Honduras: Current activities of the Liberal Party and conflicts with opposition parties
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 20 April 2000 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | HND34286.E |
| Reference | 2 |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Honduras: Current activities of the Liberal Party and conflicts with opposition parties, 20 April 2000, HND34286.E, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6ad5214.html [accessed 30 May 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
The Liberal Party of Honduras (PLH or PL) won the 30 November 1997 general elections, obtaining the Presidency, a majority in Congress (with 67 of 128 seats), and 200 of the country's 297 municipalities (PDBA 16 Feb. 1999; Elections Around the World 9 Jan. 2000; CAR 11 Feb. 2000).
Although the next general elections (presidential, congressional and municipal) are slated for November 2001 (PDBA 16 Feb. 1999), a review of Honduran newspaper articles of the first quarter of 2000 shows that the various parties¾including the Liberalare already actively engaged in pre-candidacy nomination campaigns, with individuals vying mostly for the mayoral and presidential candidacies of their parties. Approximately every day reviewed in the electronic journals of La Prensa and La Tribuna reports some level of activity, plans or speculation regarding the upcoming candidacy nominations. On 19 April 2000 La Tribuna reported that the Democratic Unification Party (Partido Unificación Democrática, UD) intends to hold its internal elections in November 2000, while the Central Executive Committee of the Liberal Party (Consejo Central Ejecutivo del Partido Liberal, CCEPL) announced its intention of holding its internal elections in May 2000. Internal Liberal Party elections had initially been expected for December 2000, but various PL officials in government posts had reportedly begun campaigning for nominations "far in advance of the next Honduran elections" and as early as July 1999 (CAR 9 July 1999). Since this pre-candidacy campaigning was taking place during a "process of national reconstruction" in the wake of hurricane Mitch and was allegedly using state funds, the President reportedly warned PL members occupying government positions at the time to quit their posts or refrain from campaigning (ibid.).
Internal conflicts and rivalries within the PL are reported, for example, in the context of the election of the heads of the current Legislature of Congress early in 2000 (La Prensa 25 Jan. 2000). Later, however, the president of the PL, Jorge Arturo Reina, declared that his party is not suffering internal divisions, and that the holding of internal elections before originally anticipated is not a consequence of internal divisions (La Tribuna 19 Apr. 2000).
The available Honduran newspapers report regularly on conflicts between the PL and other parties in the political arena. These reports are by and large in the context of governing,particularly in reference to issues before Congress or in issues involving high-level government officials, many of whom belong to the PL.
Other reports of conflicts involving members or former members of the PL refer to investigations of corruption and ongoing cases. One example is the prosecution of PL officials and former officials implicated in the misuse of public funds during the Sixth Central American Sports Games hosted by Honduras in December 1997. This case involves at least one current PL congresswoman and most of the organizing board, headed at the time by then-President Carlos Roberto Reina (La Prensa 25 Jan. 2000b).
This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.
Central America Report (CAR) [Guatemala City]. 11 February 2000. "Mayors Sue Government For 5% Budget Share."
_____. 9 July 1999. "Honduras: Electoral Campaign Begins Prematurely."
Elections Around the World/Agora [Milan]. 9 January 2000. "Elections in Honduras."
La Prensa [Tegucigalpa]. 25 January 2000. "Formalizan juicios a involucrados en despilfarro de sextos Juegos."
_____. 25 January 2000b. "Mundo Capitalino."
La Tribuna [Tegucigalpa]. 19 April 2000. "PL convocará a elecciones internas a finales de mayo."
Political Database of the Americas (PDBA) [Washington, DC]. 16 February 1999. "Calendar of Elections."
Additional Sources Consulted
Central America NewsPak [Austin, Tex.]. Jan.-Mar. 2000.
Central America Report [Guatemala City]. 1998-Mar. 2000.
Honduras This Week [Houston, Tex.]. Jan.-Apr. 2000.
IRB Databases.
La Prensa [Tegucigalpa]. Jan.-Apr. 2000.
La Tribuna [Tegucigalpa]. Jan.-Apr. 2000.
Internet search engines, including:
La Nacion [San Jose, C.R.]
La Prensa [Tegucigalpa]
Metacrawler
