Paradise in Garifuna communities in Cayos Cochinos, Honduras

I think I found paradise in Honduras.

Its paradise because unlike the neoliberal tourist project 'Los Micos' funded by the InterAmerican Development Bank proposed for Tela Bay, Honduras and another top-down "development" cruise ship dock and gated community project being built by Canadians in Trujillo Bay, the Garifuna community of Cacahuate on a small 'cayo', runs and practices their own vision of tourism.

Approximately 40 Garifuna families living on Cacahuate, pool and share the money earned by cooking delicious plates of fish, lobster and shrimp for visiting tourists and providing home stays for those that wish to be completely surrounded by the ocean as they sleep at night. As a politically organized community, Cacahuate fought hard with help from the Garifuna organization, OFRANEH (Organización Fraternal Negra de Honduras) against powerful interests to keep their island from being taken away from them.

The new Military Police make their debut

The new Military Police in Honduras marching in the National Stadium in Tegucigalpa on September 15th Independence Day. This picture is terrible - I took it while watching the reruns of the videos aired on Honduran TV over and over again. This is probably one of the first public appearances of the Military Police or 'Policia Militar del Orden Publico', a new force created by a new law approved by the Honduran Congress in April 2013. The new police unit, under the control of the Honduran Armed Forces, is training in Naco, Honduras, the same base where the TIGRES, another military-style police force created earlier this year is training as well. The NACO Regional base is just outside of San Pedro Sula and the location of a former (as far as I know) U.S. Forward Operating Base. Based on its public appearance on September 15, I think its far to say that these guys are scary looking. And I'm just talking about their overall physical image. As Hondurans head to the polls to vote in the 2013 General Elections in November and the Honduran military are in the streets performing police functions; the creation of the two specialized military police forces is another example of the extreme militarization of Honduran society.