1.
President of Honduras
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The President of the Republic of Honduras, is the head of state and head of government of Honduras, as well as the Commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces. According to the 1982 Constitution of Honduras, the primary function is to Execute and enforce the Constitution, treaties and conventions, laws. The constitution also dictates that the president is elected directly by the people to a single four-year term, after the Central America Declaration of Independence publication in Honduras, the Constitution of Honduras in 1825 created three powers, Executive, Legislative and Judicial. The Government of Honduras consists of three branches, Executive, Legislative and Judicial, the President of the Republic is both the head of state and the head of the government. The president is elected by a vote for a four-year term. The National Congress of Honduras consists of 128 Deputies elected to four-year terms, Deputies are elected to office under the proportional representation of elections, each political party appoints office holders in proportion to the number of votes won in a general election. The judiciary includes a Supreme Court of Justice, the Supreme Court of Honduras, a Court of Appeal, the judges of the Supreme Court of Justice are chosen for a period of seven years by the National Congress. Section V, Chapter 6 of the Constitution of Honduras of 1982 establishes the President as the branch of government and sets forth the powers. Qualifications are extremely stringent, designed to prevent a dictatorship by political, military, to be eligible to run for president, the candidate is required to, Be a natural-born Honduran. Be more than 30 years old at the time of the election, be able to enjoy the full rights of Honduran citizenship. Not be an official of any church or religious denomination, not be in active military service during the six months prior to the election. Not be an officer of the forces or law enforcement. Not be the spouse or relative of the President or any military leader, the President of Honduras serves one four-year term and is not eligible for re-election. The Constitution ascribes 45 specific rights and powers to the office of the Presidency, To execute and enforce the Constitution, treaties and conventions, laws, to direct the general policy of the State and represent it. To maintain the independence, honor, integrity, and inviolability of Honduras, to maintain the peace and security of the Republic and repel any attack or foreign aggression. To freely appoint and remove the secretaries of his cabinet, to call the National Congress into special session, or propose an extension of the ordinary session. To restrict or suspend the exercise of rights of the Council of Ministers, to address the National Congress at any time, and to adjourn each ordinary legislative session. To participate in the introduction of legislation to Congress by the cabinet secretaries, to provide implement the resolutions of the legislature, judiciary, and National Electoral Court
2.
Tegucigalpa
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Tegucigalpa, commonly referred to as Téguz, is the capital of Honduras and seat of government of the Republic, along with its twin sister Comayagüela. Claimed on September 29,1578 by the Spaniards, Tegucigalpa became the capital on October 30,1880 under President Marco Aurelio Soto. After a failed attempt to create a Central American republic in 1821, on January 30,1937, Article 179 of the 1936 Honduran Constitution was changed under Decree 53 to establish Tegucigalpa and Comayagüela as a Central District. Tegucigalpa is located in the highland region known as the department of Francisco Morazán of which it is also the departmental capital. It is situated in a valley, surrounded by mountains, Tegucigalpa and Comayagüela, being sister cities, are physically separated by the Choluteca River. The Central District is the largest of the 28 municipalities in the Francisco Morazán department, Tegucigalpa is Honduras largest and most populous city as well as the nations political and administrative center. Tegucigalpa is host to 25 foreign embassies and 16 consulates and it is the home base of several state-owned entities such as ENEE and Hondutel, the national energy and telecommunications companies, respectively. The city is home to the countrys most important public university. The capitals international airport, Toncontín, is known for its short runway. The Central District Mayors Office is the governing body, headed by a mayor and 10 aldermen forming the Municipal Corporation. Being the departments seat as well, the office of Francisco Morazán is also located in the capital. In 2008, the city operated on a budget of 1.555 billion lempiras. In 2009, the city government reported a revenue of 1.955 billion lempiras, Tegucigalpas infrastructure has not kept up with its population growth. Deficient urban planning, densely condensed urbanization, and poverty are ongoing problems, heavily congested roadways where current road infrastructure is unable to efficiently handle over 400,000 vehicles create havoc on a daily basis. Both current national and local governments have taken steps to improve, most sources indicate the origin and meaning of the word Tegucigalpa is derived from the Nahuatl language. Another source suggests that Tegucigalpa derives from another language in which it means painted rocks, other theories indicate it may derive from the term Togogalpa which refers to tototi and Toncontín, a small town near Tegucigalpa. In Mexico, it is believed the word Tegucigalpa is from the Nahuatl word Tecuztlicallipan, meaning place of residence of the noble or Tecuhtzincalpan, meaning place on the home of the beloved master. Tegucigalpa was founded by Spanish settlers as Real de Minas de San Miguel de Tegucigalpa on September 29,1578 on the site of a native settlement of the Pech, Tolupans
3.
Honduras
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Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a republic in Central America. It has at times referred to as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras. Honduras was home to several important Mesoamerican cultures, most notably the Maya, the Spanish introduced Roman Catholicism and the now predominant Spanish language, along with numerous customs that have blended with the indigenous culture. Honduras has the worlds highest murder rate, Honduras spans about 112,492 km2 and has a population exceeding 8 million. Its northern portions are part of the Western Caribbean Zone, as reflected in the areas demographics and culture. Honduras is known for its natural resources, including minerals, coffee, tropical fruit, and sugar cane, as well as for its growing textiles industry. Honduras literally means depths in Spanish, the name could either refer to the bay of Trujillo as an anchorage, fondura in the Leonese dialect of Spanish, or to Columbuss alleged quote that Gracias a Dios que hemos salido de esas Honduras. It was not until the end of the 16th century that Honduras was used for the whole province, prior to 1580, Honduras only referred to the eastern part of the province, and Higueras referred to the western part. Another early name is Guaymuras, revived as the name for the dialogue in 2009 that took place in Honduras as opposed to Costa Rica. In pre-Columbian times, modern Honduras was part of the Mesoamerican cultural area, in the west, the Maya civilization flourished for hundreds of years. The dominant state within Hondurass borders was in Copán, Copán fell with the other Lowland centres during the conflagrations of the Terminal Classic in the 9th century. The Maya of this civilization survive in western Honduras as the Chorti, remains of other Pre-Columbian cultures are found throughout the country. On 30 July 1502 Columbus sent his brother Bartholomew to explore the islands and Bartholomew encountered a Mayan trading vessel from Yucatán, carrying well-dressed Maya and a rich cargo. Bartholomews men stole whatever cargo they wanted and kidnapped the elderly captain to serve as an interpreter in what was the first recorded encounter between the Spanish and the Maya. In March 1524, Gil González Dávila became the first Spaniard to enter Honduras as a conquistador, followed by Hernán Cortés, bringing forces down from Mexico. Much of the conquest was done in the two decades, first by groups loyal to Cristóbal de Olid, and then by those loyal of Francisco Montejo. In addition to Spanish resources, the conquerors relied heavily on armed forces from Mexico—Tlaxcalans, resistance to conquest was led in particular by Lempira, and many regions in the north never fell to the Spanish, notably the Miskito Kingdom. After the Spanish conquest, Honduras became part of Spains vast empire in the New World within the Kingdom of Guatemala, Trujillo and Gracias were the first city-capitals
4.
Palestinians
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Despite various wars and exoduses, roughly one half of the worlds Palestinian population continues to reside in historic Palestine, the area encompassing the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and Israel. Of the Palestinian population who live abroad, known as the Palestinian diaspora, the history of a distinct Palestinian national identity is a disputed issue amongst scholars. Palestinian was used to refer to the nationalist concept of a Palestinian people by Palestinian Arabs in a limited way until World War I, Modern Palestinian identity now encompasses the heritage of all ages from biblical times up to the Ottoman period. Founded in 1964, the Palestine Liberation Organization is an organization for groups that represent the Palestinian people before the international community. Since 1978, the United Nations has observed an annual International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, herodotus also employs the term as an ethnonym, as when he speaks of the Syrians of Palestine or Palestinian-Syrians, an ethnically amorphous group he distinguishes from the Phoenicians. Herodotus makes no distinction between the Jews and other inhabitants of Palestine, the Greek word reflects an ancient Eastern Mediterranean-Near Eastern word which was used either as a toponym or ethnonym. In Ancient Egyptian Peleset/Purusati has been conjectured to refer to the Sea Peoples, among Semitic languages, Akkadian Palaštu is used of Philistia and its 4 city states. Biblical Hebrews cognate word Plištim, is usually translated Philistines, the Arabic word Filastin has been used to refer to the region since the time of the earliest medieval Arab geographers. It appears to have used as an Arabic adjectival noun in the region since as early as the 7th century CE. The Arabic newspaper Falasteen, published in Jaffa by Issa and Yusef al-Issa, the first Zionist bank, the Jewish Colonial Trust, was founded at the Second Zionist Congress and incorporated in London in 1899. The JCT was intended to be the instrument of the Zionist Organization. On 27 February 1902, a subsidiary of this Trust called the Anglo-Palestine Company was established in London with the assistance of Zalman David Levontin and this Company was to become the future Bank Leumi. Following the 1948 establishment of Israel, the use and application of the terms Palestine and Palestinian by, for example, the English-language newspaper The Palestine Post, founded by Jews in 1932, changed its name in 1950 to The Jerusalem Post. Jews in Israel and the West Bank today generally identify as Israelis, Arab citizens of Israel identify themselves as Israeli and/or Palestinian and/or Arab. Anyone born, after that date, of a Palestinian father – whether in Palestine or outside it – is also a Palestinian. Thus, the Jews of Palestine were/are also included, although limited only to the Jews who had resided in Palestine until the beginning of the Zionist invasion. The Charter also states that Palestine with the boundaries it had during the British Mandate, is a territorial unit. The although the timing and causes behind the emergence of a distinctively Palestinian national consciousness among the Arabs of Palestine are matters of scholarly disagreement
5.
Louisiana State University
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Louisiana State University is a public coeducational university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1853 in what is now known as Pineville, Louisiana, LSU is the flagship institution of the Louisiana State University System. In 2015, the university enrolled over 26,000 undergraduate and over 5,000 graduate students in 14 schools, several of LSUs graduate schools, such as the E. J. Ourso College of Business and the Paul M. Hebert Law Center, have received recognition in their respective fields of study. LSUs athletics department fields teams in 21 varsity sports, and is a member of the NCAA, the university is represented by its mascot, Mike the Tiger. Louisiana State University Agricultural & Mechanical College had its origin in land grants made by the United States government in 1806,1811. It was founded as an academy and is still today steeped in military tradition. In 1853, the Louisiana General Assembly established the Seminary of Learning of the State of Louisiana near Pineville in Rapides Parish in Central Louisiana. Modeled initially after Virginia Military Institute, the institution opened with five professors and nineteen cadets on January 2,1860, the original location of the Old LSU Site is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. On January 26,1861, after only a year at the helm, the school closed on June 30,1861, with the start of the American Civil War. During the course of the war, the university reopened briefly in April 1863, the losses sustained by the institution during the Union occupation were heavy, and after 1863 the seminary remained closed for the remainder of the Civil War. Following the surrender of the Confederates at Appomattox Court House on April 9,1865 and these cannons had been captured from Confederate forces after the close of the war and had been used during the initial firing upon Fort Sumter in April 1861. The cannons are still displayed in front of LSUs Military Science/Aerospace Studies Building, the seminary officially reopened its doors on October 2,1865, only to be burned October 15,1869. On November 1,1869, the institution resumed its exercises in Baton Rouge, in 1870, the name of the institution was officially changed to Louisiana State University. It temporarily opened in New Orleans, June 1,1874 and this prompted the final name change for the university to the Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College. On June 7,1925, Oscar B, turner, a professor of agronomy, was murdered by an axe-wielding assailant on campus. On April 30,1926, the present LSU campus was formally dedicated, prior to this, LSU utilized the quarters of the Institute for the Deaf, Mute, and Blind. Land for the present campus was purchased in 1918, construction started in 1922, the campus was originally designed for 3000 students, but was cut back due to budget problems
6.
Phi Iota Alpha
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Phi Iota Alpha, established December 26,1931, is the oldest Latino Fraternity in existence, and works to motivate people, develop leaders, and create innovative ways to unite the Latino community. The organization has roots that stem back to the late 19th century to the first Latin American fraternity, and the first Latin American student organization in the United States. Membership in Phi Iota Alpha is open to all men regardless of race, creed, colour, Phi Iota Alphas membership includes prominent and accomplished educators, politicians, businessmen, and four former presidents of Latin American countries. Phi Iota Alpha utilizes motifs from the Pan-American revolutionary period and uses images and colours depicting the time of Latin American revolutionaries, the origins of Phi Iota Alpha began at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York, in 1898. A group of Latin American students organized the Union Hispano Americana as a cultural and intellectual secret society based on the ideology of Pan-Americanism, the immediate goals of the UHA was to provide a cultural environment for students of Latin America and Spain. The UHA was the first association of Latin American students ever founded in the United States, the UHA expanded to several colleges and universities in the United States, however, due to the secrecy imposed upon its members, not many records were kept. The expansion and growth of the UHA was based on compromise, shortly after its foundation, Pi Delta Phi initiated a search to expand to other colleges and universities where they became aware of the existence of other similar organizations. After some communication, these two organizations realized the existence of a non-Greek letter secret society, the Union Hispano Americana, as a result of intensive correspondence and various interviews, the three organizations merged. In their merger agreement, the three organizations adopted the name of Phi Lambda Alpha fraternity, with the distinctive emblem & constitution of Pi Delta Phi, and this new union was formalized on June 11,1921, in the City of New York. Meanwhile, in the Southeastern Province of the United States, another organization was under development. In 1904, an organization with similar goals as Phi Lambda Alpha was founded under the name “Sociedad Hispano-Americana” at Louisiana State University, between 1912 and 1925, Sigma Iota expanded rapidly in the United States, Central America and Europe. As a result of this, Sigma Iota became the first international Latin American–based fraternity, Phi Lambda Alpha was seeking to expand throughout the United States and to promote the ideology of Pan Americanism. Sigma Iota Fraternity was in search of revitalizing some of its defunct chapters, thus both organizations complemented each other and began to work towards the creation of the fraternity now known as Phi Iota Alpha. On December 26,1931, the first day of a three-day convention and they resolved to unify under one name, one banner, one organization and one ideal. The next day of business was dedicated to preparing the details of revising the constitution, on December 28, by the end of the three-day convention, the majority of the merger was completed. The last step in the merger was the ratification of some of the chapters of Sigma Iota that were not represented at the convention. The fraternity was incorporated as an organization on October 28,1936, under the laws of the State of Louisiana, under the name. After the unification of Sigma Iota and Phi Lambda Alpha, Phi Iota Alpha goal was to expand on the level and develop a plan for it existing
7.
International Monetary Fund
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The International Monetary Fund is an international organization headquartered in Washington, D. C. It now plays a role in the management of balance of payments difficulties. Countries contribute funds to a pool through a system from which countries experiencing balance of payments problems can borrow money. As of 2016, the fund had SDR477 billion, the rationale for this is that private international capital markets function imperfectly and many countries have limited access to financial markets. The IMF provides alternate sources of financing and this assistance was meant to prevent the spread of international economic crises. The IMF was also intended to help mend the pieces of the economy after the Great Depression. As well, to provide investments for economic growth and projects such as infrastructure. The IMFs role was altered by the floating exchange rates post-1971. It shifted to examining the economic policies of countries with IMF loan agreements to determine if a shortage of capital was due to economic fluctuations or economic policy, the IMF also researched what types of government policy would ensure economic recovery. Rather than maintaining a position of oversight of only exchange rates and their role became a lot more active because the IMF now manages economic policy rather than just exchange rates. In addition, the IMF negotiates conditions on lending and loans under their policy of conditionality, nonconcessional loans, which include interest rates, are provided mainly through Stand-By Arrangements, the Flexible Credit Line, the Precautionary and Liquidity Line, and the Extended Fund Facility. The IMF provides emergency assistance via the Rapid Financing Instrument to members facing urgent balance-of-payments needs, the IMF is mandated to oversee the international monetary and financial system and monitor the economic and financial policies of its member countries. This activity is known as surveillance and facilitates international cooperation, the responsibilities changed from those of guardian to those of overseer of members’ policies. In 1995 the International Monetary Fund began work on data dissemination standards with the view of guiding IMF member countries to disseminate their economic and financial data to the public. The executive board approved the SDDS and GDDS in 1996 and 1997 respectively, the system is aimed primarily at statisticians and aims to improve many aspects of statistical systems in a country. It is also part of the World Bank Millennium Development Goals, some countries initially used the GDDS, but later upgraded to SDDS. The IMF does require collateral from countries for loans but also requires the government seeking assistance to correct its macroeconomic imbalances in the form of policy reform, if the conditions are not met, the funds are withheld. The concept of conditionality was introduced in a 1952 Executive Board decision, conditionality is associated with economic theory as well as an enforcement mechanism for repayment
8.
World Bank
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The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to countries of the world for capital programs. It comprises two institutions, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and the International Development Association, the World Bank is a component of the World Bank Group, which is part of the United Nations system. The World Banks stated official goal is the reduction of poverty, the president of the World Bank is, traditionally, an American. The World Bank and the IMF are both based in Washington, D. C. and work closely with each other, although many countries were represented at the Bretton Woods Conference, the United States and United Kingdom were the most powerful in attendance and dominated the negotiations. Before 1974 the reconstruction and development loans provided by the World Bank were relatively small, the Banks staff were aware of the need to instill confidence in the bank. Fiscal conservatism ruled, and loan applications had to meet strict criteria, the first country to receive a World Bank loan was France. The Banks president at the time, John McCloy, chose France over two other applicants, Poland and Chile, the loan was for US$250 million, half the amount requested, and it came with strict conditions. France had to agree to produce a budget and give priority of debt repayment to the World Bank over other governments. World Bank staff closely monitored the use of the funds to ensure that the French government met the conditions. In addition, before the loan was approved, the United States State Department told the French government that its members associated with the Communist Party would first have to be removed, the French government complied with this diktat and removed the Communist coalition government - the so-called tripartisme. Within hours, the loan to France was approved, when the Marshall Plan went into effect in 1947, many European countries began receiving aid from other sources. Faced with this competition, the World Bank shifted its focus to non-European countries, in 1960, the International Development Association was formed, providing soft loans to developing countries. From 1974 to 1980 the bank concentrated on meeting the needs of people in the developing world. The size and number of loans to borrowers was greatly increased as loan targets expanded from infrastructure into social services and these changes can be attributed to Robert McNamara, who was appointed to the presidency in 1968 by Lyndon B. Johnson. McNamara implored bank treasurer Eugene Rotberg to seek out new sources of capital outside of the banks that had been the primary sources of funding. Rotberg used the bond market to increase the capital available to the bank. One consequence of the period of poverty alleviation lending was the rise of third world debt. From 1976 to 1980 developing world debt rose at an annual rate of 20%
9.
United Nations
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The United Nations is an intergovernmental organization to promote international co-operation. A replacement for the ineffective League of Nations, the organization was established on 24 October 1945 after World War II in order to prevent another such conflict, at its founding, the UN had 51 member states, there are now 193. The headquarters of the UN is in Manhattan, New York City, further main offices are situated in Geneva, Nairobi, and Vienna. The organization is financed by assessed and voluntary contributions from its member states, the UNs mission to preserve world peace was complicated in its early decades by the Cold War between the US and Soviet Union and their respective allies. The organization participated in actions in Korea and the Congo. After the end of the Cold War, the UN took on major military, the UN has six principal organs, the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council, the Secretariat, the International Court of Justice, and the UN Trusteeship Council. UN System agencies include the World Bank Group, the World Health Organization, the World Food Programme, UNESCO, the UNs most prominent officer is the Secretary-General, an office held by Portuguese António Guterres since 2017. Non-governmental organizations may be granted consultative status with ECOSOC and other agencies to participate in the UNs work, the organization won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2001, and a number of its officers and agencies have also been awarded the prize. Other evaluations of the UNs effectiveness have been mixed, some commentators believe the organization to be an important force for peace and human development, while others have called the organization ineffective, corrupt, or biased. Following the catastrophic loss of life in the First World War, the earliest concrete plan for a new world organization began under the aegis of the US State Department in 1939. It incorporated Soviet suggestions, but left no role for France, four Policemen was coined to refer to four major Allied countries, United States, United Kingdom, Soviet Union, and China, which emerged in the Declaration by United Nations. Roosevelt first coined the term United Nations to describe the Allied countries, the term United Nations was first officially used when 26 governments signed this Declaration. One major change from the Atlantic Charter was the addition of a provision for religious freedom, by 1 March 1945,21 additional states had signed. Each Government pledges itself to cooperate with the Governments signatory hereto, the foregoing declaration may be adhered to by other nations which are, or which may be, rendering material assistance and contributions in the struggle for victory over Hitlerism. During the war, the United Nations became the term for the Allies. To join, countries had to sign the Declaration and declare war on the Axis, at the later meetings, Lord Halifax deputized for Mr. Eden, Wellington Koo for T. V. Soong, and Mr Gromyko for Mr. Molotov. The first meetings of the General Assembly, with 51 nations represented, the General Assembly selected New York City as the site for the headquarters of the UN, and the facility was completed in 1952. Its site—like UN headquarters buildings in Geneva, Vienna, and Nairobi—is designated as international territory, the Norwegian Foreign Minister, Trygve Lie, was elected as the first UN Secretary-General
