now Guatemala and part of Honduras, was because the natives of what is now Mexico warned Cortez, that the Maya and Lenca were VERY dangerous. In the end the Spanish, with the help of southern Mexican tribes, conquered them, however not before Alvarado was killed. While marching his army, on his way back to their military encampment, because he was riding his horse atop a very steep hill, the animal slipped, and rolled downhill with his horse. Because he never got off it, the animal crushed every bone in his body.

Throughout the years of the Spanish empire, namely the 250 year period from the conquest of Cortez, to the various wars of independence of the mid 19th century, Honduras was a "typical Spanish possession," meaning, you had your occassional (but insignificant) revolts. The revolt of note, was against Lenca chief named Lempira, after whom Honduras' currency is named. He is mentioned because he is the only native American tribesman who mounted an EFFECTIVE resistance, had it not been for Spanish treachery, who shot him during supposedly peace negotiations, the Spanish would have been kicked out of Honduras, much earlier than they were.

The third war, was of course the war of independence, but, sorry, totally forgot the names of the people involved, however I do know they were all Creole land owners (Honduran born, full blooded Spaniards). Originally, Honduran textbooks stated that Honduran indpendence was reached bloodlessly. However as a child, the full blooded native Americans I spoke with told a VERY different version of the story; they told me, that in their grandparents' time (these were very old folks), the fighting against the Spanish, was QUITE bloody. Because the majority of Hondurans were dirt poor, and could not afford neither cannons, nor firearms, they relied on ambush tactics. The jungle, does not favor firearms; Americans learned this much in Vietnam. However it DOES favor a different weapon, if its the 19th century; namely, the machete, and, in its use, many Honduran campesinos were VERY adept at. During the fight for independence many Spanish soldiers, literally lost their heads.

The fourth major was that whole deal regarding William Walker, a southerner who wanted to declare himself dictator of Central America. At first he met with a lot of success, until he met with the forces of a former Prussian army officer surnamed Xatruch. The word "Catracho" comes from the surname "Xatruch." General Xatruch organized a bunch of Honduran men, taught them all about firearms and war tactics, won over Walker's forces and then proceeded to have him executed via firing squad. All told I believe Xatruch was an officer of the Prussian empire (modern Germany) who, to escape the horrors of war in Europe, ran all the way to Honduras. Makes you wonder of the horrors he saw, to compell him to want to go to such an "obscure" place.

The fifth and final major war of significance, were the wars of Francisco Morazan, although chronologically I may have the order wrong, not sure who came first, Morazan or Xatruch, but anyway, Morazan was the Central American Bolivar. Like Bolivar, he envisioned a unified Central America as a single political unit. However, had had enemies; far to the north, there was the military colossus Mexico, who wanted to keep Central America as a part of Mexico, however, they could never back up their threats, because Spain, and later France, were a more immediate concern. Not to mention of course the U.S. again though, my dates are all messed up so don't take this at face value. Anyway, his other enemies where the separatists, who wanted political power for themselves.

Believe it or not, Morazan was betrayed by his own native Hondurans; it was in fact the people of El Salvador, who gave him Asylum. However Honduras invaded El Salvador, slaughtered many people just to get Morazan, and when they finally got him, they executed him via firing squad. Salvadorans are still pissed off about that, so there is a lot of bad blood between Salvadorans and Hondurans. Most Hondurans, most disturbingly of all generally don't think about it either, however Salvadorans tend to be very bitter about it. In the end though, culturally its all the same, the only country in Central America, that is TRULY distinct from the rest is Guatemala. Guatemala is vastly different, in that there is a lot of Mayan pride; although most native American groups bought it, when the Spanish told them they were worthless, the Maya never did, and many full blooded Maya, are proud of the fact that no Spanish blood runs in their veins. In fact, where you will not encounter racism (quite the opposite, actually) if you are European in most of Latin America on the part of the men or women, in Guatemala you will. Many Maya are so fiercely proud of their ancestry, they simply will not mix with ANY outsiders, not Europeans, not black people, not even, other Central Americans, or even mixed Mexicans. Because of that, there has been quite a bit of violence in the country; you have the "ladinos," people of Maya and Spanish ancestry ashamed of the native American in them, who, to erase the "shame," seek to exterminate full blooded natives, and next you have the full blooded natives, who see the Ladinos as people whose ancestors were traitors. You can imagine, the bad blood between them. Many Guatemalan Maya, in fact hate, and resent mestizos, they generally see them, as people who are the result of betrayal.

As a misrahi Jew I can totally relate; I tend to view the ashkenazi much the same.

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The wealthiest families are mainly the Arabs and one Jewish family. Among these, The Rosenthals, Canahuati, and Kattans are among the most poweful

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The currency of Honduras is the lempira which is subdivided into centavos. 100 centavos equal 1 lempira.

The "Lempira" is named after an Indian chief who died fighting against the Spanish during colonial times.

1. Executive

chief of state: President Porfirio LOBO Sosa (since 27 January 2010); Vice President Maria Antonieta Guillen de BOGRAN (since 27 January 2010); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government

head of government: President Porfirio LOBO Sosa (since 27 January 2010); Vice President Maria Antonieta Guillen de BOGRAN (since 27 January 2010)

cabinet: Cabinet appointed by president (For more information visit the

elections: president elected by popular vote for a four-year term; election last held on 29 November 2009 (next to be held in November 2013)

election results: Porfirio "Pepe" LOBO Sosa elected president; percent of vote - Porfirio "Pepe" LOBO Sosa 56.3%, Elvin SANTOS Lozano 38.1%, other 5.6%

2.Judicial

Supreme Court of Justice or Corte Suprema de Justicia (15 judges are elected for seven-year terms by the National Congress)

3.Legislative

unicameral National Congress or Congreso Nacional (128 seats; members elected proportionally by department to serve four-year terms)

elections: last held on 29 November 2009 (next to be held in November 2013)

election results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - PNH 71, PL 45, PDC 5, PUD 4, PINU 3