Two hurricanes in two weeks- Honduras and Central America face intense flooding

For more photos and footage, see this photo gallery (scroll to the end) by photographer Martín Cálix, this footage of a youth being rescued, and this gallery of families in Baracoa recovering from the first tropical storm, only to wait for the second.

In this video, we also talked to people sheltering in the Toribio Bustillo school, Tegucigalpa. There are over 200 people there, and they are asking for help.

And finally, in these photos, you can see how Iota flooded the Sula Valley yet again. On 18 November, the Ulua River overflowed, and two main roads that go from El Progreso to San Pedro Sula were flooded by it. Omonita and Guadalupe towns were submerged in water, and hundreds of people there lost everything. 

📍 La Lima: the epicenter of the devastation that  Tropical Storm Eta caused

For those who aren’t there or who haven’t been through something similar, it can be hard to imagine what it is like to live through two successive hurricanes, or to realize just how complicated and long-lasting the consequences are.

In La Lima, in northern Honduras, we reported on how mud, “stagnant water, and sadness have soaked La Lima’s streets.” 

There, thousands of household items are strewn all over the sidewalks. People cleaning out their homes and businesses pick their way around beds, living room furniture, televisions, and dozens of other items damaged by the storm, which according to the government affected 2.9 million people around the country. 

The country’s armed forces also report that at least 125 bodies have been recovered from the flooded rivers, streams, and storm debris. Meanwhile, economist Alejandro Kafati estimated that the losses to the Honduran economy from the storm could amount to $12.5 billion, or 50% of Honduras’ gross domestic product (GDP). 

But beyond these material damages, people have also lost their medicines and can’t afford more, many have sustained physical injuries, especially to their feet, and the Covid-19 virus is able to spread as people are packed into shelters or are living close together on the street.

 👀 President’s COVID-19 test results concealed by Health Ministry 

You have to wonder if the Honduran president has something to hide, when he, or his ministers refuse to share a copy of his Covid-19 test. 

On June 16, President Juan Orlando Hernández and his wife Ana García Carías, announced on public television and radio that they had been found to be positive for the virus. They later shared that they had taken the PCR test, and Orlando was eventually hospitalized.

However, when Contracorriente requested a copy of President Juan Orlando Hernández’s rapid and protein c-reactive (PCR) COVID-19 tests via the System of Electronic Information of Honduras (Sielho), the health ministry refused.

Read more on how and why here.

Small business owners in Honduras feel abandoned 😒

One of the pandemic relief measures taken by the Honduran government was to secure up to US$2.5 billion in debt to be used for guaranteed loans channeled through a government bank to small and medium-size enterprises. 

However, despite the government’s promises of relief for small businesses, our investigation found that this money has mostly benefited private banks, business conglomerates, and medium-size companies. There has been almost no official relief for microenterprises.

People with small businesses told us they feel “completely abandoned.” And indeed, as early as April, 40% of MSMEs had already temporarily or permanently closed.

Meanwhile, huge pandemic-relief loans have been given to companies like Grupo Jaremar, which produces a quarter of the country’s African palm oil on 1,500 hectares of land in the Bajo Aguán region.

An investigation into how Christian fundamentalist leaders linked to the White House have made deals with certain presidents in Latin America, has won best journalistic investigation or story. 

The prize was awarded as part of the Ortega y Gasset Journalism Awards, which are named after the Spanish philosopher and journalist José Ortega y Gasset.

The investigation was a collaborative effort, which Contracorriente was glad to be a part of, along with 16 other media organizations or groups.

In the investigation, Gianina Segnini and Mónica Cordero, along with others, showed how these Evangelical fundamentalists had made deals with presidents such as Juan Orlando Hernández of Honduras, Ortega in Nicaragua, Morales in Guatemala, and Bolsonaro in Brazil.

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And with that, we sign off. Stay alert, stay informed, and we’ll see you on our website, or on Facebook or Twitter.💻