Honduras has become a minor participant in the world drama of an orchestrated invasion and migration that originates in South America and terminates at the border of the US.

“This unprecedented surge in illegal immigration isn’t an accident. It is the result of deliberate policy choices by the Biden administration,” said Tucker Carlson. Carlson is wrong. That deliberate policy only escalated during Biden administration. The interests that decide and control the US’s political spectrum have been implementing the replacement of US patronage with Chinese presence and, in some cases, dominance.

For over a century, the US would stress how vital Central America was to its security and that it holds a responsibility of defending the region. Just as the USA kicked out Britain from the Bay Islands in 1859, it is now inviting China to take a dominant role in the region, just like the communist country has in Africa over the last couple decades.

Panama, Nicaragua, and El Salvador have signed a memorandum of understanding about China’s Belt and Road initiative. Honduras, with Central America’s only deep water port facility, will also sign the document soon. In 2013, Nicaragua granted a 50 year concession to finance and manage the 173 mile transoceanic canal to a Chinese company with CPC ties. Once the canal is operational, the concession could be extended for another 50 years.

Honduras is not without significance to the US. About 70% of all cocaine destined for the US makes its way across Honduras’ waterways, or over ground. The country is important enough that the US stations 1,500 of its troops at Soto Cano military base. There are also dozens of agents from the CIA and other US agencies a operating throughout Honduras.

Conventional warfare is not the only way of creating mass migrations that reshape societies, change their value systems, and damage their economy. There is the economic degradation in Venezuela, Haiti, Cuba, and Nicaragua, but it is now increasingly China that is creating the most migrants.

Just as the USA kicked out Britain from the Bay Islands in 1859, it is now inviting China.

There are many reasons why the Chinese are leaving China and some going to the US illegally. One such reason is that China is getting rid of those that are not willing to partake in its open prison society controlled by camera, phone, social credit score surveillance and a control system named “skynet.”

The Chinese migrants interviewed along their way to the US tell stories of religious persecution, constant Chinese government surveillance, and imprisonment. They are describing a country that has become an open air prison.

A combination of draconian Covid lockdowns and China’s communist leader Xi Jinping’s increasingly repressive rule has pushed hundreds of thousands to flee China. They term it “runology”, or runxue in Chinese. Chinese Communist government has gotten two for one applying its zero Covid tolerance policy. On the one hand they have created a more obedient population, and on the other they created and strengthen bastions of Chinese presence abroad.

Another likely reason why China benefits from this migration to the US is the destabilization of the US. The flooding of the US with migrants, criminals, and intelligence agents has its precedents.

An example of a similar communist migrant flood effort was during the Mariel boatlift. In 1980, Cuba got rid of 125,000 people who were unwilling to live in the open prison that it created. As an added bonus – and a Trojan horse – the Cuban communist regime transferred 20 thousand hardened criminals to the US.

Since China implemented its one-child policy in 1979, the country has ended up with 35 million extra men. In 2020, there were a reported 111 boys born for every 100 girls. These Chinese men are both expandable and useful. While Cuba is a country of a mere 11 million people, communist China has 1.4 billion people. Instead of 125,000 Cubans, in a decade or so, the US could end up with 35 million Chinese.

The Chinese are organized and motivated. There are Chinese map apps guiding them from Ecuador to Colombia, then by boat around the Darien gap to Panama, then across Honduras to San Salvador and across Guatemala and Mexico to Tijuana, a city with a population of 15,000 Chinese. That is where the Chinese migrants usually cross into the US.

How does Honduras fit into all this? In all practically, Honduras has been bought by China. On March 25, 2023, Honduras severed diplomatic relations with Taiwan and signed on to the One China policy. Just two weeks prior to the switch, Honduran president Xiomara Castro has tried to squeeze out of Taiwan $2.5 billion to build a hospital, a dam, and write off of Honduras’ other debts.

“The government has managed to create an image of China as a savior,” said Helui Castillo, who is in charge of commercial policy at the Honduran Private Enterprise Council (COHEP), the country’s main business and trade organization.

This has been going on with the tacit acceptance of Honduran governments of not only Xiomara Castro, but Juan Orlando Hernández. Castro has recognized China and part of the deal, logically, is to turn a blind eye on the hundreds of thousands of Chinese illegals crossing Honduras on their way to the US.

According to Honduras’ National Institute of Migration in 2023, 545,000 “irregular” migrants were allowed into Honduras, on their way to United States. President Xiomara Castro is a bird of a feather like Trump or Biden. Like her predecessors, she has packed her government with relatives and ideological cronies. Her son and her husband, Mel Zelaya — a former president ousted in a 2009 coup supported by some of her current political opponents — are her chief presidential advisers. Her nephew is defense minister. Her daughter, a member of Congress, has figured prominently in the nascent relationship with China.

In all practically, Honduras has been bought by China.

Central America has gotten little visible payoff for the diplomatic switches, with the exception of Panama, where China now operates ports on both ends of the Panama Canal. While Honduras is a minor participant along the way, Panama is a much bigger participant.

A bridge is being built across the river Chucunaque river at the Panamanian town of Yaviza, the site of a new bridge construction that will make it easier to make the journey. At the beginning of civilization in Panama there is Bajo Chiquito that in 2023 was receiving 800-1000 migrants every day. When the Darien Gap ceases to exist and connects Panama and Colombia via road, the trickle of migrants will very likely become a flood.

Absent from the Darien are any reporters from mainstream news organizations. It might seem odd that a photojournalist in search of a Pulitzer Prize would not make it down to the Darien to cover this story, unless a decision was made to blackball it by the publishers of news organizations. There are no US Congressmen making their way to the Darien to investigate either.

Also, fascinatingly, there is no presence of US agencies such as CIA, DEA, or the military whatsoever in Panama’s Darien. Only 20 years ago, Panama was considered the US’s back yard and an important outpost. What can only be concluded is that there is an enormous migration leading to a planned event and that migration involves collusion in international players, to the silence of controlled media.

After it sunk in late 1958, Marjorie E. was one of Roatan’s biggest wrecks for decades, and a prominent landmark at the entrance of the Oak Ridge channel.

Oak Ridge Cay resident Miguel de la Cruz Pérez, now 100 years old, was a seaman on the ship the night it sank. He enlisted as a merchant seaman in 1956 and had worked for two years on Marjorie E. before her fateful voyage.

The ship was on her typical route between Galveston, Texas and Guayaquil, Ecuador where she had a contract to pick up bananas for shipment back to the US.

Captain George Cooper and several other crew members were from Roatan, so they planned to stop for a couple days in Oak Ridge. Victor Cooper, Daniel Stanley, Nieland Moore, Flowers, Landon Gaugh, Rex Gaugh, and Arnaldo Valladares were among the islanders in the crew. Captain Cooper was even bringing his wife and three children for a Christmas visit. Neither the boat owners nor the insurance company were informed about the ship’s stop on Roatan.

Majorie E was in dire straits.

Marjorie E. docked in Coxen Hole to clear immigration and paperwork with the port captain. After delays, the ship left Coxen Hole just as the sun was setting. She sailed full steam into the eastern wind and waved towards Oak Ridge.

There are still people who remember witnessing the accident from the shore. Mrs. Elana Cooper was seven years old when she watched the ship crash into the reef. “There was a heavy north eastern wind and rain,” said Mrs. Cooper. Several islander families were expecting to see their loved ones before Christmas, and excitement was in the air. “I remember seeing the light from the boat. Coming into harbor is very dangerous,” said Cooper. “Something appeared to go wrong and the ship hit the reef.”

As Marjorie E. made the turn to the Oak Ridge channel, the crew realized the rudder suffered a hydraulic failure. Majorie E was in dire straits. Capt. Cooper tried to steer the vessel using two of her propellers, but the maneuver was done in vain. The heavy eastern wind and current were pushing Marjorie E straight into the reef. “She’s going on shore! She’s going on shore!” Cooper remembers her mother and aunts screaming.

Captain Cooper ordered a secondary anchor to be lowered to Marjorie E.’s only rescue boat and hauled east into the waves. Her crew used a wrench to tighten the rope and tried to pull the ship off the reef. This task was Sisyphean as the ship was simply too heavy, and was being pushed hard by the wind and the waves.

Still, being practically empty, Marjorie E was light enough that she pushed right on top of the reef where sharp coral made a hole right in the engine room floor. As the water poured in, the generators seized and the ship went dark. Islander Rex Gaugh, Marjorie E’s first engineer, simply didn’t have any options.

Two rope ladders were lowered on the ship’s side and De La Cruz jumped overboard with his duffle bag full of clothes. He was waist deep in the water and could stand on the coral. None of the crew was hurt.

“They never paid a cent,” he said of the insurance company.

On that fateful night, Roatan gained both a large wreck and two new islanders: Mexican sailor Miguel de la Cruz and Candelario Ventura Palacios. Both would go on to meet their wives on the island.

Soon after Marjorie E’s sinking, rumors began to swirl that it was intentionally sunk by the boat’s owner in order to cash in on insurance money. The testimony of witnesses points towards an accident. De La Cruz recalls that the boat’s owners were very upset and that they never collected any insurance money. “They never paid a cent,” he said of the insurance company. The insurance company claimed that Roatan was an unscheduled stop, and therefore not covered by their policy.

The imposing ship didn’t block the Oak Ridge harbor entrance, but for decades it served as a large and auspicious marker for vessels passing through.

Islanders helped themselves to whatever they could find on the abandoned ship. “They drove her up and sold her for scrap,” remembers Mrs. Cooper, who has a couple white porcelain serving plates from the boat. Her uncle Harvey had a light from the ship that he turned into a lamp. Someone else ended up with the ship’s bell.

Truman Jones, an island seaman, assisted in retrieving Marjorie E.’s anchor in April 1967. It was cleaned up and used by The Hybur, the first metal boat owned by the Hyde family.

“We all grew up swimming and diving around her”

Time, salt, water, and wind has since eaten away at the ship’s metal carcass. Marjorie E. eventually broke into two pieces with only her bow remaining visible on the reef. Both Hurricane Francelia in 1969 and Hurricane Fifi in 1974 pounded the Marjorie E. into smaller pieces that then sunk into the coral and off the reef’s wall. “Every time we had a hurricane, it would break her up even more,” said Mrs. Cooper. “One of the hurricanes even moved her bow.” It took about 20 years for the ship to completely disappear below the water’s surface.

American expat Erick Anderson used to snorkel around the wreck in 1966. Back then, her stern had sunk below the surface and her bow remained above water, next to the reef wall. “We all grew up swimming and diving around her,” remembers Cooper. There was a “giant engine,” and the metal carcass that was known to house the biggest Moray eels.

President Maduro’s “One small country, three big worlds” slogan just wasn’t working. In 2008 on her visit on Roatan, Paola Bonilla, Honduran Minister of Tourism announced a new slogan and said that the slogan was the result of “years of work and studies aimed at choosing a phrase that summed up the national identity.” The result: “Todo Esta Aqui” or “It’s all here in Honduras.” This slogan lasted eight years. Then Honduras yet again went looking for its identity. The result was different, but arguably an improvement: “Somos para ti.” “We are Land and Sea; We are People; We are heart; We are for you.” The tax payer bill for this insight? I dare not speculate.

Honduras is not alone. Most countries now have ministries of tourism. At taxpayer expense, consultants and marketing firms spend countless hours at the behest of the government developing and implementing campaigns to communicate “the essence” of their county’s identity.

You don’t need a ministry of something or other to tell you about your identity

Panama invested millions to figure out it is “Where the World Meets,” and the phase has done Panama well. The most well branded country of the region: Costa Rica also has the best slogan. It works, it’s catchy and they have no plans of letting it go:“Costa Rica – no artificial ingredients.”

Nicaragua saved some money and research and called itself simply “Unique,” and it certainly is. El Salvador went simply with “Impressive.” Belize’s slogan is “Mother’s Nature best kept secret,” and in 2006 Guatemala launched its campaign “Soul of the Earth.”

Even the US, managing to function without a ministry of tourism, has come up with a slogan, although a weak one: “All within your reach,” a bit ironic for the many people getting their visa applications rejected at the US embassies.

Even Roatan felt it needed to define itself. Mayor Dorn Ebanks decided Old Roatan wasn’t good enough and gave us “New Roatan.” He only lasted one term and the future of the catchphrase doesn’t look good either. There is a theory about the wisdom of crowds. When asked to estimate number of jelly beans in a jar or a weight of a cow, the average of hundreds of people’s guesses comes amazingly close to the truth, much closer to truth than the estimate of a single jelly bean or cow expert. Recently Roatanians decided to create their own branding phase and pay for it themselves. Gigantic “ I ♡ Roatan,” “I ♡ Roa” signs seem be spontaneously popping up all over the island – at no cost to the taxpayer.

Indeed maybe you don’t need a ministry of something or other to tell you about your identity. Maybe you need an explorer like Columbus, or a crowd of business owners and locals to come up with a viable name, phrase and a look.

Also, perhaps the key part of any successful country branding strategy is constancy. So let me suggest: let’s stick to something and let’s go back to the roots. And if a new slogan for Honduras is needed I have one: “Honduras – really deep.”