By Thelma Mejía
TEGUCIGALPA, Jan 11 1996 (IPS)

Crime and the passivity of politicians pose a threat to security and democracy in Central America, according to the preliminary findings of a U.N. survey.

The unofficial findings of the study, commissioned by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), revealed that when it came to security, Central Americans feel unprotected.

The survey, still to be finalised by the Borge and Associates consulting firm, has created some nervousness within UN circles.

A UNDP source told IPS that the findings are “explosive, and for that reason weren’t presented at the summit of Central American Presidents” held last December in San Pedro Sula, Honduras. The principal theme of that meeting was civilian security.

A majority of the 2,000 persons interviewed so far by the study believed that if serious problems of health, employment, poverty and violence persist in the isthmus, democracies could fall.

Likewise the majority answered “no” to the question “Do you believe that democratic institutions in this country will remain stable despite the problems?” They also believed that the situation in their respective countries had worsened in recent years, the UNDP source said.

In Costa Rica, a country whose democratic system enjoys a “positive image” abroad, 44 percent of those interviewed blamed their problems on “the politicians” and the government.

Regarding security, 46 percent of those surveyed stated that no one was helping to improve the situation and that it is impossible to use the streets of Costa Rican cities “without fearing violence.”

The survey findings concerning Honduras, Panama and El Salvador have not yet been analyzed, but sources linked to the Honduran government confided that the tendency is similar to that seen in Costa Rica and is accordingly “worrisome.”

Ramon Custodio, president of the non-governmental Honduran Committee for the Defense of Human Rights said that the “reactionary mentality” of most Central American political leaders “is one of the causes of the insecurity that the region is experiencing.”

He said that the cleansing of the political parties, along with the struggle against corruption and poverty and the reduction in the size of region’s armies, were among the major challenges that Central America confronts in the matter of achieving humane and democratic security.

“If these democracies don’t pay attention to the growing levels of poverty and misery, they’ll be governing in the air, for all practical purposes. People will think that democracy equals poverty and misery,” he declared.

At the Honduran summit, the regional presidents signed a Treaty of Democratic Security, which defined strategies to fight criminality and narcotics trafficking but left the military question unresolved.

Here, too, doubts have been raised about the role of the region’s political leadership.

The December regional summit failed to reach agreement of the reduction of military spending and the size of armies because of opposition from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, countries in which the armed forces play an important political role.

More than 60 percent of those surveyed by the UNDP study stated that the only ones who benefit from the status quo are “the rich” and…politicians.

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