Cahiers des Amériques Latines (Dec 2023)
Conmemorar sin festejar: exclusión y polarización en las fiestas del bicentenario de Honduras en 2021
Abstract
On September 15, 2021, Honduras celebrated a divided bicentennial in a pessimistic context. On the one hand, the pandemic had aggravated poverty by encouraging presidential alternation. On the other hand, the celebrations were supervised by the government of Juan Orlando Hernández, accused of electoral fraud, repression, corruption and links to drug trafficking. Although there are works on Latin American bicentennials, few have addressed the catracho case. Have the commemorations of the bicentennial of independence in Honduras generated more inclusive processes and stories? This text analyzes the events, speeches and content of the bicentennial of Honduras to understand the exclusion of certain actors. The work shows that a patriarchal vision of the Nation-State was perpetuated and the bicentennial functioned as a contested political brand (the status quo supported the hegemonic narrative and the opposition appealed to the future). The conclusion is that the polarized Honduran bicentennial made impossible the review of the national narrative under a more integrative view.
