Porfirio Lobo Sosa

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Loboand the second or maternal family name is Sosa.

• María Antonieta de Bográn
• Samuel Armando Reyes  [ es ]
• Victor Hugo Barnica  [ es ]

In December 2008, he once again became the presidential candidate of the PNH and on 29 November 2009 he was elected President of Honduras with 56% of the vote against 38% for his rival Elvin Santos. ^[3]

Following his victory, Lobo said his administration will "begin the great national dialogue". ^[4] He also promised to encourage private investment to generate employment and to increase social benefits in a country where 70% of its 7 million citizens live in poverty.^{[ needs update ]}

Presidency (2010–2014)

Sosa with U.S. Vice President Joe Biden in Tegucigalpa, 6 March 2012

President Lobo dismantled Manuel Zelaya's social reforms in favour of a more liberal economic policy: derogation of Decree 18-2008, which gave land to peasants, suspension of the minimum wage, adoption of the Temporary Employment Law (which allows workers to be hired "by the hour", thus preventing their possible unionisation and access to social rights), reform of the status of teachers and partial privatisation of education, and a law on the concession of natural resources, which allows resources such as water to be auctioned off. ^[5]

Human Rights Watch argued that "at least eight journalists and ten members of the National Popular Resistance Front (FNRP)—a political group that opposed the 2009 removal from office of the then president and advocated the reinstatement of the ousted president, Manuel Zelaya — have been killed since Lobo assumed power on January 27, 2010". ^[6] Human Rights Watch has also reported attacks on the independence of the judiciary and public prosecutors. The Obama administration, however, praised Lobo for his attempts at reconciliation, which include forming a truth commission to investigate events surrounding the removal from office as well as appointing a human rights adviser and political opponents to his government. ^[7] His presidency was also marked by violent conflicts between landless peasants and large landowners. In Bajo Aguán, 35 peasants were murdered between January 2010 and July 2011 by militias financed by the landowners. ^[5]

Honduras became the only country in the world to ban the morning-after pill in 2012. ^[8]

The project of the American economist Paul Romer, which consists of building "private cities" on parts of the national territory where almost all the regulations would be given to investors and not to the Honduran state, is accepted by the government of Porfirio Lobo. The national constitution is amended to this effect in February 2011. In the event that a subsequent government wishes to revisit this project, a decree states: "The systems instituted in the REDs [special development regions] must be (...) approved by the National Congress with a qualified two-thirds majority", with the understanding that "this constitutional status may only be modified, interpreted or overturned by the same majority, after consultation by referendum of the population living in the RED". The management of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) was enthusiastic and promised to support it. ^[9] Following a complaint of "treason to the homeland" to the Supreme Court of Justice by opponents of the project, the project was finally declared unconstitutional and rejected by the Court.

According to the Mexican agency Consulta Mitofsky, Porfirio Lobo's popularity in 2012 was only 14%, which made him the second most unpopular leader in Latin America at the time, after Costa Rican then-President Laura Chinchilla. ^[10]

Porfirio Lobo's presidency has not brought an end to the country's problems of violence, where the homicide rate in 2013 remains the highest in the world. According to the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), Honduras is the country on the continent where poverty and inequality are growing the most. ^[5]

U.S. drug trafficking case against Fabio Lobo

Lobo Sosa's son, Fabio Lobo (born in 1971), was arrested in Haiti in a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration sting operation in 2015 and was sentenced in September 2017 in the federal court for the Southern District of New York to 24 years in prison for conspiring to import cocaine into the United States. He pleaded guilty in May 2016. ^{[11] [12]}

Corruption allegations

In July 2016, the National Anti-Corruption Council called for an investigation into the alleged misuse of public funds for the purchase of school materials by Rosa Elena de Lobo, wife of Porforio Lobo, and her private secretary. The former first lady is also facing charges of falsifying documents. She was incarcerated in February 2018 for diverting $4 million from the state to her personal account. This is the first time in Honduras that a high-ranking public figure has been placed in prison for corruption. Half a dozen properties of the presidential couple could be seized by judicial authorities. ^[13]

On 2 October 2019, the trial in the United States of Juan Antonio Tony Hernández, former deputy and brother of Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández, arrested at Miami airport in November 2018, begins. Juan Antonio is accused of drug trafficking - specifically of exporting several tons of cocaine to the US - possession of weapons, and of being linked to the murders of two rival drug traffickers in 2011 and 2013; the scandal becomes political as President Juan Orlando Hernández and his predecessor ex-President Porfirio Lobo are suspected of having used drug money to finance their 2009 and 2013 election campaigns. ^[14]

His name appeared in 2021 in the Pandora Papers. He, his wife, and their son are mentioned as owners of companies registered in tax havens. Some of them were created while he was president of Honduras. ^[15]

See also

• Honduran Social Security Institute
•   Hondurasportal

References

1. Porfirio Lobo Sosa Author, Roberto Ortiz de Zárate, published 6 June 2011
2. "En Honduras, candidato gana abogando por pena de muerte". Emol.com. Archived from the original on 13 May 2016. Retrieved 19 October 2010.
3. Rory Carroll in Tegucigalpa (30 November 2009). "Honduras elects Porfirio Lobo as new president; Rival Elvin Santos concedes defeat as ousted president, Manuel Zelaya, declares vote illegitimate". The Guardian . London. Retrieved 19 October 2010.
4. "Lobo Wins Honduran Presidency After Peaceful Vote". Bloomberg. 30 November 2009.
5. Honduras: del golpe al narcoestado, abril de 2022
6. Human Rights Watch, 29 July 2010, Honduras: Ongoing Attacks Foster Climate of Intimidation
7. Malkin, Elisabeth. "Porfirio Lobo". The New York Times .
8. "Urgent Action: Honduras Set to Ban Emergency Contraceptive". Amnesty International . 28 March 2012. Archived from the original on 25 April 2012. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
9. Ciudades privadas en la selva, mundo diplomatico, julio de 2011
10. "Chinchilla en sótano de popularidad en América Latina" [Chinchilla in Basement of Popularity in Latin America]. Radio La Primerisima (in Spanish). 24 September 2012. Archived from the original on 22 August 2013. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
11. Pierson, Brendon (6 September 2017). "Son of ex-Honduran president gets 24 years for U.S. drug charge". Reuters. Archived from the original on 18 February 2022. Retrieved 28 March 2022.
12. "Son Of The Former President Of Honduras Sentenced To 24 Years In Prison For Conspiring To Import Cocaine Into The United States". United States Justice Department. 5 September 2017. Archived from the original on 18 February 2022. Retrieved 28 March 2022.
13. "Continúa desarrollo del juicio contra Rosa Elena de Lobo y Saúl Escobar".
14. "U.S. prosecutors seek life for Honduran president's brother on drug trafficking conviction". Reuters. 18 March 2021.
15. "Pandora Papers | Vicepresidente, exmandatario y alcalde envueltos en "Papeles de Pandora" en Honduras | ICIJ | Porfirio Lobo | Nasry Asfura | Ricardo Álvarez | MUNDO". 3 October 2021.

External links

• Biography by CIDOB Foundation (in Spanish)

Porfirio Lobo Sosa
Lobo Sosa in 2010
54th President of Honduras
In office 27 January 2010 –27 January 2014
Preceded by	Roberto Micheletti
Succeeded by	Juan Orlando Hernández

Political offices
Preceded by Rafael Pineda Ponce	President of the National Congress 2002–2006	Succeeded by Roberto Micheletti
Preceded by Roberto Micheletti	President of Honduras 2010–2014	Succeeded by Juan Orlando Hernández
Party political offices
Preceded by Ricardo Maduro	National Party nominee for President of Honduras 2005, 2009	Succeeded by Juan Orlando Hernández