US embassy cable - 05TEGUCIGALPA1598

UNCLAS TEGUCIGALPA 001598 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT. FOR WHA/CEN, DRL/PHD, AND 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, PHUM, PREL, SOCI, ECON, PINR, HO 
SUBJECT: Dayana Martinez: Disabled Garifuna Advocate Seeks 
Liberal Party Congressional Seat to Advocate for Change 
 
 
1. Summary:  Blind, black, and female, Dayana Martinez, a 
Garifuna, hopes to be given an opportunity to represent the 
marginalized groups of Honduras.  Campaigning for a seat in 
the November 27 congressional elections, Ms. Martinez 
promises to fight for children's rights and to bring forth 
legislation that will improve their standard of living.  The 
Liberal Party hopes that Ms. Martinez's campaign will 
attract a large number of new voters to her campaign and 
their party, voters who have previously not had a voice in 
the National Congress.  Her campaign focuses on three 
issues: (1) combating discrimination against marginalized 
populations, (2) improving rural education through 
technology, and (3) pushing legislation that ensures equal 
employment opportunities for the disabled.  End Summary. 
 
2. Garifuna (Afro-Honduran) Ms. Dayana Giselle Martinez 
Burke lost her sight at age 15 due to medical negligence. 
Although blind, she has still been able to see her way to 
her international and political aspirations.  She completed 
high school in the United States and earned a bachelor's 
degree in foreign languages from the National Autonomous 
University of Honduras (UNAH).  Proficient in five 
languages, Ms. Martinez is also the founder of the National 
Association for the Handicapped of Honduras and has served 
as United Nations human rights investigator for people with 
disabilities in Honduras.  She is also working with the UN 
to prepare an international convention for people with 
disabilities. 
 
3. In the Liberal Party (LP) primary, Martinez was one of 
only two winning congressional candidates in the Francisco 
Morazan Department (Tegucigalpa) not on the slate of 
presidential nominee Manuel "Mel" Zelaya, who won the LP 
presidential primary.  That demonstrates an impressive 
ability to attract votes for a candidate on a slate whose 
presidential candidate (Gabriela Nunez) finished third in 
the department.  As candidate number 20 in a 23 candidate 
district for the general election, her chances of being 
elected are probably more dependent on personal support than 
on Zelaya's showing. 
 
4. Her support of legislation to protect and improve the 
lives of Honduras' numerous street children (over 5,300 in 
Tegucigalpa alone) has galvanized higher than expected 
support from women's groups, which likely helped her at the 
ballot box.  Seeking to unite all Hondurans under a cause, 
Ms. Martinez promises to fight for children's rights and to 
bring forth legislation that will improve their living 
conditions and education to better integrate them into 
positive aspects of Honduran society. 
 
5. According to 2002 figures from the National Institute of 
Statistics (INE), 177,516 disabled individuals live in 
Honduras, the majority in rural areas, many of whom feel 
that the government has abandoned them.  It is to this under- 
represented group (as well as blacks, women, and ethnic 
minorities) that Ms. Martinez is looking for support on 
election day.  Many members of these marginalized 
communities feel that the government has abandoned them. 
The Liberal Party hopes that Ms. Martinez's campaign will 
attract a large number of new voters to her campaign and 
their party; voters who have previously not had a voice in 
the National Congress. 
 
6. Her campaign focuses on three keys issues which she hopes 
will have an immediate and long-term impact on the social 
conditions of the most destitute:  combating discrimination 
against all Honduran minorities, including women; improving 
rural education through technology, especially in Garifuna 
districts; and implementing laws to ensure equal employment 
opportunities for disabled individuals, similar to those of 
the Americans With Disabilities Act. 
 
7. Comment: The marginalized groups, after so many years 
without a voice in the national agenda, have found someone 
to carry their concerns and aspirations to the National 
Congress.  If successful on November 27, the people and the 
government will hear them from Martinez.  End Comment. 
 
Tuebner