El Padrino, ‘Great Benefactor’ of the Garífuna

His squinty blue eyes looked at me with piercing intensity. He probably wasn’t squinting, but that’s how my memory recorded the moment. I had arrived at his house, and El Padrino was greeting me and introducing me to his wife and son...

Earlier that morning I had arrived at Diego Manzanero’s office as agreed. I felt a little anxious about meeting El Padrino, especially since people didn’t have great things to say about him when I inquired. “Dealing with him is like dealing with mafia” someone said. “You should be careful, that man is dangerous”. Of course I knew there is a lot of urban legend in La Ceiba, and I had no basis to believe any of the things that were said about him. Even if Pablo Morgan’s claim that the land where the community is located is his was true, then El Padrino would be able to present evidence and we could act accordingly. Diego Manzanero, the lawyer, had been polite enough on our previous meeting. I had no reason to be worried. Yet I still fell anxious.

My anxiety did not diminish when I met Manzanero in his office and he said we would drive to El Padrino’s house for the meeting. He asked my how I arrived at his office.

“I rode my bike.” I said
“Then leave your bike here and we’ll take my car”

Red lights flashed in my head. He was asking me to go on his car, alone with him, to El Padrino’s house for a meeting. Something didn’t seem right. I should have said I’d rather wait for a time when we can all meet in a more professional environment; instead I just agreed to get in the car and go. I still don’t know why. Perhaps I did not want to start the day with a confrontation. Perhaps I was just too focused on getting this done.

The ride there wasn’t long, about 15 minutes, but I was alert the entire time. I wanted to make sure I wasn’t being taken to a dark alley, but I was taken straight to our destination. On the way, Manzanero was incredibly polite, even friendly, and seemed less guarded that he had seemed during our previous meeting. He actually offered his advice on how to deal with El Padrino.

“He is convinced the Garífuna do not own the land in the Cayos. Do not confront him on this issue. As long as you acknowledge that, you might be able to discuss the project.”

His advice was a good reminder that my goal there was to ensure we could proceed with the project peacefully and not to argue about the ownership of the land. It was up to Pablo Morgan, El Padrino and Diego Manzanero to contest with the government the legitimacy of the title the community had.

As far as my understanding goes, El Padrino is Canadian from Italian descent. He shook my hand firmly, even a little too hard. My first impression was to notice that their house has central air conditioning. It is the only house I’ve been in Honduras equipped with that, though, of course, that is not much to say for a poor Peace Corps volunteer. I was invited to sit in the living room, the only section of the house I got to see, and Manzanero sat on the couch next to me. El Padrino sat across from me in an arm char and his wife to his left in another chair. Without much introduction, El Padrino proceeded to reiterate, in a very cut, dry and unfriendly way, his opinion that the land where the community is located belongs to him and not the community members. His tone was harsh and a little forceful and it was very obvious that he was looking for a confrontation. At that very moment he started to loose the battle. The more forceful he behaved, the more relax and confident I felt. I still can not explain why.

“I have a document” – he continued “that grants me the rights to that land. The only reason why the Garífuna are allowed to remain on my property is due to my kindness and generosity. All these years, I have been their benefactor. You have absolutely no right to question the fact that such land is mine.” I noted that he was speaking on his behalf and not on that of his client, Pablo Morgan. According to El Padrino, the land was is his and no one else’s. I also noted how he failed to present a copy of any such document. This went on for what felt like 15 or 20 minutes. I sat there and nodded, not in agreement, but to demonstrate that I was listening to what he was saying. My facial expression was engaged, but I was also wearing the smile that means I think your behavior and everything you’re saying is pathetic. I couldn’t help it. The madder he seemed, the more I felt like smiling. He wanted to argue and I wasn’t going to. Without me having said much, he had already lost that part of the battle.

And so he tried to get personal. He asked me to explain the hierarchy of the Peace Corps and where I stood in it. I explained that we have a Country Director and Project Managers underneath that supervise the volunteers that work on the different projects.

“I am a volunteer, so you could say I am at the bottom of that ladder” – I said.
“Do you understand who I am?” – he asked.
“I know exactly who you are.”
“Then why are YOU here meeting with me and not the country director? Why has the Peace Corps not sent someone more important?”
“Because I am the person who has supported this project all along and it is me you should talk to about it. That’s how the Peace Corps works.”

Eventually he must have realized I wasn’t there to get in a fight and he asked me exactly what was I there for. I repeated what I had explained to his lawyer before, that my only interest was the development of the community, and that any concerns he had about the title must be taken to the proper authorities. I said that given his stated kindness and generosity he must agree that the community needs a lot of help. He then proceeded to recount how every year he spends hundreds of dollars on medications for members of the community. How his wife insisted that they buy medicine every year to bring out to that island. I would have loved to hear more details from her, but every time she tried to contribute to the conversation she was asked by her husband to stay quiet and that she didn’t have anything to say about what was being discussed. Later, when she got up and walked away from the living room he yelled at her to return and sit down, she had not yet been dismissed. All very telling of the kind of person El Padrino really is.

He then asked for more details about me, the Peace Corps and the project. I explained that we are an organization of volunteers sent by the government of the United States at the request of the local governments of the countries we serve. I clarified that our role as volunteers is to support our communities in their development by accompanying them in the implementation of activities such as education, youth, health and business and tourism just like the tourism project in question. I even told him about some of the work I’d done so far teaching computers and helping people improve their business practices with things such as how to calculate the costs of their businesses so they could price at a profitable margin. I saw his wife’s face light up when I shared some of the stories, and I directed a lot of my conversation toward her. I seized the opportunity to explain that I was there to see how we could work together, in good faith, to better the economic situation of the community.

By the end of the meeting, his tone had changed significantly. He congratulated me for doing such good work with the community, and clarified that his arguments were not personal (yeah, right). He then proceeded to make a proposal, of which he asked me to take notes. This is the entry on my agenda for that day:

1. He was to allow the construction of the project for the community in a location designated by him.
2. 
   The community members would do the work of construction under the supervision of a contractor approved by him.
3. 
   Peace Corps was to provide accounting support to keep track of how the money of the project was spent during implementation and of the revenues of the project in the future. There would also be record on what the community is spending the money generated by the project (i.e. improvement of the school, a health clinic, etc.)
4. 
   He asked that I not visit the community until we could go together and explain the conversation and his proposal. The reason for such request was so that we do not create confusion in the community conveying different messages of our conversation.

I explained that since the community was the owner and leader of this project, it was up to them to decide whether those conditions were acceptable. I agreed to visit the community with him and asked that a representative from HCRF (the Foundation) be present as well. We set the tentative date of Thursday, September 14th 2006 for the trip (about a week from that day). He asked that I call the day before to confirm he would still be available.

Leaving his house I did not necessarily agree with his conditions for the project (or with the fact that he could impose any conditions at all), but I felt good that he was at least willing to discuss the situation with the community and hoped the dialog would lead to a resolution. I don’t remember his eyes squinting anymore; his intense expression was replaced by something that resembled politeness. I even remember a smile somewhere. I was sure I had won him over. I had been polite, confident, and professional. He had attacked me and I had kept my cool. He had apologized and admitted to being impressed by me and by the project. I was so proud I had not allowed my passion for the project to control my behavior. As I walked out of that house I felt a surge of hope, I knew things could only get better from there.

I was so wrong!