HONDURAS: Local Clans End Family Feud

By Thelma Mejía Reprint | | Print |

Thelma Mejia

SAN ESTEBAN, Honduras, Jun 4 1996 (IPS) - The dusty streets of the little town of San Esteban, in north-west Honduras, resembled a Hollywood film set the other day. Townsfolk packed the once desolate main street to witness the end of a family feud that rivalled anything seen in the United States.

The 10-year vendetta between two local clans, the Turcios and the Majeres, cost some 80 lives and left its mark on productive activity around San Esteban and its 12,000 inhabitants.

The war between clans made the town, located 273 kms from tegucigalpa, a virtual “no-go” area in one of the country’s most fertile valleys, rich in timber, agriculture and livestock. Last weekend, however, after a year of peace talks, the Turcios and the Najeras signed a peace accord that brought hope back to the town’s inhabitants.

People had reached the point where no one went out at night, and many hid under their beds and prayed during shoot-outs between the rival familes, giving thanks when they found themselves still alive the next morning.

The Turcios and Najeras recognised no authority and their feud once forced a Salvadoran priest to flee, after he shot when he went to town one night.

After signing their peace accord, the two families asked forgiveness for their errors, and admitted that the war was killing off their descendants and destroying them financially.

No one seems to know what sparked the feud or why it escalated before the Catholic Church and the army stepped in to broker the peace arrangements, which took one year to complete. As Bishop Oscar Muldoon, in charge of the talks, put it :”they were not at all easy.

“There were many uneasy, sleepless nights, because the wounds are still fresh in the minds of these families,” the bishop said. “But we were finally able to get everyone to see sense, and today we are witnessing the beginning of peace in San Esteban.”

Two children were among the signers. Eight-year-old Josue Najera told IPS that he was proud because “from now on the people of the town will be free.

“Before, we couldn’t go out or play with other kids. But now I’ll be able to walk through the streets, visit my friends and play football, my favourite sport.”

San Esteban is just one example of the violence plaguing Honduras, where officials estimate at least 67,000 Soviet-made AK- 47 rifles are estimated to be in the hands of criminals. A daily average of more than 12 robberies are reported in the country, where police can do little to answer the clamour for greater protection.

The mayor of San Esteban, Tulio Crosier, however has one solution. He proposed burning all the remaining AK-47 rifles, which are a hangover from the days of armed conflict in Nicaragua and El Salvador, when there were support bases in Honduras.