ABSTRACT
Honduras, the definitive banana republic, a self-confessed backyard of the United States – and long-serving military base – is a disjointed country. 1 The northern region, for decades little more than an oversized US banana plantation, is centred on San Pedro Sula, a modern city built from the profits of fruit export. A US rather than a Honduran flag flies from the new cultural centre, an imposing building in the middle of the city. Tegucigalpa, in the south, serves as the nominal capital. The letters of “C-o-c-a C-o-l-a” dominate the hillsides above both cities, reminiscent of the “H-o-l-l-y-w-o-o-d” lettering on Beverly Hills. The two are divided by a mountainous national park dominated by the spectacular Lake Yojoa. Until 1970, travellers between Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula, on what one would expect to be the main road in the country, had to cross the lake by ferry. This added a beautiful, though debilitating, two hours to their journey, and gave an indication of the country’s lack of national unity.
