Dario Euraque Dismissed as Director of Prestigious Honduran Institute
 
HARTFORD, Conn. – For Dario Euraque, a Trinity history professor who has been on leave in Honduras since 2006, June 28 started out as just another day in the life of the director of the Honduran Institute of Anthropology and History in the capital city of Tegucigalpa. The Institute is the premier cultural institution in the Central American country.

But by day’s end, Euraque’s world had been turned upside down – or at least sideways. The Honduran president, Manuel Zelaya, had been ousted by the military in a coup and many officials and ministers in the Honduran government were ousted along with him. The minister of culture, for example, ended up coming to this country where he is now teaching at Harvard.

Zelaya was forced to flee the country, though today he is holed up in the Brazilian Embassy in Tegucigalpa, biding his time in the hopes that he will be returned to office. The illegitimate, de facto government of Honduras has been condemned internationally, including by the United States.

Meanwhile, Euraque, who was born in Honduras in 1959 but has been a member of Trinity’s faculty since 1990, remained on the job. After all, his four-year post – whose mission was to research, restore and promote the cultural heritage of the nation – was not a political one. And he reported to the Institute’s board of directors, which was invested with the authority to hire and fire the director.

As part of his job, he oversaw nine museums, which counted among its holdings religious iconography, paintings, statues, food, arts and crafts and historical artifacts and documents. He supervised about 150 employees.

On July 13, the Myrna Castro, the new minister of culture, insisted that Euraque agree to a request by the Honduran army to install its reserve forces in the former presidential palace, which is home to the country’s national archives. Euraque refused, mainly because the building is one of Honduras’ most notable cultural heritage sites.

Euraque, in a recent interview, claims that Castro has no legal authority over the building, which is protected by the 1954 Hague Convention. Cultural buildings cannot be used for military purposes.

“I challenged that. I told the reservists they couldn’t do what they wanted to do,” he said. “I knew that sooner or later I would be dismissed.”

At first, Castro began to backtrack. However, on August 20, Castro issued a letter, saying that Euraque had been dismissed. Although Euraque told her that she had acted illegally because only the Institute’s board of directors had the power to fire him, she conspired to convene a secret meeting of the board on September 1. Two days later, he was given a dismissal notice.

Since his ouster, more than 350 archaeologists and historians from the United States, Europe, and Latin America have signed a petition urging that he be reinstated. The petitions thus far have had little effect.

Euraque was in Hartford recently, where he gave a speech on Honduran culture and identity  at the Charter Oak Cultural Center, met with Trinity President James F. Jones, Jr., and visited with friends and colleagues before returning to Honduras. The father of two children, Euraque plans on staying in Honduras almost until the start of the spring 2010 semester, when he will resume teaching at Trinity.

However, between now and then, he will be lecturing and speaking out in the United States, including stops at eight colleges and universities. He also plans to write a memoir about the coup and related events.

The author of two books, Euraque is also collaborating on a book with Trinity professor and photographer Pablo Delano entitled, Honduras: Portrait of a People.

With all that has happened, Euraque still believes there is a chance that he could end up as the new minister of culture for a short time. How can that be? Negotiations are continuing, which, if successful, would allow Zelaya to reclaim his presidency until new elections are held.

Thus, the situation is still in flux. Nonetheless, whatever happens in the ensuing months, Euraque plans on returning to his teaching post at Trinity in January.

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