Commentary: Honduras government takes over the only Garifuna hospital in the country
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| Published on Wednesday, August 19, 2009 | Email To Friend Print Version
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By Wellington C Ramos
Under the leadership of Doctor Luther Castillo and other Garinagu people who reside in Honduras and the United States, the Garifuna people were able to establish a hospital for themselves to deal with the medical problems their people face daily in Honduras. This hospital was one of the initiatives that were supported by the recently ousted president Manuel Zelaya.
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| Born in Dangriga Town, the cultural capital of Belize, Wellington Ramos has an M.A. in Urban Studies from Long Island University |
This hospital is located in the Garifuna coastal town of Iriona and the Garifuna people from other parts of Honduras travel all the way there to seek medical treatment. They have dealt with over 176,000 cases so far. This hospital is also getting support from the United States, Cuba, universities, United Nations and other international health agencies. It is staffed with Garifuna doctors and nurses who have studied in Cuba, Honduras, United States and other countries.
Since the overthrow of President Zelaya, there have been demonstrations in several Garinagu communities calling on the current government to allow him to return to Honduras and be re-seated.
Roatan, Honduras, was the first place that the Garifuna people were brought as prisoners of war when they lost the war with the British on March 11, 1797, in their native homeland Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. At the time of the deportation only about 3,000 of these people survived the long, gruesome journey on several vessels to Honduras where they landed on April 12, 1797.
This defeat ended years of fighting between the Garinagu people and the British over their territories and their King Joseph Chatoyer was later killed. Another famous Garifuna general who fought alongside King Joseph Chatoyer was General Hugo from the island of Nevis, which formed a union with Saint Kitts to become one country. In the 1800s, there was an uprising in Honduras, which led to the massacre of several Garifuna people in Honduras.
This uprising forced many Garinagu people to flee to Nicaragua, Guatemala and Belize where they reside to this day. Honduras has the most Garifuna people in the world, followed by the United States and then Belize. Despite the different countries they reside in, most of these people are closely related and maintain daily communications with their relatives in these respective countries.
This unrest in Honduras, if it continues, could lead to many of these Garifuna people leaving Honduras to go and join their relatives in Belize and the United States. This action on the part of the current Honduran government could be considered a gross violation of the Garifuna people’s human rights. The act of forcefully closing down a hospital that takes care of the sick and needy by the military is not one that falls into good behavior with any humanitarian government or agency throughout this world.
As a Garifuna from Belize who has relatives all over Honduras, like many other Garifuna people from Nicaragua, Guatemala and Belize, I call on all Garifuna people throughout Central America and the world to file a complaint with Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the United Nations, the United States, other countries and international agencies to condemn this outrageous act.
The Garifuna people who are seeking treatment for their diseases and are currently on medication may not be able to survive while this unrest is ongoing.
In addition, I call on all Garifuna associations throughout the world, such as the National Garifuna Council in Belize, The United Garifuna Association Inc. in the United States, GAHFU in Los Angeles, Garifuna Coalition USA Inc. and all the other Garinagu associations in the respective countries where Garinagu people reside, to speak out against this injustice.
The Honduras government is currently under the control of the Honduran military. It is not going to be easy for the Garifuna people to protest against this government for fear of their lives. The Honduran military has demonstrated over the years that they would just shoot any person who is protesting against the government without any questions asked.
Most Belizean Garifuna people have been told several sad stories by their relatives who resided in Honduras over the years and the reasons why they had to leave and come and live in Belize. Belize and the United States are the only two countries where the Garifuna people can live in peace without having any problems with their governments.
This incident is cause for alarm because, if this current regime remains in power, the effect on the Garifuna people might become worse in the near future.
In this article, the word Garinagu is used interchangeably with Garifuna. Garinagu is the collective word for Garifuna when referring to the same people from different communities or countries. Garifuna is used more to describe our people as opposed to Garinagu by non-Garifuna speaking people. | | | | Reads : 1189 | | | |
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