Honduras nixes self-governing economic zones
Honduras’ President Xiomara Castro, with the support of the Congress, voted to reverse the law that allowed for the creation of self-governing special economic development zones (ZEDEs).
ZEDE is a scheme that frees private investors or business groups from paying duties on imports and exports to the government. It also allows investors to govern themselves by forming a security force, building schools, and even social security systems.
The country’s previous president Juan Orlando Hernández passed the law during his term.
Many Hondurans protested against ZEDEs for decades as they displaced rural settlers and opened the possibility of selling off national sovereignty to foreign companies.
Honduran Ph.D. student Maria Carrasco said that ZEDEs were “the last coup de grace that [the previous government] did to the country: selling off the national territory in pieces.”
Carrasco added that repealing the law is “the icing on the cake” after years of government corruption and mismanagement.
Meanwhile, Presidential Commissioner Fernando Garcia said that they are preparing an executive decree to allow businesses within existing ZEDEs to continue operating, under the condition that they submit themselves to new economic regimes.
