[HNA] Starvation Predicted in Honduras

[Kaveri Rajaraman]

JUVENTUD REBELDE
Starvation Predicted in Honduras
At least 100,000 Hondurans will suffer from starvation in the coming year
due to drought and the food crisis, which has worsened due to the political
instability resulting from the coup d'état six months ago

By: Juventud Rebelde

Email: digital at juventudrebelde.cu <digital%40juventudrebelde.cu>
2009-12-29 | 11:40:08 EST

TEGUCIGALPA, December 28.— At least 100,000 Hondurans will suffer from
starvation in the coming year due to drought and the food crisis, which has
worsened due to the political instability resulting from the coup d'état six
months ago, reported Prensa Latina.

A delegation from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
(OCHA) will arrive in the country in a few days to carry out a comprehensive
study of the consequences of the El Niño climatic phenomenon.

The study will determine how many quintals of basic grain will not be
produced due to the absence of rain, what zones will be the most affected
and the measures to be taken. OCHA's Emergency Response Adviser Douglas
Reiner warned on the risks of humanitarian crises in Central America due to
drought and said that Honduras is one of the most affected with 100,000
people at risk.

Honduras' situation worsened after the coup d'état against President Manuel
Zelaya on June 28, especially due to the partial closure of hospitals and
schools. "Some patients have not received the appropriate medical care and
some children have stopped consuming the food they would normally receive at
schools," said Reiner.

Some programs initiated by the Zelaya administration to support small and
medium producers were cancelled after the coup d'état along with several
projects supported by the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of the
Americas (ALBA) in sectors such as healthcare, education, energy and
agriculture that have been cancelled or severely affected.

ALBA donated a hundred modern trucks, plows, seeders and other implements to
improve agriculture production in Honduras. In the energy sector, the
country's incorporation to PETROCARIBE assured a stable supply of 20,000
barrels of oil a day at preferential prices and low interest rates. After
the coup, the head of the de facto regime, Roberto Micheletti, asked the
National Council to put to vote the virtual removal of this mechanism, which
was supported by Porfirio Lobo, the Honduran president-elect during the
recently held illegal elections on November 29.


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