The ASJ (formerly known as AJS)-supported Transformemos Honduras movement says Honduras’ Minister of Health, Dr. Arturo “Tuky” Bendaña, should be fired for going behind the back of a transparency commission and spending double the fair price in a $10.5 million-dollar medicine purchase carried out in May, and for mishandling a dengue fever epidemic that has resulted in at least 56 deaths so far in 2010.
Transformemos Honduras: Government Bought Medicines At Double Fair Price, Through Illegal Process
October 30, 2010
In-Depth Investigation Reveals Corruption
Honduras’ public health system should be—and sometimes is—a boon to the 66% of the population living below the poverty line, offering medication, doctor’s appointments, and even complex surgeries free or at low cost. Unfortunately, it’s also rife with corruption.
In August the ecumenical Christian Transformemos Honduras (“Let’s Transform Honduras”) movement, which is supported by ASJ, unveiled the results of an exhaustive investigation into the Ministry of Health’s million-dollar medicine acquisitions program.
Major findings included the following:
- The law clearly states that a civil society commission must oversee all government medicine purchases to ensure they are carried out free of corruption. But commission members confirmed that the $10.5 million purchase in May was done behind their backs.
- In a sampling of 22 of the 405 medicines purchase, the government paid on average more than double the amount recommended by the World Health Organization—leading to suspicions that the Ministry of Health may have had “sweetheart” deals set up that greatly benefitted drug companies, but resulted in less medicine available for the poor.
- The World Bank had promised the Honduran Government it would reimburse 40% of the government’s costs (in this case, over $4 million) if medicines were purchased in an honest, open fashion. Because the process was instead plagued by corruption, the Honduran people were cheated of this money.
In response to these alarming facts, TH asked Honduran President Porfirio Lobo to fire the Minister of Health to put the brakes on a new $26.5 million purchase currently in the works.
Reactions to the Press Conference
Honduran news media, including radio, TV, and newspapers, ran stories based on TH’s press conference.
Two representatives of the Ministry of Health attended the press conference and were given the opportunity to defend themselves. Legal counsel Miguel Angel Bonilla claimed that TH’s accusations were “pure lies,” while administrator Moises Torres said TH was “hurting Honduras rather than helping it.” But neither could explain why the transparency commission was cut out of the process nor why medicines were purchased at such high prices.
What’s Next
By having the courage to publish this information, TH is taking the first step needed to break the chain of corruption and improve the level of healthcare available to Honduras’ poorest citizens. In the coming weeks, TH will also be filing official accusations against the Minister of Health with the Attorney General’s office and the National Anti-Corruption Counsel.
Please keep the brave members of TH in your prayers as they work to make Honduras’ public health system a true blessing for Honduras’ poor majority, rather than just another get-rich-quick opportunity for an elite few.
Honduras’s Institutional Crisis Deepens Ahead of the 2025 Elections
Dear friend, I couldn’t stop looking at the picture. Of course, there had been plenty of inspiring photos from this summer’s Prayer Walk for Peace and Democracy. The sea of blue and white rising and falling as hundreds of thousands walked the Honduran hills through Tegucigalpa, flowing like a never-ending stream. Catholic nuns praying their rosaries alongside Pentecostals dancing in the streets. But the picture that still knocks me flat is the closeup. The one of the two men standing side by side (picture enclosed). They are exhausted, and the shorter collapses into the taller. The tears mostly hold joy and relief, but they are mingled with something darker. After all, there had been threats—promises of harm done to themselves and their loved ones if they led their followers through the streets of Honduras in prayer. Despite the fear and intimidation, Pastor Gerardo Irías and Monsignor José Vicente Nácher forged ahead. They knew Honduras needed unity and, above all, prayer before the looming November 2025 presidential elections. As an ASJ supporter, you know that these kinds of threats aren’t out of the ordinary, and your support has helped slow and reverse violence in Honduras. Today, I am writing to share a way you can continue standing with brave Hondurans like Pastor Gerardo and Monsignor José in hope. The Evangelical pastor and the Catholic archbishop put the word out as widely as they could to their churches, hoping to mobilize 20,000 to walk and pray. Instead, an estimated 230,000 walked in the capital of Tegucigalpa alone. It was a historic moment. And without your past support for ASJ, it may have never happened. After all, two years prior, Pastor Gerardo and Monsignor José didn’t even know each other’s names. They first met in 2023 at ASJ’s offices. They were two of many civil society leaders convened by ASJ to discuss safeguarding democracy– especially before the election in 2025. It was at that meeting that they shook each other’s hand and learned each other’s name. It was at that meeting–and many subsequent meetings–where old religious prejudices began to be replaced by trust and mutual affection. So, when the moment came this summer to act, Pastor Gerardo and Monsignor José knew what they had to do. And they knew that they had to do it together.
Calvin alums turn faith into action through nonprofit
MESSAGE FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Thank You for Moving Forward With Us this Summer!
When Policies Shift, Families Pay the Price * by Jo Ann Van Engen
Inspiring civil society in the US with a vision of a more just society
Dear Friend, On Saturday, hundreds of thousands of Hondurans flooded their streets with prayer and peaceful demonstration. Reports from our team members who attended said it was like an inspirational sea of people all wanting the same thing for their country: peace. One of our ASJ-US colleagues said he walked past Pentecostals dancing and playing music, a woman praying the rosary, nuns walking, and priests and altar boys in full robes–all walking in the same space together for peace.
Love, Labor, and the Price of Leaving By Jo Ann Van Engen
Prayer Update (JUL 16- Election Process Turmoil)
