Honduras’ Independence As Myth and As Constructed Celebration

Following is the article by Honduras Ambassador to Korea Rodolfo Pastor Fasquelle, on the occasion of the 204th Independence Day of the Republic.

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The first thing to remember is that official history is often a myth; it does not reflect the truth recorded in testimonies, and it is always an imaginary convention tailored to power. It is easy to recognize the myth of others, but more difficult-and perhaps more important-to recognize our own. Thus, most of my compatriots have never thought about what I will share here regarding the myth of our independence and its celebration, but it will do them good to know.
The second is to understand that at the time and in the century of Independence, Honduras was part of Central America, which itself was a colonial jurisdiction and later a nation-state.
As a consequence, today with some variations Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala all celebrate our National Day on September 15th, commemorating the proclamation made on that date in 1821 by the Junta of Notables, hastily convened by Don G. Gainza, President and Captain General of the Audiencia of the Kingdom. Yet the anniversary celebrated by this holiday creates confusion and is, in the end, deceptive.

The Falsehoods of the Proclamation

The independence proclaimed that day, by a legal body with no authority to do so, convened in an emergency by the highest colonial authority, was that of a newly invented political entity, baptized as the United Provinces of Central America. Everything changed in name so that nothing would change in reality. Hence the paradox: Secretary Jose del Valle urged the Junta to proclaim independence to prevent the people from doing so, since they were already clamoring for freedom against the despot and his misrule, from the galleries and around the palace—precisely the same rulers who would later sign the act. And that premature entity dissolved three months later, before it was ever constituted.
It was still debating its form of government-federation, confeder-ation, etc.-when it was invaded and subdued by the Empire of Agustin de Iturbide, to which it belonged for the next year and a half, divided into three military commands. Two years later, on July 1st, 1823, the Central American union again proclaimed independence – this time from Mexico, Spain, and any other power – but once again as a federated entity, not as separate states. Independent republics were not yet imagined.
Although some deny it today, in 1821 no province thought of or wished to build sovereign nations.The sovereignty of each province was never proposed in September 1821, nor in the Constitution of 1824. The separation of states or provinces only resulted from the chaos of the civil wars that dismembered the Union and allowed the rebel army to seize power in the capital around 1838.
Central America was not prepared; not even Guatemala, the most populous and organized, could assume full sovereignty. None of the provinces were recognized as nations until twenty years later, between 1838 and 1850, after the Union disintegrated and they signed separate trade treaties with England interested in an interoceanic canal before agreeing with the United States on the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty of 1850, which secured equal rights for both over the chosen route.
Although regretful at ceasing to belong to the Union, Honduras effectively became independent when it declared itself a sovereign nation-state on November 5th, 1839, after its sisters had already done so. None became independent on September 15, 1821.
Some also emphasize that the population represented in the Junta of Notables of 1821 was not a national population, but a segment of the Creole elite and the colonial state’s bureaucracy. They argue that its proclamation was not a national project but rather a class convenience, as was also the Constituent Assembly of 1824.
Others simply claim that Honduras has never truly been independent. Even before 1821, the government and bourgeoisie answered to the English market, to which they sold indigo and silver. And so, one might protest: if we were never independent, isn’t it a deception to celebrate Independence? In fact, it was not celebrated at the time. The holiday, in its present form, began just over a century ago.

Origin of the Celebration

Despite all of the above, all Central Americans celebrate September 15th as Independence Day in their countries of origin, and also abroad, adapting to circumstances. With idiosyncratic variations, the five countries celebrate with soirees, parades, speeches, ceremonies, and school competitions.
It is celebrated grandly, with fanfare, fireworks, and lavish spen-ding on uniforms and instruments for marching bands. During a “patriotic month,” the torch relayis organized across the isthmus, imitating the messengers who carried the original news of the imagined independence.
Children and teachers lose thousands of hours rehearsing marches and music. On the 15th, that frenetic activity culminates with the flag ceremony, speeches, and parades of students and soldiers, while authorities review them from a podium.
This is quite different from Mexi-co’s beautiful celebration of the Gritoin the Zocalo, with cheers that move even those of us born beyond the Suchiate River. Our processes were not disconnected, nor do we lack comparable heroes. But they were different heroes and processes. In Mexico, a long war with deep social content; in Central America, harassment from neighboring and distant powers, and conflicts among local elites.
Mexico fought a prolonged struggle against colonial power, while in Central America it was mostly internal, among regional elites. Lawyers and intellectuals played a larger role in negotiating disputes among autonomous provinces in the isthmus, unlike war-torn Mexico, which remained centralist. Thus, our heroes never reached the superhuman stature of Mexico’s.
Too human were ours: Morazan, alternating between sword and romance, fought post-independence wars; Cabanas, impeccable and fearless, yet always defeated; Valle, brilliant and clear in prose but elitist, dismissing the people he feared. Enlightened priests like Reyes or Delgado, so different from Guerrero and Hidalgo. “High is the Night,” writes the great Neruda, “and Morazan keeps watch!”

In Central America, conservatism lingered longer, under English influence. Until the 1870s, many governments only ordered a solemn Te Deum for the already distant and irrelevant September commemoration. Thus, the Independence celebration as we know it today was born with the liberal revolution at the end of the 19th century. The first records of parades are from 1890 in Guatemala. It was the new unionist spirit of the centennial that revived the common sense of freedom at the dawn of the 20th century.
Against the degraded regimes of the time arose the first revolutions of the 20th century: in Costa Rica against F. Tinoco in 1919, in Guatemala against Estrada Cabrera in 1920. A civic cycle opened across the region, with ideas of union, federation, reform, and social modernity, now driven by the small bourgeoisie and the first factory workers.
The new unionism, born in Guatemala in 1920, was enthusiastically received in El Salvador and Honduras, accepted in Nicaragua, debated in Costa Rica. It was again frustrated with the military coup against Carlos Herrera in Guatemala, though not before reviving the myth of a united nation. While generalized support eventually waned, the Independence Celebration perhaps remains as its legacy. Especially since later historiographies concealed this story.

Independence as the Celebration that Remains

What is interesting—and perhaps universal—is how new constructions become references for a lost identity. They manage to awaken patriotic feelings that many believed extinct.
Although official rhetoric continues to present the anniversary as the birth of distinct nations, despite subjugation to new imperialisms, deepening social fractures, prolonged civil wars, and brief accidental wars between neighbors, despite polarizations and violence, ideological and religious divisions, and despite manipulative, biased, and reactionary historiographies—the Independence celebrations unite the countries of Central America with one another and bind each internally. With small variations in each case, which also make us unique.

The Honduran Version of the Celebration

In Honduras, the holiday unites the diverse and regional, the official and the popular, the urban and the rural. It is one of the few things that bring us together across social classes, almost like nothing else except politics which excites us even when we sometimes have nothing to offer or much to defend!
The armed forces and the people join in, as do schools and high schools that compete in parades, with the president, cabinet, and diplomatic corps in the National Stadium… and in the provinces, with prestigious municipalities… mayors, business leaders. Young people rival for the best band among the most renowned schools.
And, supported by their mothers, grandmothers, and younger sisters, compete the young women striving to be the most beautiful and dazzling palillonas; criticized by some bitter ladies but admired by crowds, the media, and their rivals. Some become favorites of the powerful; most enjoy their day of glory, filling TV broadcasts, front-page headlines, and gaining more fame than athletes, artists, or corrupt legislators.
Observed with envy yet national pride, they march proudly before the presidential stand, bare-legged save for glitter-covered cowboy boots with fringes of color, imitating the American style. Fireworks. Marimbas. This colorful spectacle of rudimentary music and popular joy moves like any festivity. For me, it is moving to see the flag honored; I think of ancestors and unborn great-grandchildren. And I realize I am the weakest link that must keep alive the will to sacrifice and the desire to remain ourselves!
In many countries, the repre-sentations of the five states – who the rest of the year compete-celebrate together or dedicate their acts to neighboring brothers.
Here in Korea, led by Ambassador Sara Solis, we gathered with our flags at Seoul City Hall Square, illuminated in blue and white a couple of years ago. This time, Costa Rican Ambassador Jorge Valerio dedicated a commemorative concert to the rest of the Central Americans on that date—not of one country or another, but of all, in profound nostalgia for this great affection that is being pura vida Central American.★