After the apparent failure of political negotiations and blockade of dialogue to resolve the crisis, the European Commission announced on Monday that it is freezing $90m of aid to Honduras. “Given the circumstances, I have taken the difficult decision to suspend all budgetary support payments,” said External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner. For now, the aid budget of $90m, which corresponds to the allotment for the period 2007-2010, is frozen and will remain such if the present crisis continues, according to the organization. In total, the EU had planned to spend 223 million euros for Honduras aid, covering the period 2007-2013.
The EU regrets that it has not been possible so far to reach a mutually agreed solution to the crisis in Honduras, but stresses that the dialogue will resume shortly and requests opposing parties to demonstrate their willingness to take steps to resolve the crisis. Ferrero-Waldner also called on both parties to refrain from any action or statement that might lead to an escalation of tension and make the possibility of a solution more difficult to achieve.
The EU warns that the present political crisis is something that Honduras cannot afford. The organization had already withdrawn its ambassador in Honduras in protest of the removal of Zelaya, and suspended negotiations for an association agreement between the EU and Central America.
Honduras is the second poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, ahead only of Haiti. Over 66 percent of families in rural Honduras live in extreme poverty, subsisting on less than $1 per person a day. Approximately 50,000 children under the age of five die every year from unclean drinking water. 80 percent of the illnesses in Honduras are caused by the water they drink.
Via BBC
