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transformation (Garretón, 2001). This deeply divided Guatemala, El Salvador, and
‘reformist’ citizen activism is fuelled by the Nicaragua. However, a natural disaster dev-
heightened expectations brought to the fore astated the country. In 1998, Hurricane Mitch
by political democratization, and also by the severely damaged Honduras’ economy and a
sense of injustice created by the perceived full recovery is yet to be seen. Ricardo
disconnection between state and society Maduro, a USA-educated centre-to-right
(Davis and Rosan, 2004). businessman, was elected president in 2001.
In this chapter, we analyze the discourse of He promised a crackdown on violent crime,
forty social activists in El Salvador and which many Hondurans believe is one of the
Honduras. They belong to different kinds of main problems in their country. Crime, con-
organizations and movements: community- ducted mainly by youth gangs known as
based initiatives, labour unions, NGOs, maras, is obviously linked to the fact that
student associations, political parties, and economic inequality is rife in Honduran soci-
women’s groups. Some of them hold posi- ety. Poverty and unemployment are prevalent
tions of leadership, while others are regular among the majority of citizens. The neo-
members. The interviews were all conducted liberal reforms carried out during the 1990s
in March 2004 by the same person. At that sharply reduced the number of unionized
time, El Salvador was going through an elec- jobs and significantly weakened the labour
toral process: the fifth presidential election unions. The labour movement nevertheless
since the democratic transition in 1979 and continues to play an important role in
the third since the 1992 Peace Treaty signed Honduras. It probably embodies for most
between the government and the leftist guer- Hondurans the essence of the popular move-
rilla movement known as the Frente Farabundo ment, more than any other organization,
Martí para la Liberación Nacional (FMLN), including left-wing political parties.
to end a 12-year civil war that cost more than El Salvador and Honduras represent two
70,000 lives. The FMLN, which had since different societal outcomes in the context of
become a political party and entered the common structural conditions. Both coun-
political system, arrived second in the elec- tries, much like their neighbours, are eco-
tion held on March 21, 2004. The right-wing nomically dependent and their wealth is
candidate of the Alianza Republicana distributed very unequally, with a majority of
Nacionalista (ARENA), Antonio Saca, became citizens living in poverty. Despite Honduras’
the new president with almost 58% of the comparatively better record, democratic
votes. Quite understandably, El Salvador is a institutions are fragile in Central America
highly polarized society. Salvadorians have a and the rule of law is far from being upheld
fresh memory of the civil war and, particu- fully, particularly in regard to socially and
larly among FMLN supporters, of the vio- culturally marginalized populations. We chose
lence exerted by death squads of the extreme El Salvador and Honduras for the first phase
right not only on guerrilla fighters, but also of our comparative study because of the sim-
2
on ordinary citizens, progressive priests, and ilarities and differences between them. On
union leaders. the one hand, although Honduras is ‘poorer’
Honduras is one of the poorest countries in than El Salvador (in terms of per capita
the hemisphere, but it can be seen as a rela- Gross Domestic Product, 1990–97 average:
tively stable society when compared to its US$ 753 and US$ 1,392 respectively), these
neighbours in Central America. While two countries have a similar level
Honduras has certainly been plagued by of human development (as measured by the
numerous rebellions, civil wars, and changes United Nations Development Programme:
of government, it accomplished a democratic Honduras ranks 117th and El Salvador ranks
transition in the early 1980s and has 101st out of 177 countries in 2004) and share
since been spared the political conflicts that several demographic features (e.g., comparable