Honduras: on the way up

When you are the most violent country in the world, and the second poorest in Latin America, up is the only place you can go.

For now, a positive sign is that nearly two thirds of eligible voters cast their ballots in last week’s elections, the highest levels in this century.

Except for a shootout in La Mosquitia, in which five people died, the election campaign was peaceful.

Slightly more than a third of the votes went to Juan Orlando Hernandez.

This was 5% more than Xiomara Castro, wife of former President Juan Manuel Zelaya, who in 2009 was deposed and expelled from Honduras.

Castro and Zelaya favored stronger ties with the countries of the Bolivarian Alliance, led by Venezuela.

For the first time in a hundred years, a candidate of the Liberal Party was not one of the two leaders.

At 45, Hernandez will be the youngest-ever Honduras president.

Like the incumbent, Porfirio Lobo, Hernandez belongs to the National Party.

Despite its security problems, Honduras has excellent conditions for agriculture, along with spectacular beaches.