Comercio

Foreword About Honduran Banking   Basically, just about all of Honduran banks offer accounts in U.S. dollars and Honduran Lempira’s (Honduras currency).  Even though the exchange rate has been somewhat stable for the past year, it's best (in our opinion) to maintain accounts in both currencies. Some companies, such as cell phone, cable, and others, bill you in U.S. dollars and charge a higher exchange rate if you pay in Lempira’s.   If you live in Honduras and you have monthly income from the U.S., have it sent to a U.S. account from which you can write checks and have online access. Write a check from your U.S. account and deposit it to your Honduran account. You will need to plan ahead because the cash won't be available for at least 3 weeks.  Moreover, you will save a lot of money on bank transfer fees or courier services. Mailing checks from the U.S. through regular mail is certainly not a good idea, since it may take forever to get to you.

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Utilities, cell phone bills, and car registrations can be paid online. Since bills are rarely sent and the mail is unreliable, online banking is the best way to keep up with these bills. Payments to third parties who have accounts with your bank can be made online as well.  Get an ATM debit card. Just a few years ago only some of the gas stations and larger stores accepted debit cards. Now more and more stores and some smaller restaurants are accepting them.

There is no fee for ATM cash withdrawals on certain 'premier' accounts and even on smaller accounts, the fee is only 12 - 35 Lempira’s (approximately $.75 to $2.00) depending on whether you use a ATM machine within your bank's system. An ATM card is not only more convenient, it is much safer than carrying around wads of cash. Just be sure to ask if there is an extra charge; some stores add anywhere from 4% to 12% for the privilege of using a card. Online banking and an ATM card will greatly limit your need to actually go to the bank.

When you do have to go in person, try to plan your trip for Monday through Thursday but not on the 15th or end of the month, since this typical pay days for most Honduran workers.  Don't go at lunch time because invariably the only person who can help you will be at lunch.  Keep your American credit cards and pay the monthly bills online with your U.S. account. Honduran credit card companies charge monthly interest and service charges totaling approximately 60% annually. Yes, 60%, you read that right! Don't expect to be able to pay by check anywhere. If you have been doing business with someone for awhile, you may be able to write a check but most one-time or large purchases will require a cash payment or a direct bank deposit to the person's account. If you do make a direct deposit to someone's account, be sure to get a legible copy of the receipt. And finally, save your debit card receipts and check your accounts and balance them monthly with a calculator. In Honduras accounting systems, debits do not have to equal credits.

The human history of Honduras stretches back millennia. The earliest artifacts of Honduran culture have been dated to over 6,000 years ago.

By about 3,000 years ago, ancestors of the great Mayan culture of Honduras history had settled within the present-day country. At its peak, around 200 to 800 CE, the Mayan culture stretched from the Yucatan Peninsula in modern Mexico through what are now Belize, Guatemala, and Honduras. The Mayan culture of Honduras history left its mark in the Copan ruins, archaeological remnants of a great city that exerted influence over large swaths of Central America. Today, Copan is one of the best-preserved Mayan cities and a popular destination for anyone on a vacation to Honduras.

For reasons lost to antiquity, the Mayan culture of Honduras history suffered sudden and tremendous decline at the end of the first millennium CE. Although descendents of the Mayans survive in Honduras to this day, the indigenous Honduras culture had completely collapsed by the time European explorers "discovered" Central America.   The north coast of present-day Honduras, near the modern city of Trujillo, was the site of the first mainland New World landfall by Christopher Columbus in August 1502. He named the land Honduras (Spanish for "depths"), after the deep waters off the coast.

The years of Spanish conquest devastated indigenous Honduran culture, as native Hondurans were indentured as slaves to work the rich gold and silver mines discovered in the 1530s. The indigenous peoples did not acquiesce willingly to their enslavement. In the late 1530s Lempira, a young chief from the Honduran Lenca tribe, led an army of thousands against the Spanish occupiers. Lempira's brave resistance ended when he was tricked and murdered at peace talks, but his memory left its mark on Honduras history. Today, the national currency is named Lempira, as are many Honduran towns.

Honduras remained a part of the vast Spanish New World empire until the early 19th century, and most modern Hondurans can trace their ancestry to a combination of Spanish colonists, indigenous Americans, and African slaves brought to work colonial mines. The British also left their mark on the history of Honduras and Honduran culture, colonizing parts of the Mosquito coast and the Bay Islands. English remains a widely spoken language on the Bay Islands.   The modern history of Honduras began on September 15, 1821, when the country declared independence from Spain. Honduras briefly joined the Mexican Empire before leaving to form the short-lived Federal Republic of Central America, finally getting full independence in 1838.

The history of Honduras since independence has been marked by bitter struggles between liberals and conservatives, numerous military coups, rebellions, fixed elections, foreign invasions, and meddling by U.S. governments and companies. The introduction of banana farming in the late 19th century had profound ramifications for Honduran culture. Banana companies, most prominently the United Fruit Company (now Chiquita) and the Standard Fruit Company (now Dole), became extremely powerful within Honduras.

Throughout the 20th century political, environmental, and labor scandals associated with the banana companies marred the history of Honduras. American writer O. Henry coined the term banana republic to describe Honduras.  The Banana industry helped support strong military rulers who supported their interests, like General Carias in the 1930s and 1940s and Colonel Lopez Arellano in the 1960s and 1970s. The powerful Banana companies also spawned a powerful labor movement in Honduras who have worked to improve conditions for fruit workers.

U.S. influence in Honduran affairs marked the 20th century history of Honduras, most prominently in the 1980s, when the Reagan administration helped prop up the democratic government as neighboring Central American countries succumbed to communist insurrection. Honduras became a staging area for anti-Marxist counter-revolutionaries and became entangled in the biggest U.S. political scandal of the 1980s, as the Reagan administration trained and funded Nicaraguan and Salvadoran Contras in Honduras using money made from illegal arm sales to Iran.

Today, Honduras remains one of the poorest countries in Latin America. A tourism boom since the early 1990s, with visitors attracted by the natural beauty of rainforests and ocean diving spots, has helped revitalize the country. The devastation of Hurrican Mitch in 1998 set progress back, but Honduran culture remains proud and varied and the country's ecotourism continues to attract visitors.