|
Honduras Recruitment and Training
Historically, the ranks of the Honduran army have been
filled
not though regular recruitment procedures, but through
force and
intimidation. According to Article 276 of the 1982
constitution,
all able-bodied men between the ages of eighteen and
thirty are
liable for up to eighteen months of compulsory service. In
reality,
however, exemptions are common for members of the upper
and middle
classes, and young men from the lower classes, usually
between the
ages of fourteen and eighteen, are pressed into service
against
their will.
The absence of a respected and institutionalized draft,
coupled
with low salaries for enlisted personnel, provides little
incentive
to enlist in the armed forces. The problem is compounded
by the
unfavorable view that urban youths have of enlisted armed
forces
personnel, who are mostly illiterate, poor, and rural.
Recruitment
in urban areas is accomplished through the recogida
(harvest), which consists of military sweeps through the
major
cities. Army patrols pick up young men at the plazas and
entertainment centers, such as movie theaters, ask for
their
military identification cards, and abduct anyone without
one.
Military personnel are often posted at bus stops and seize
youths
who are classified as "vagrants." Sometimes it is possible
for the
youth to prove student status or have his family pay for
his
release. Those who cannot do either are taken directly to
training
barracks. Forced conscription became increasingly common
after 1980
because of the escalation of conflict within the region
and the
growth in the size of the ground forces.
Peasants appear to have a somewhat more favorable view
of life
in the armed forces because it often represents their
first
opportunity to receive the benefits of modern society. In
addition
to receiving new clothes, a balanced diet, and medical
treatment,
they have the opportunity to learn to read. The Francisco
Morazán
Military Academy teaches aspiring officers how to instruct
their
troops in a variety of subjects, including hygiene and
occupational
trade skills, that sometimes prove useful later in
civilian life.
Despite the benefits enjoyed by recruits, military
service among
the enlisted ranks is widely perceived as a burden of the
rural
poor. The life of an enlisted soldier is harsh and
sometimes
brutal. The practice of forced conscription is hated and
feared by
most Hondurans, and it has contributed to the growth of
antimilitary sentiment in the country. Such sentiment
became a
political factor in the 1990s. During the 1993
presidential
campaign, Carlos Roberto Reina Idiáquez, one of the
leading
candidates, made conscription a campaign issue. He
promised to
replace forced recruitment with an all-volunteer system.
He also
promised to improve conditions in the military for the
average
recruit. The military leadership, headed by General Luis
Alonso
Discua Elvir, the chief of the armed forces, opposed his
plan,
claiming that the country could not afford an
all-volunteer system
and that it would result in the crippling of the armed
forces.
The process of recruitment and training of officers has
been a
different matter. Before the 1950s, it was difficult to
attract
high-caliber personnel into the academies, and the
desertion rate
among cadets was high. As the salaries and status of
military
officers improved during the 1960s, however, the academies
began to
attract cadets much more motivated to succeed as military
officers
and more willing to pursue careers in the armed forces.
The Francisco Morazán Military Academy was established
in 1952.
Partly to raise academic standards within the armed forces
and,
thus, attract cadets of higher caliber, a program of civil
education was incorporated into the curriculum to
supplement the
military-related courses. These changes allowed cadets to
earn a
bachelor's degree in arts and sciences, which appealed to
those
from the urban, lower middle class.
A prospective cadet, who has to be at least eighteen
years of
age, qualifies for admission by taking a competitive
entrance
examination that tests knowledge of primary-school
subjects. For
many cadets, the academy's three-year program of studies
is capped
by an additional one-year stint at the United States Army
School of
the Americas in Fort Benning, Georgia, where a cadet
receives
advanced training in infantry tactics, weapons skills, and
the
martial arts.
In 1981 the Armed Forces Command and General Staff
School was
established in Tegucigalpa. The design of its curriculum
was
influenced by two visiting Argentine military officers,
who were
sponsored by the Argentine General Staff College. The
school is
attached to the Francisco Morazán Military Academy.
Fusep has its own training school in Tegucigalpa, where
both
recruits and officers receive training in police
communications,
criminal investigation, crowd control, interrogation, drug
interdiction, civil procedure, and the criminal code. Some
Fusep
officers also receive training at the International Police
Academy
in Washington. Beginning in 1986, Fusep officers began
receiving
tactical training from the regular army as part of a
stepped-up
effort to combat rising crime rates in Tegucigalpa and San
Pedro
Sula.
Data as of December 1993
|
