On today's El Boletin: 

🇬🇹 Guatemala elections: Honduras' Attorney General Election: Congressional deadlock

📚Recommended Articles: Crime and Punishment: The Twin Threats Faced by Journalists in Central America | By Adrian Shabaz from Freedom House

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Congressional Deadlock

Before the crowd marched to the National Congress building, the president told them to trust the process and hope for a consensus for the election. Even before the election, it was clear that the president's party, Libre, did not have enough votes to elect its choices for attorney general and deputy attorney general. 

Meanwhile, in the halls of Congress, members of the different political parties could not agree on a proposal. That Tuesday, Congress was unable to reach a consensus, so it postponed the vote until Thursday, August 31. But Thursday was no different, the proposals remained the same and none of them was able to reach the ⅔ majority required. 

The term of the Attorney General and his deputy ended on September 1st, and Congress had until then to elect a new leadership.
 

The candidates, the process and the disputes

The "Ministerio Publico," also known as the Public Prosecutor's Office, in Honduras, is structured similarly to the Department of Justice found throughout Latin America and the U.S. The Attorney General is essentially the head of all legal investigations in the country. They oversee the regional attorneys general, special prosecutors, and investigative units. The position is one of the most important roles in the country, especially in the fight against corruption. 

The AG and Deputy AG serve 5-year terms, and both the AG and Deputy AG must be elected by Congress at the same time. 

In Honduras, there is also the practice of having a Nominating Board. Similar to the process for electing Supreme Court magistrates, the Nominating Board, composed of appointed professionals, presents a certain number of candidates with a score based on a specific rubric. In the case of this election, the required number of candidates was 5. 

However, when Congress received the list with their respective scores, a multipartisan commission decided to use a different rubric and set their own scores. Last Tuesday, the multipartisan commission presented its scores. The difference between the scores of the Nominating Board and the Congress was not that different, but it definitely favored the proposal of the Libre Party, as it ranked their two choices as having the highest scores.

Johel Zelaya 90% 
Marcio Cabañas 84%
Jenny Almendares 78%
Mario Morazan 76% 
Pablo Reyes -

Jenny Almendares 95%
Marcio Cabañas 84%
Mario Morazan 87%
Johel Zelaya 80% 
Pablo Reyes 75%

The proposal presented by the official Libre Party named Johel Zelaya as Attorney General and Marcio Cabañas as Deputy Attorney General. The proposal presented by the opposition (Partido Salvador de Honduras, the Liberal Party, and the Nationalist Party) named Marcio Cabañas as attorney general and Jenny Almendares as deputy attorney general.

On Friday, September 1, Contracorriente held a discussion in the Twitter space with Ramon Enrique Barrios, a member of the Liberal Congress, and Jhosy Toscano, leader of the Partido Salvador faction and a member of Congress. In the discussion, both agreed that it was their fault for not reaching a consensus. 

When asked why the two different factions were not able to reach a consensus, even though they both included Marcio Cabañas in their proposal, Enrique Barrios explained that it is very different to have him as Attorney General and then as Deputy Attorney General. 

Meanwhile, Congresswoman Maria Antonieta Mejia, of the Nationalist Party, said that it was because of the "lack of will and dialogue" of Libre. She said that since the official party took power, it has tried to impose itself on the opposition, accusing it of being stuck in the past. 

The president of Congress, Luis Redondo, suspended the session and said that Congress would reconvene as soon as an agreement was reached between the political parties.

The fight for a brand new "Ministerio Publico"

It may not be a good strategy to be stuck in the past if Congress wants to turn the page, but forgetting definitely won't help. 

Former - and now, according to the opposition, interim - Attorney General Oscar Chinchilla served in the position for 10 years, since 2013, and has been accused of enabling the narco-state during his tenure. 

Contracorriente published an investigation detailing how the prosecutor's office, headed by Chinchilla, ignored several reports linking various drug trafficking operations to then-President Juan Orlando Hernandez. 

Chinchilla's election in 2013 was also seen by many as questionable. The previous Attorney General had been forced out of office, and many members of Congress thought he would only serve out the remainder of his term. But Chinchilla stayed. 

According to Congressman Barrios, during the first election of Attorney General Chinchilla, the vote was full of political manipulation and he did not even receive a qualifying grade from the nominating board. In his second election, he did not even go through the nominating process and was again elected by circumventing the constitutional process. 


These details have been constantly brought up by members of the Libre Party, who claim that this AG election is the restoration of the constitutional process. However, this year's election, or rather the lack thereof, has also been questioned.

The deadline for electing a new attorney general and deputy attorney general was before September 1. Now that Congress has not elected anyone, the question remains: who is in charge of the Ministerio Publico? 

Members of the Libre Party want nothing to do with the former AG, they have made it clear that they believe that the former Attorney General Chinchilla was a pawn of the Nationalist Party and the narco-state, so now they are claiming that as of September 1st, the leadership of the Ministerio Publico is vacant. They claim that although the position of Attorney General remains vacant, the various special departments, such as Uferco, an independent special anti-corruption unit created this year, can continue to operate. 

Article 233 of the Constitution clearly states that the term of office of the AG and his deputy is only 5 years. However, Article 80 of the Organic Law of the National Congress, which establishes the guidelines for positions elected by the legislative power, states that if Congress has not elected new authorities by that time, the former officeholders will remain in office until their successors are elected. 

Members of the opposition have decided to adhere to Article 80, claiming that Chinchilla is still in office. But Libre has sided with the constitutional interpretation of a sharp 5-year term limit. 

This has caused a lot of unnecessary discussion about the constitutionality of the process, but the main issue remains: Congress still has not elected a new leadership. It is expected that Congress will reconvene this coming week to finally elect a brand new leadership for the Ministerio Publico.

🌟 Coverage by Celeste Maradiaga and Fernando Silva

This boletin would have not been able to be done without the coverage of our reporters Celeste Maradiaga and Fernando Silva who stayed till 3am in Congress covering the election! Also shout out to Jorge Cabrera and Fernando Destephen for the photography coverage.

🌎 For more information check out Contracorriente's full AG election coverage, Codigo Justicia, here (In Spanish) 
 

Crime and Punishment: The Twin Threats Faced by Journalists in Central America | By Adrian Shabaz from Freedom House
 

Latin America is a dangerous place to practice journalism. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, the region accounted for nearly half of all killings of reporters and media workers in 2022. And while Mexico topped the list as the world’s deadliest country for the press, alarming developments in the neighboring states of Central America have garnered less attention.

Journalists in Central America have long faced extralegal violence in reprisal for investigating organized crime, corruption, and its impact on local communities. But their courageous work to expose official abuse and, in some cases, government collusion with violent gangs has also put them solidly in the crosshairs of corrupt political leaders. The spread of repressive tactics from one country to another suggests that authoritarians in the area may be learning from one another in their quest to consolidate wealth and power at the expense of the public interest.

🗞 Check the full article here

Our No. 100 of our English newsletter!!! 🎉🥳

The 100th issue of our English newsletter!!! 🎉🥳

This newsletter is our #100 and we are so happy to have you as part of our Contracorriente English community! 

As the community grows, so does our content, and from now on we'll be expanding the newsletter to include more voices from the community! 

Stay tuned for the next El Boletin, where we'll be bringing back Central American News Roundup 🌎, Migration News 🚌 , and a new section - Chronicles from the Diaspora🌻!

We'll also feature more art and independent projects to amplify independent journalism!!

Also stay tuned for Season 3 of our English Podcast- Migration Matters 🎙️!!

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Message from the editor!

Interested in collaborating or participating in El Boletin/CC English?
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Abrazos,

Jorge Paz Reyes 

English Content Editor

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