HONDURAS: The Army Wants You!

By Thelma Mejía Reprint | | Print |

Thelma Mejia

TEGUCIGALPA, Jan 21 1997 (IPS) - Honduras’ army has launched an intensive five-month campaign to promote its image as a voluntary military force with a strong educational component.

Seven thousand young men and women are being targeted by recruitment messages transmitted through the press, radio and television. These urge 18 and 30 year olds to join up and fulfill “a patriotic duty full of excitement and service to their fellow countrymen”.

This marks a change from two years ago when recruitment was mandatory and comparable to a human hunt: the new military has adopted a fresh tone.

Military sources say abolition of mandatory military service in 1994 and its replacement with a voluntary and educational service created a crisis within the military and reduced the number of new recruits.

“The country is practically unprotected because we have no soldiers to defend it” in the event of a national emergency in which national sovereignty is threatened, said Mario Villanueva, spokesperson for the Armed Forces.

“There are battalions in which there are barely 300 people, and others that are even in a worse situation, because ever since the military service became voluntary, people do not want to fulfill their duty to their country,” he said.

As a result, the military decided to embark on a consciousness- raising campaign aimed at youth and parents in order solve the crisis of shortage of personnel in the battalions.

In its message to parents, the military argues that educational problems and the economic crisis that affects their homes can be alleviated by sending children to the Armed Forces where they will receive food, education and excellent physical training.

They also mention what they consider to be an “attractive” monthly salary — 26 dollars. This, in addition to clothing, food and education, represents a total cost of 130 dollars for each recruit, according to General Roberto Lazarus, the institution’s second-in-command.

“The benefits now are greater. The idea is to professionalize the new members for the new role the Armed Forces will play in the year 2000,” he added.

In messages aimed at young people, the military promises the elimination of physical punishment, a more exciting life, a spirit of adventure, and the tradition of courage and honour that the army offers.

Alba de Mejia of the Christian Civic Committee — which supports voluntary military service — said this week that battalions are empty not because of lack of interest but because the military have refused to change their old structures of authority.

“They promise heaven and earth, but the truth is that young people are afraid to join because of the ill treatment and physical abuse, which resembles torture,” she said.

But the military spokesperson argued that those are problems of the past. The army is currently incorporating a system of respect for human rights in which organizations in charge of their defense can come into the battalions and monitor the soldiers’ treatment.

With a total of 15,000 troops, the Armed Forces budget is 42 million dollars. Military authorities say this is not enough to meet demands required for the defense of national sovereignty.

The new promotional campaign emerges at a time in which the military institution has come under intense criticism for corruption and abuse of power. A select group of army officials are said to have used to the institution as a kind of “private hacienda”.