The National Anti-Corruption Council (CNA), exposed in a photobook called “Monuments of Corruption”, what for this social oversight entity, are ten emblematic acts of corruption committed by the public sector in Honduras.
From the construction of the Roberto Suazo Córdova soccer stadium, in the city of La Paz, in 1986, to the failed Ciudad Mateo housing project built at the end of 1993, the CNA details the amounts invested in works that did not achieve the purpose for which they were intended. They were built in a little more than three decades.
Those ten works and purchases that became recognized acts of corruption, according to the CNA analysiscaused economic damage to the State of Honduras of almost 4,776 million lempiras.
“This photobook is a retrospective of what has happened in public administration for more than 30 years, and is the result of countless actions, negligence, omissions, but also bad actions that have ended in failed projects,” he said. Cesar Espinalcoordinator of the CNA’s Criminal Policy and Corruption Observatory.
1. Roberto Suazo Córdova Stadium.
Built in 1986, in the city of La Paz, during the government of President Roberto Suazo Córdova. Due to the magnitude of the work, it was expected that at some point it could house a first division team, however, the stadium was abandoned from the first years of its construction. It was not until 2021 that the government of that time installed artificial grass, but the gray work of the stadium remains in deplorable conditions. According to the CNA, around $324,675 was invested.
2. Mateo City
Abandoned since 1993, the failed Ciudad Mateo housing project became one of the monuments to corruption in the country. It began during the government of Rafael Leonardo Callejas Romero in 1992 and years later it was declared uninhabitable. They invested $13,313 at that time.
3. La Acequia Penal Center
The construction of this prison was ordered during the government of Ricardo Maduro, in 2004, however, the execution of the work was carried out during the governments of Manuel Zelaya, Porfirio Lobo and Juan Orlando Hernández. The prison built of iron containers was abandoned due to a government decision in 2026. They allocated $22,104,576 for its construction.
4. Patuca III Hydroelectric Camp
The camp built near the Patuca III hydroelectric dam, in 2013, was built thinking that all the employees of the hydroelectric plant would be housed there, but the previous projects, this one is also abandoned and destroyed. It cost the State from Honduras 8,270,765 dollars.
5. Trans 450
With a cost of 51,000,000 million dollars, the famous Trans 450 arrived in the government of Mayor Ricardo Álvarez, with the promise that it would change the public transportation system in the capital. The gray work of the erroneous road project today It only serves as a shelter for homeless people who wander the streets of Tegucigalpa.
6. Aerodromes
In the government of former president Juan Orlando Hernández Alvarado, in 2017, the construction of five airfields began, which it was said would boost tourism in the country; Today they are intended for anything else, except for commercial flights to land. Built in Choluteca, Celaque (Lempira), Tela, Río Amarillo (Ruinad de Copán) and El Aguacate (Catacamas). $21,590,295 was invested in them.
7. Siguatepeque Polyclinic
It was believed that it would be one of the most modern and conditioned hospitals in the country, with a good number of specialties available to the population, but everything remained a dead letter. $3,283,185 dollars were invested in the gray work, but it had been practically unused since 2027, until March 2024 when its authorization was restarted.
8. Lenca-Copan Corridor
The road that connects the city of Santa Rosa de Copán with the municipality of Santa Rita, always in the same department of Copán, began its repair in 2019. However, the poor execution of the work, without taking into account the failure geology in the area, led to the million-dollar investment being thrown overboard. Currently the road already has cracks and this makes free traffic impossible.
9. After the devastating tropical storms Eta and Iota, through executive decree PCM 116-2020, it was authorized to Invest-H to purchase 620 linear meters of Bailey-type structure, for the construction of bridges, with a value of 137 million lempiras. Some bridges worked, others are piled up like scrap metal in different parts of the country.
10. Mobile hospitals
Of the last and perhaps the most high-profile act of corruption occurred in the last administration of former president Juan Orlando Hernández, with the purchase of seven mobile hospitals, to face the covid-19 pandemic. With a cost that exceeded 47 million of dollars, the mobile hospitals did not serve the purpose for which they were purchased and today they are thrown away as scrap metal. Only one of them works for outpatient matters in San Pedro Sula, according to CNA investigations.
César Espinal argued that with this work, the purpose of the CNA is to “take an x-ray of this selfish, but above all hypocritical, behavior of public officials who have transcended different governments and who have now left an impact of almost five billion lempiras.” economic to the State coffers.”
