Research Of Negative Effects Of Globalization On Honduras
Honduras is a Central American country that is located between Nicroauga and Guatemala. It has a coastline that is connected to the Carribean Sea and has a population of 9. 2 million people. Globalization is when a business or company starts operating internationally or gaining international influence. In my research paper, I'm going to explain how globalization has affected the country of Honduras negatively throughout the years and where it currently is today because of it. I will be looking into the economic, social, and global impacts that have occurred there and will elaborate on each and will back my research with credible sources. After WWII when pressure with Russia started to increase, the US knew the significance of setting up more grounded ties with Honduras for the fear that Honduras, and the remainder of Latin America would turn to socialism or communism. This was first taken place when the US and Honduras consented to a Loan Rent arrangement. The assets conceded from this were utilized to improve Honduras' airplane, motor parts and bolster gear. Later on, in 1954, the US consented to a military arrangement with Honduras and from that point on, the US reliably gave military help to Honduras. Some examples of this are when new battle legions were made, and expanding quantities of the Honduran military workforce were prepared at the US Armed force School of the Americas. Before the end of the 60's US military financing had expanded extensively.
Obviously, from this, it is clear that Honduras was of much significance to the US, financially as well as politically too. If Honduras fell to communism all of Central America would assuredly take action accordingly. US-Honduran relations additionally expanded during the 80s when the US intended to strike a counter force against the Sandinista government, who was socialist, in Nicaragua. In light of its key area, Honduras was of much significance to the US. It was basically a base for US encounter of Honduras. During this time, the US provided a lot of military gear to Honduras. In 1983 the US and Honduras led a joint military exercise called Huge Pine, which was the biggest of its sort at any point held in Honduras. An aggregate of 1,600 US military work force and 4,000 Honduran troopers took an interest in activities intended to assist Honduras with improving its sending procedures and strategic help in the field. Despite the fact that most of the guide gave was military, the US additionally gave formative help and food aid. From this we can see the degree to which the US dreaded communism from spreading somewhere else. (History of Honduras n. d. ) All through the Virus War years the US made it a point to reinforce ties with Honduras by giving as a lot of help conceivable and this was, to an exceptionally enormous degree fruitful. For Honduras, being the second most unfortunate nation in Central America, having such an enormous stockpile of help was of much importance. However, when one takes a look at Honduras today, it remains the second least fortunate country in Central America. It is still tormented with neediness which brings up the issue whether this guide was productively spent. Moreover, in spite of the fact that the US supplied Honduras with help, it made a feeling of Honduran reliance on the US which has demonstrated to be adverse to the development and dependability of Honduras. These are all signs of globalism affecting Honduras negatively because it cannot thrive on its own and uses a larger country, the U. S. , as a crutch for where they lack. They became slightly reliant on help from an external power whether it be monetarily or militarily. The U. S. gave Honduras a total of 1. 6 Billion dollars in the 1980s, which made it the largest monetary aid received in Central America during the 80’s. The country today is heavily reliant on external aid from forgien countries still, which is a direct effect of globalization. Migration in Honduras is a newer phenomenon.
According to the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, in 2010 there was an estimated 731 thousand Hondurans in the United States to which more than 60% (573,000) are unauthorized. Poor economic and social conditions are a large problem in Honduras, in 2013, 64% of the country was living in poverty according to the World Bank which is higher than national poverty rates in its neighboring countries, which is another reason for its citizens to migrate out of the country. The economy in Honduras like many of the other Central American countries is heavily dependent on money sent home from family members who migrated to the U. S. for work. According to the World Bank data, nearly 16% of Honduras’ GDP came from money sent from family members who were working in the U. S. Another reason for people to want to migrate out of the country is due to its vast homicide rate. According to the Pew Research Center there murder rate in 2012 was twice the rate of neighboring countries at the time. A majority of the Rural-to-Urban migration within the country has been from the southwestern area of the country, Ocotepeque, and Lempira, to areas near the Caribbean coast like Cortes, and Colon. This is mainly due to the attraction of the banana industry and how it has grown the areas along the coast due to trade and exports. Forigen companies that have an interest in the banana industry such as chiquita have completely dominated the countries economic growth and in doing so have shifted the economic state of certain regions of the country which causes people to migrate to those areas for work. This is a direct effect of globalization and it negatively impacts the country. Globalization has changed trade, market opportunities and increased pressure on companies that compete in a forigen market. A forgien company moves in, buys out land and builds on it then forces people to migrate towards their land if they want to have a job or make decent enough money to live. Honduras is a severely poverty stricken country. According to the World Bank (Poverty headcount ratio at national poverty lines), in 2016 66% of the countries population lives in poverty due to high levels of income inequality.
The low income level per day is only $1. 90 per person and the median income rate is $5. 50 per day. There are various causes of the high poverty in the country. Natural disasters and droughts is a common occurrence. Considering the country is so heavily reliant on farming, and there are frequently hurricanes or droughts it has a large effect on people's incomes due to destroyed crops, no crops means no money. There is a high unemployment rate in the country. As of 2016, the unemployment rate was at 15% which causes families to not be able to provide food for their families. Both of these things cause hunger and malnutrition amongst the populous. Approximately 49% of people living in rural areas of the country suffer from malnutrition, according to the World Health Organization. The biggest cause of poverty in the country is violence. Honduras has the highest murder rate in the world, there are a recorded 43 murders per 100,000 inhabitants in 2017 according to the Assication for a More Just Society. Because the country has seen so much abuse gangs like the MS13 have gained power and they aren’t helping the already poor families. The effects of globalization definitely have an adverse affect on why the country is so poverty stricken. Migration of working men or main supporters of a family from Honduras to a place like the U. S. has an adverse effect on people as well. If the primary caretaker of a family leaves and only sends them money once a month from the U. S. they’re left to budget with what little they make, if anything, until that money arrives. Another effect of migration is when people are moving more towards the populated areas where the forigen companies reside, such as all along the Carribean coast, it leaves the people who do not live in those areas worse off. When there aren’t as many people staying in an area or most of the good work isn’t based there it crushes that places local economy. This leads to lower incomes, less job opportunity and will directly result the poverty level. Although the GDP might be on the rise in Honduras, it doesn’t mean that the country is doing well and there isn’t poverty. GDP is a misleading number to look at when it comes to how a country is doing because it just measures income output and not where it’s actually going to. Most of the income from the country is going to a small portion of it while most of its average citizens live in poverty. GDP only focuses on what a nation is producing to generate money and in Honduras’s case it's mostly from the banana industry which is an effect of globalization. Aside from natural disasters, things like gang violence, and low wages are direct effects from forigen countries moving into Honduras and having a heavy influence on the government decisions. In order for companies to compete successfully in the global market the need to reduce or eliminate things like labor market regulations. Some of these being minimum wage, or worker rights. Things like this directly lead to poverty in a country like we’ve seen happen in Honduras. Things like this will cause people to try and revolt or push for reform or new government to make their lives better, which is how gangs like MS13 originally came to be and have taken hold in Honduras. The sad reality of the gangs though is it ended up turning into more violence and oppression for the citizens then it did helping them fight their oppressive government or forigen companies in their country who hold a lot of power over them.
Overall I think globalization has negatively impacted this country in many ways. It wasn’t an immediate effect but it was a gradual one that had a domino effect over time. In my historical research it started as early as the U. S. involvement in the late 1800’s which continued up until this day. Companies wanting to have their hand in the banana market in the country led to government and military influence, which lead to affect labor laws and the rights of its citizens. This lead to things like revolutionary groups and gangs immerging and causing further problems for the civilian populace. From the outside looking in to an unknowing eye the country might seem alright because of its GDP and tourist areas along the coast but doing further research you can discover that it’s in fact not doing well at all and it's a direct reflection of the effects of globalization.
