Ambassador Palmer Comes to Town

The U.S. Ambassador to Honduras paid us a visit on a couple of weeks ago. We were told that he might stop by on his way from San Pedro Sula to Tegucigalpa, and that it was quite a treat since he had not visited trainees before. They brought us into a room and instructed us that we were to stand when he walked in, and that we should address him as “Mr. Ambassador”. The Country Director (CD) of Peace Corps Honduras, and some of the other Peace Corps staff had made the trip up from Tegucigalpa for the occasion.

After the Ambassador arrived, we stood and clapped, and he was introduced by the CD. It turns out that Ambassador Palmer has a special interest in the Peace Corps, because he is actually a returned Peace Corps volunteer (RPCV). He served in Liberia in the early 70’s before their civil war began. He spoke a little bit about the importance of the Peace Corps’ role in Honduras, and how we will be the only Americans that many Hondurans ever meet. He emphasized the significance of this fact, and encouraged us to always try to keep this in mind in everything we do. He also reminded us that we are both employees and representatives of the U.S. federal government, whether we liked it or not. President Bush’s decision to invade Iraq, he said, was probably the most difficult time of his service. Not only did he have to work with the government of Honduras to encourage them to be part of the “coalition of the willing”, but he had to face the Peace Cops volunteers about the subject. He said the latter was easily the most difficult part. During the process, there were anti-war protests going on around the country, and many of the PCV’s in the country wanted to take part. As a side note here, any time that a volunteer wishes to make a public statement about a political issue, they must first clear it with the Country Director. This is as much for our personal safety as it is for the Peace Corps’ desire to remain a politically neutral entity. Since violation of this rule can lead to administrative separation from the Peace Corps (you get kicked out), the volunteers got together and asked the CD for permission. Rather that flat out denying the request, the CD went to Ambassador Palmer with the issue. He says that not only was his response “no”, but “Hell No!” Volunteers are representatives of the U.S. government, and that would send a very bad message to the people of Honduras. Understanding that the issue was a serious one, and that the Volunteers were not going to take it well, he set up a series of town hall meetings around the country in order to meet with the Volunteers directly. He says that they didn’t hold back and that he received some severe tongue-lashings. To sum it up, he said that standing in front of these people and arguing the President’s case would have been incredibly difficult even if he agreed with it, but it was his job and his duty.

Ambassador Palmer spent the rest of his time talking about what the embassy has been doing in Honduras during his time in office. He says that their main concern has been tackling corruption, the broken justice system, and the drug trafficking issue. Overall, he says they’ve had some successes in every area. They have taken a zero-tolerance policy on corruption. Whenever they set up a program in which U.S. funds are donated to the country, they first make a very detailed plan as to where and how the money will be spent, and they reserve the right to audit the organizations to which they are giving the money to ensure that the plan is being followed. He explained how a program to buy computers for local schools had to be cancelled in the first week when the director of the program started buying the equipment from his good friend at high prices instead of the lower, agreed-upon prices from the pre-determined supplier. He also explained how the embassy has worked to overhaul the justice system in Honduras. Until recently, all court cases were decided between the lawyers and the judge behinds closed doors. Defendants were not privy to the details of their case, and could not speak in their own defense. It was common knowledge that nearly all cases were decided by which side gave the most money to the judge. Also, the burden was on the defendant to prove his or her innocence rather than being innocent until proven guilty. The U.S. has helped the government of Honduras restructure their system to be more like the U.S. system. Now, the burden of proof has shifted to the prosecution, court cases are open to the public, and defendants can now speak in their own defense and can call witnesses. However, he says, corruption is still rampant, and they are only in the first steps of making the changes they want to make. He mentioned the shocking statistic that in Honduras, only 1.5% of murder cases are resolved, meaning that if you kill someone here, you have a 98.5% chance of getting away with it.

I think everyone was very inspired by his talk, especially when he explained where the U.S. has gone so wrong in the past when dealing with Latin America. We’ve tolerated absolute thieves and criminals in power in Latin American countries simply because they came to power under the guise of democratic elections. He said that when he talks to campesinos, he hears some people say they are ready for the return of military rule. They say they remember a time when they didn’t have to lock their doors, when there was always food on the table, when there was always work, and they knew that even though they were poor, that at least they would survive. Ambassador Palmer pointed out that this is becoming a common sentiment in many countries, and that the U.S. is losing friends and support (Venezuela and Bolivia being examples). That is why, he says, he has worked so hard on holding the Honduran government’s feet to the fire whenever possible. He says that the State Department has started making it a point to not simply support democracy in any form, but rather insist that governments, democratic or otherwise, focus on fairness and equality, and has identified corruption as the greatest threat to democracy in the western hemisphere.

Ambassador Palmer is leaving Honduras in a month and will be replaced by a new ambassador. We’re told that Ambassador Palmer is one of the most loved politicians in Honduras, and everyone is sad to see him go. Usually, the ambassador is responsible for swearing in Peace Corps Volunteers. We will be sworn during a period when there will not be an ambassador in office, so we’re assuming the deputy ambassador or someone else in the embassy will handle it.