boodle11@gmail.com pounded away at his keyboard resulting in:

Do you also provide the Honduran?

Dan Bracuk
If we don't succeed, we run the risk of failure.

As a cruiser who has spent a fair amount of time in Honduras over the
past 3+ years, I would strongly recommend that you take a careful look
at the country before moving there.  I know quite a few people who would
be glad to sell you there houses so that they could get the hell out of
there.  Crime is rampant, and the "law" does little to nothing about it.
A 15 Hp outboard motor of mine was stolen and recovered by the police,
but they want me to pay almost retail to have them return it...

Here's an article by a Honduran lawyer on how the legal system works
down there...scary!  

-- Geoff

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I just want to point out a few facts about police and judicial
procedures in Honduras.

First, it is important to remember that all Honduran institutions are
underfunded. If your local police department in the US is possibly
underfunded, think what kind of chronic understaffing, lack of training,
and lack of equipment there is in Honduras. Ditto the judicial system.
So, if some of the following practices seem unjust and unfair, just try
to understand that it is not that people here don't want to advance,
it's just that they have a challenge each day to keep from backsliding.

If you want to report a non-violent crime, you will be responsible for
transporting the police. They aren't going anywhere until you buy the
gas, unless someone was hurt or killed. In my work, I have a need at
times for a police report, or other assistance from the police, and I
always budget for their gas and if it is going to be a long day, some
food and soft drinks. Yes, there should be room in the police department
budget for fuel for the vehicles, but the car won't move without gas.

Then, if you want to prosecute a non-violent crime, you will have to
hire a lawyer. This is a figure in Honduran criminal law; the "private
accuser," which is a lawyer who represents a criminal victim, and tries
the case, as opposed to the Public Attorneys (Fiscalia, Ministerio
Publico). There are two ways to press charges in any crime, one is with
a private accuser and one is via the Ministerio Publico, like the
District Attorneys office.

Can you guess which one is more effective? And either way, if you go for
the publicly supported route, you should still budget for
transportation, food if necessary. So neither option is free. There are
four attorneys that work at the Fiscalia in Roatan. They try all the
criminal cases in Islas de la Bahia, except for those in which the
victims pay their own private accuser. Although Roatan is a very quiet
and safe place overall, there are enough major crimes (homicide, major
drug trafficking busts) that I believe that all four of those lawyers
probably work hard all week and still don't get everything done.

So, if you are the victim of a crime against your property, and no one
was hurt, you will not automatically get any attention from the police
or the judicial system. If you want to press charges, you will
personally have to coordinate the whole thing, and pay all the expenses.

This is why people get let out of jail after 24 hours. If I were asked
to advise a person who found themselves in jail, that is always the
first advice -- sit tight, after 24 hours, if no one is paying a private
attorney, then no other procedures will be filed, and the defense
attorney shows up and asks that the imprisoned person be released, since
there is no ongoing criminal charges.

I also like to point out that crime affects everyone, the poor are
especially likely to be victims of crime. Ask some little lady in Barrio
Los Fuertes how many times a week she gets rolled for the 20 Lps.  She
was going to use to buy eggs and tortillas. And her family doesn't eat
that day. Honduras is a sea of necessities, with a trickle of resources.
The poor do not receive welfare. The sick do not receive health care.
Abandoned children live in the streets. And crime victims do not get
justice.

Ok, anyone still with me? The bottom line is, no one in Honduras is
going to help you, they don't have the resources. You have to do
everything yourself, which is kind of freeing once you actually accept
it. You have to protect your own belongings.

That is my advice (since I've been asked). Take care of yourself. If you
came down here to make demands on the government, then that is going to
be a disappointment for you.

Regards,

Melanie Wetzel

www.honduranlaw.com

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