Bay Islands Attorneys Vote

The favorite to win was the Patria y Justicia [Fatherland and Justice] movement, headed by Gustavo Solórzano. “He is a personal friend of mine, we were classmates in Law School,” said Alejandro Tugliani, who ran on the FJ ticket in Roatan. “There are two philosophies – the collective interest of the chapter and personal interest of everybody. I represent the collectivity.”

The vote followed the February 3 internal vote within the movement. “Two years ago it was more friendly, this was more hostile,” remembers Tugliani. “I think the other side is a bit self-motivated. (…) There was a lot of political interference.”

CAH is a political entity, as it proposes 15 candidates for the Honduran Supreme court every seven years. The CAH’s power to appoint candidates for the Supreme Court then has tremendous command, as the Supreme Court appoints nine appellate judges, 66 first instance courts, and 325 justices of the peace. “Some people [within CAH] have political motivations,” said Tugliani.

The CAH Roatan began in 2012 and there are currently around 250 attorneys in the Roatan CAH. “We are a small chapter, but strong,” said Paula Bonilla, running as second vocal in the Vindicator Democratic Front.

Officially, four movements took part in the primaries and three of them formed an informal coalition under the Frente Reivindicador Democrático [FRD] umbrella. “We started late, but we have them sweating,” said Paula Bonilla. “We are winners. That is our joy, that is our pride.”

Two years ago it was more friendly, this was more hostile.

“I worked at the supreme court of justice for 12 years,” said Breisy Banegas, who has been residing on Roatan for two-and-a-half-years. “Now I am “Juez de Letras” in the Bay Islands.”

The winner needed 50% of the votes plus one. After the voting closed at 5 p.m., the votes reflected 129 cast for Alejandro Tugliani and 58 for Breisy Banegas. “Ever attorney who was on Roatan did vote,” said Tugliani. “I am very happy that we inspired everybody to come,” said Tugliani.

In the national elections, Gustavo Solórzano ended up winning. His competitor, Karla Alegria, national leader of the FRD came in second. She was offered the position as vice president.

After just 12 years of existence, the CAH Roatan chapter is gaining influence at the national level. Bay Islands is a place where big real estate deals are done, and some sizable companies on a national scale are based: RECO, BIP, Galaxy Wave, and Sun Corporation to name a few.

Tough Times among Uncertainty, Fear and Government Restrictions

Roatan’s tourism services and hotel sectors have been hit the hardest by the March shut down. While many hotels have fired most of their employees and shut down completely some have dug in and focused on renovations and expansion. Anthony’s Key Resort is building a new seafront restaurant for their future cruise ship guests and Meridian hotel in West Bay has focused on finishing construction of condominiums.

Edward and Laura Moulder, Meridian’s owners, take the lockdown as a time to do improvements, maintenance and construction. The Meridian is a hotel and condominium development that started in 2007. Meridian has dug into their rainy-day fund, but most of Roatan’s hotels don’t have that luxury. “I am shocked how few businesses have had reserves set up,” said Laura Moulder. “We are continuing to pay employees. We feel the island is going to get worse off if we don’t pay. (…) Important to maintain the impression that Roatan is safe and organized.”

Laura Moulder believes that the key for Roatan’s recovery lies in local businesses working together at presenting the island businesses join together and market Roatan as a safe place just like Cayman Islands or Belize have been doing. She feels that recovery from the shutdown will be different than after the 2008-2009 financial crisis and Micheletti political coup that caused the island economy to retract for over two years. “The turnaround should come quite quickly,” she says. “People have been putting their lives on hold. We will see a lot of urban money leaving.  A lot of urbanites will make that move.”

That is as long as these “urban refugees” have funds to do so. With over 40 million Americans who filed for unemployment over the US shut down policy, fewer and fewer have the money to invest or travel.

There is a noticeable capital flight as Americans are ready to sell their homes in urban areas and look for safety in rural areas and the Caribbean. Turks and Caicos are benefiting from a luxury home boom as North Americans look for safe place to live, seek refuge or telecommute. This Caribbean country has cut duty and planning fees and waiving duties on construction materials. If it plays its cards right Roatan could also be in line to benefit.

Before the economic turnaround many businesses will go broke. Businesses that didn’t have a rainy-day fund aren’t doing that well. Casa Marmol, a stone finish store, closed its store at the Megaplaza Mall alongside several other businesses there.

RAS Express, an air shipping company that has been doing business since 2001 has called it quits. Gil Garcia, RAS Express’ owner, had to let go of six of his eight employees in Coxen Hole. With the airport being closed he can’t provide shipping services his business is based on. “I blame both municipalities. For the longest time Roatan was clear [of COVID-19]. They should have helped people that were stuck on the mainland instead they just came here illegally,” says Garcia. “I gave up on central government a long time ago.”

Garcia is one of the few people not afraid to criticize the almost five month long, chaotic and indiscriminate government policy of locking down healthy people and business. The isolation, fear and confusion has produced a chilling effect on the island. Many are fearful to criticize the local government officials, central government, or police.

Other than shipping dozens of COVID-19 positive police officers to the island the central government has been doing little to help Roatan handle the shutdown crisis. For one, the title registry office has been open only for two days in May, and that’s it. There is no way to proceed if someone wanted to buy or sell a property.

The next financial crisis on Roatan might come from the looming foreclosures on thousands of loans on properties and vehicles.

Some businesses are getting creative in trying to pay their staff dependent on tourists. West End’s Sundowners Bar has eight local staff and its owners resorted to doing a raffle to pay some of the staff’s $4,000 monthly salaries.  “The island has been shut down for almost four months. No cruise ships, no flights, no tourists. (…) our local staff is hurting,” wrote on social media Aaron Etches about his iconic Roatan bar.

Some businesses are actually thriving. Island Shipping, cargo shipping between Roatan and the mainland, has taken over freight business that before the shutdown was handled by the Galaxy Wave ferry.

While Galaxy Wave had practically no business since mid-March but it has managed to update much of its on-land facilities and two of its ferries. “We took time to do the general maintenance. We painted the engine room, seats, we redid lifeboats, (…) we redid the sales counter,” said Jesus Reyes, Galaxy Wave manager, adding that the operations are aimed to return in mid-August. “We are quite ready to start operating. We are just waiting what the airlines and airport want to do.”

Some businesses have managed to opened new locations, or even expand their operations. Serrano Industrial hardware store opened a long planed second location in Coxen Hole. CARNIAGRO, an agricultural supplies store, moved to a new, bigger location in French Harbour. “Now we are selling many seeds and plant products,” said Greg Norman, owner of CARNIAGRO.

While hardware stores and agricultural supplies stores are not as dependent on tourism and keep the island economy afloat, they are struggling as well. “We are doing half the sales we did in January,” said Oscar Oseguera, Madeyso’s General Sales Manager who moved to Roatan form La Ceiba several weeks ago to help run the two Madeyso stores on Roatan.

The next financial crisis on Roatan might come from the looming foreclosures on thousands of loans on properties and vehicles. While Honduras Central government have imposed a moratorium on banks not to require payments from debtors for three months that expired in mid-June. On July 1 many struggled to renegotiate terms with their Honduran lending institutions.

Banco Atlántida, Honduras’ biggest lender, owns a big stake in Roatan’s defaulted properties. “[Banco] Atlántida is not very forgiving under normal circumstances,” said Laura Moulder. For over 20 years Banco Atlántida has amassed hundreds of acres of Roatan land and properties and it is likely to take over more properties in the months to come.

Sink boat at Tulum.

Dixon Cove Is Home To Two Most Photographs Wrecks In The Caribbean

Tulum rests in the channel entrance to Dixon Cove, the biggest tonnage harbor in Honduras, just a stone’s throw from Harris Stamp Cay, a hundred meters west of Mahogany Bay Cruise Ship Terminal, and two hundred meters from Galaxy Wave Ferry Terminal.

Tulum’s story goes back to 1979 when Roatan was a little known luscious green island.  Islander Luey McLaughlin was at work as one of the managers at Anthony’s Key Resort [AKR] when he spotted a vessel in distress. Tulum was on her way from Puerto Cortez to the Dominican Republic, she was loaded top to bottom with pine lumber and leaning heavy to her side. “The locals were jumping in, fishing out all the lumber that was floating,” says Julio Galindo, who was also an AKR manager at the time.

“I drove to Allan Hyde as he had a boat capable of towing such a big vessel,” said McLaughlin. There were no phones on the island and driving to deliver a message was the quickest way to communicate in a situation like this.

“She was leaning very heavy,” remembers Shawn Hyde who was a teenager at the time of the incident. Shawn is a son of Allan Hyde, who ended up salvaging Tulum. Capt. Denny Jones went out with one of Allan Hyde’s shrimp boats and towed Tulum to Coxen Hole harbor. There she remained for many months before being towed to French Harbour.

In the 1980s and 1990s most of the paint rusted away

Tulum’s cargo of Honduran pine lumber was unloaded in French Harbour and sold on the mainland. The money was put into an escrow account to pay for salvage and other claims. Some people say that the Tulum’s owners botched an insurance scam and that the captain just opened the wrong ballast valves.

“A bad storm was on its way and it was decided to tow Tulum to a safe harbor in Dixon Cove,” said McLaughlin. Back then Dixon Cove was a secluded place, filled with mangrove with almost no one living there. “There was nothing here, just mangroves.”  The towing operation got complicated and the boat drifted onto the reef. “The way she sunk caused no hazard as far as entrance to the harbor,” said McLaughlin. “The Honduran Naval came and discharged the bunker fuel in her tank.” Once the bunker fuel was drained the ship no longer caused a danger to the reef or waters.

A couple of years later, US Navy special forces came to see if it was worth it for them to practice salvage operations on Tulum. The early 1980s was the time of the Nicaraguan Contra war and the US military was running many covert operations out of Honduras. “The hull was already fractured and they decided against it,” said McLaughlin. Ultimately, the Navy Seals did  their training with a boat named Wendy that was floated from Coxen Hole and towed away into deep waters south of the island.

In the 1980s and 1990s most of the paint rusted away and by the early 2000s a hull was still visible and its metal crane still standing high. One could swim inside the hull like it was a gothic cathedral. The hull bent and collapsed under its own weight around 2006. “If people didn’t cut the hull up for scrap metal she would still be there,” said Shawn Hyde. A few times over the years locals boarded Tulum to salvage scrap metal for resale.

The strongest part of the ship, and the part most resistant to salt water, storms, and scavengers,  was the engine.  It remains intact, still visible to passengers entering Dixon Cove.