Excerpts from Books and Wikipedia
"Honduras was home to several important Mesoamerican cultures, most notably the Maya, before the Spanish invaded in the sixteenth century. The Spanish introduced Roman Catholicism and the now predominant Spanish language, along with numerous customs that have blended with the indigenous culture. Honduras became independent in 1821 and has since been a republic, although it has consistently endured much social strife and political instability, and remains one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere." [Wikipedia] "With just over 8 million inhabitants, about 90 percent mestizo, Honduras faces huge development challenges that are complicated by escalating crime and social dislocation. In an effort to move forward, Honduras has unveiled a development strategy . . . The idea is to attract foreign investment into these protected zones, which are to be independent in their economic, fiscal, and budgetary policies. This initiative follows the charter-cities model that has proven successful in Hong Kong, but critics fear that it may only clear the way for organized crime to take full control of these new economic enclaves . . ."