Forbes Magazine

Page 1

Forbes Magazine

Pรกgina 1


Forbes Magazine

Pรกgina 2


Índice Jorge Canahuati Larach ................................................................................................ 4 Business life .............................................................................................................................. 4 Honduras Economy ................................................................................................................... 5 Honduras Banana´s Productions ............................................................................................... 7 Ricardo Maduro ........................................................................................................... 8 Politic Life ............................................................................................................................. 8 Presidential Candidate .......................................................................................................... 9 Presidency (2002-2006)....................................................................................................... 10 Fredy Nasser............................................................................................................ 12 Biography ........................................................................................................................ 12 Business trajectory .......................................................................................................... 12

Forbes Magazine

Página 3


Jorge Canahuati Larach Business life His path to the presidency of Grupo Opsa began in 1979, when he held the position of advertising assistant. Later he worked as sales manager, assistant general manager and general manager. In 1986, a year after the death of his grandfather, he assumed the presidency of Grupo OPSA. He was barely 30 years old and had all the enthusiasm to mark the beginning of a new stage of the family business. Under his administration, the OPSA Group not only consolidated its leadership with the two largest newspapers in the country, but also increased its portfolio of printed publications and on the web. Thirty-eight years after its foundation, on November 6, 2002, the editorial group adopts a new journalistic style. In 1996, the portal [www.laprensa.hn] was launched, with a world-class technological platform. Then in 2002, Estilo was Forbes Magazine

Pรกgina 4


acquired, the country's first social magazine, which would be key to the group's incursion in the creation of a magazine unit for products segmented from niche readers such as; Mía Magazine, Amiga Magazine, Buen Provecho, Tecno, Motores, Casa y Hogar, among some titles. In 2006 DIEZ was created, the only sports newspaper in the country with a fresh and well-positioned style, whose portal [www.diez.hn] reached 5 million visits during the World Cup in South Africa. The amount of publications that Jorge Canahuati Larach has seen being born and growing is not the only thing that fills him with satisfaction; it is the sacrifice and commitment of his human resource. In 2010, he acquired Honduras Tips and produced the publication of the Group's first printed book, "Constructores Artísticos Entre Siglos", a posthumous work by the awardwinning writer and historian Leticia de Oyuela. Chairs the Board of Directors of Laboratorios Finlay, S.A., Corporación Industrial del Norte. He is an active member of the Inter American Press Association, SIP, where he currently serves as President of the International Affairs Commission. Since 1996 he is a member of the World Association of Newspapers of Newspapers, WAN. Also with strong investments in the bottling, food franchising and pharmaceutical sector: Pizza Hut, Kentucky, Embotedallora de Sula (Agua Azul, Aquafina, Pepsi, Seven Up, Mirinda Naranja Mirinda Uva, 7Teen, Enjoy, Adrenaline, Gatorade, Quanty, Link , SoBe Energy, Lipton Tea packaging) and Finlay Laboratories.

Honduras Economy The economy of Honduras is based mostly on agriculture, which accounts for 14% of its gross domestic product (GDP) in 2013. Leading export coffee (US$340 million) accounted for 22% of total Honduran export revenues. Bananas, formerly the countries second-largest export until being virtually wiped out by 1998's Hurricane Mitch, recovered in 2000 to 57% of pre-Mitch levels. Cultivated shrimp is another important export sector. Since the late 1970s, towns in the north began industrial production through maquiladoras, especially in San Pedro Sula and Puerto Cortés.

Forbes Magazine

Página 5


Honduras has extensive forests, marine, and mineral resources, although widespread slash and burn agricultural methods continue to destroy Honduran forests. The Honduran economy grew 4.8% in 2000, recovering from the Mitchinduced recession (−1.9%) of 1999. The Honduran maquiladora sector, the thirdlargest in the world, continued its strong performance in 2000, providing employment to over 120,000 and generating more than $528 million in foreign exchange for the country. Inflation, as measured by the consumer price index, was 10.1% in 2000, down slightly from the 10.9% recorded in 1999. The country's international reserve position continued to be strong in 2000, at slightly over US$1 billion. Remittances from Hondurans living abroad (mostly in the US) rose 28% to $410 million in 2000. The Lempira (currency) was devaluing for many years but stabilized at L19 to the US dollar in 2005. The Honduran people are among the poorest in Latin America; gross national income per capita (2007) is US$1,649; the average for Central America is $6,736.[4] Honduras is the fourth poorest country in the Western Hemisphere; only Haiti, Nicaragua, and Guyana are poorer. Using alternative statistical measurements in addition to the gross domestic product can provide greater context for the nation's poverty. The country signed an Enhanced Structural Adjustment Facility (ESAF) – later converted to a Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF) with the International Monetary Fund in March 1999. Honduras (as of about year 2000) continues to maintain stable macroeconomic policies. It not been swift to implementing structural changes such as privatization of the publicly owned telephone and energy distribution companies—changes which are desired by the IMF and other international lenders. Honduras received significant debt relief in the aftermath of Hurricane Mitch, including the suspension bilateral debt service payments and bilateral debt reduction by the Paris Club—including the US – worth over $400 million. In July 2000, Honduras reached its decision point under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative (HIPC), qualifying the country for interim multilateral debt relief. Land appears to be plentiful and readily exploitable, but the presence of apparently extensive land is misleading because the nation's rugged, mountainous terrain restricts large-scale agricultural production to narrow strips on the coasts and to a few fertile valleys. Honduras's manufacturing sector has not yet developed beyond simple textile and agricultural processing industries and assembly operations. The small domestic market and competition from more Forbes Magazine

Página 6


industrially advanced countries in the region have inhibited more complex industrialization.

Honduras Banana´s Productions General Sierra's efforts to perpetuate himself in office led to his overthrow in 1903 by General Manuel Bonilla, who proved to be an even greater ally of the banana companies than Sierra had been. Companies gained exemptions from taxes and permission to construct wharves and roads, as well as permission to improve interior waterways and to obtain charters for new railroad construction. At one time the American government trained the Honduran army and air force to protect the supremacy of the banana companies operating in the country. The growth of banana production in Honduras soon saw the industry constituting some 88% of Honduran exports at its all-time peak, centering the economic activity of the country almost entirely on the Atlantic coast region, with the economic center at the coastal city of San Pedro Sula rather than Tegucigalpa.

Location of Trujillo and the Bay Islands as the centre of Honduran coastal banana production The Honduran banana industry employed a significant Garifuna workforce from the Bay Islands off Trujillo and in 1901 the government gave concessions for them to use over 7,000 hectares for banana cultivation. However in practice it was impossible to protect all of this land for its given purpose and corruption saw a local military commander in Trujillo, Colonel Gustavo Alvarez, squander 2,000 hectares of land allocated to the Garifuna and give the land to the wealthy landowners. In 1964, Castle & Cooke bought out the Standard Fruit Company, and concentrated on the production of bananas and pineapples under the Dole label in Honduras. In September 1974, Hurricane Fifi devastated some 60% of Honduras' agricultural production, and many of the plantations had to be abandoned, seriously affecting the economy. In response, the redundant plantation workers formed the Las Isletas Peasants Enterprise, where they harvested the bananas independently and reaped the profits, producing one million boxes of bananas in 1976 and four million in 1977. Las Isletas attempted to sell the fruit directly through the Union of Banana Exporting Countries at one stage, resulting in the arrest of 200 militant members of Las Isletas and a raid on the association's headquarters under pressure from the Standard Fruit Company, who feared being outlawed by the process.

Forbes Magazine

PĂĄgina 7


In the mid-1990s, the Honduran economy went into severe recession, which hit the banana and coffee industries hard and sending world prices soaring. Although the economy recovered significantly in 1996, the banana industry in Honduras was struck hard by the lasting impression of Hurricane Mitch in late 1998, a Category Five Hurricane considered the worst in 200 years, with winds reaching 200 mph (320 km/h) and inundating land with excessive precipitation drowning many of the crops. Hurricane Mitch is believed to have destroyed over 50%, possibly as high as 80%, of the banana and coffee crops in 1998, costing an estimated $3 billion in damage. Since 2000 the industry has recovered, although the country is still one of the poorest in Central America. In 2003, the News Scientist reported that global banana production was under threat by disease and may be wiped out within ten years if preventative measures are not taken to protect against it. Scientists from the banana industry in Honduras responded to the potential crisis by implementing new large-scale breeding schemes in a new FHIA variety. This FHIA banana crop is resistant to major diseases and pests, but is also highly productive and efficient. The scheme in Honduras is financed by the multinational United Brands.

Ricardo Maduro Politic Life Ricardo Maduro Joest "began his political career in the 1980s, as a founding member of the Movement" internal of the National Party, "of Unity and Change, which catapulted Rafael Callejas to the presidency in 1989. The businessman directed the presidential campaigns of Callejas from November 1985 and November 1989, in the Forbes Magazine

Pรกgina 8


first round was winner JosĂŠ Azcona Hoyo, but in the second, Callejas won Carlos Roberto Flores FacussĂŠ, "4 taking this, possession of the presidency on January 27 1990, took possession of the Presidency of the Republic. President Callejas Romero rewarded him for his efficient collaboration "by appointing him President of the Central Bank of Honduras, BCH, and coordinator of the Economic Cabinet." Defender of the free market and of the regulations favorable to the neo-liberal model, Maduro was in charge of designing and then supervises the exchange and fiscal measures. " In 1993, Maduro renounced his aspirations to conquer the mandate of national deputy at the request of Callejas. The president wanted to keep him in charge of the Central Bank of Honduras (BCH). However, Callejas did not object to Maduro running for deputy for Honduras in the Central American Parliament, (Parlacen), where he achieved a seat. "After the change of government in January 1994,". Maduro returned to his business businesses, as well as to occupy the position of first vocal within the central committee of the National Party of Honduras (PNH).

Presidential Candidate On August 4, 1999, Ricardo Maduro announced his decision to participate in the PNH primaries. On May 24, 2000, under the National Movement of the PNH, Arriba Honduras Ricardo Maduro Joest, registered to participate in the primary elections of the National Party to be held that year. However, the National Elections Tribunal (TNE), controlled by the governing Liberal Party of Honduras, refused to register Maduro for the internal elections on the grounds that he is not Honduran by birth, but Panamanian. Maduro temporarily deposed his aspirations and appointed in his place his campaign manager, Luis Cosenza, who became the presidential candidate by obtaining 83 percent of the more than 800,000 votes registered in the primaries. In the ordinary convention ... Maduro assumed the presidency of the Central Committee of the National Party, because his movement won the internal, while Cosenza put his candidacy "at the disposal" of its leader. Maduro, on the other hand, resumed the struggle to achieve his registration by announcing "that he will go to organizations such as the IACHR to denounce the attitude of the Liberal Party." Criticism which considered with the nationalists a violation of their constitutional rights. Maduro acknowledged that, "physically, he was born in Panama, but he claims Honduran nationality by birth under the blood right inherited from his grandmother born in Honduras."

Forbes Magazine

PĂĄgina 9


At the request of President Flores, on November 3, 2000, the main leaders of the PLH, the PNH -including Maduro-, the Christian Democratic Party of Honduras (PDCH) and the Innovation and Unity-Social Democracy Party (PINU) signed an "agreement patriotic for the establishment of a special commission of jurists to rule on the nationality of the nationalist precandidate. On November 30, the commission resolved, with the arguments set out above, that Maduro actually had Honduran nationality by birth and therefore met the constitutional requirements to be president of the Republic. " On March 12, 2001, the liberal majority of Congress approved a constitutional reading that validated Maduro's aspiration and the next day the TNE accepted the resignation of Cosenza and registered the first as winner of the nationalist primaries. Immediately, the National Convention of the party formally acclaimed Maduro as its candidate for the presidency of the nation.

Presidency (2002-2006) Once in the presidency, "Maduro went to work immediately in the execution of his main electoral badge, and after a few days there were spectacular results, contradicting those who had suspected demagogy in his campaign promises." "On February 8, the police seized a formidable arsenal, including rocket launchers, which hid a gang of kidnappers and robbers that operated in coordination with the drug cartels of Mexico and Colombia, and that have their base of operations in Lempira, near The Salvadoran border: The captured head of the organization, Salvadoran JosĂŠ Benedicto Villanueva Ortiz, was charged with a plan to assassinate Maduro on January 25, taking advantage of his arrival in San Pedro Sula to witness the inauguration of the new mayor. In relation to the alleged attack on his life, President Ricardo Maduro declared that the evidence presented is not conclusive, but stated that "Ricardo Maduro is more committed than ever in the war against crime." "The samples of affection received from the people in these first two weeks and the fact that it is confirmed that there is a group that is determined to paralyze that struggle, commits me more." The president points out that from the beginning his personal security is strengthened, because from the moment he touches the great interests of the dishonest and criminals he exposes himself to dangers. "Not only I feel unprotected, but also the people, I am giving with pleasure and honor the face for the people and I will continue doing it", added Maduro.

Forbes Magazine

PĂĄgina 10


This initial success encouraged the Ministry of Public Security, led by Ă“scar Ă lvarez Guerrero, to apply in the persecution of violent gangs typical of Central American countries and with a foundation in American neighborhoods, product of the massive deportations of illegal immigrants captured on the border. between Mexico and the United States; gangsterism that was on the increase due to the annulment of the "obligatory military service" implanted by the former liberal president Dr. Carlos Roberto Reina.3 On August 7, 2003, the National Congress of Honduras led by the National Party approved a reform of the Penal Code. punishes up to 12 years in prison to the gang members, it is supposed the reduction of the actions of the gang members "tending to physically attack, damage property, threaten or extort people, or commit any other act constituting a crime". Gang members who are not bosses will be sanctioned with a penalty "reduced by one third" with respect to the punishment that those who direct the gangs will receive. "Taking as reference the tattoos used by the gang members to distinguish their condition, the police launched a vast raid that nevertheless produced two pernicious effects: On the one hand, the massive arrests of gang members multiplied the prison population and increased the risk of bloody burst riots and confrontations between inmates of rival gangs, such as the one that in April 2003 devastated El Porvenir Penal Farm, near La Ceiba, where 70 inmates died victims of gunshots or flames in circumstances that were not completely clarified. " On the other hand, the gangs themselves defied Maduro's government with acts of gratuitous savagery, such as the indiscriminate killing of passengers in urban transport buses, taken by assault by commandos of gunmen firing at the occupants at point-blank range. The worst of these atrocities, which left 28 corpses, took place in San Pedro Sula on December 23, 2004. " President Maduro condemned these actions as "a fact of barbarism and cowardice" that constituted an "attack against all Hondurans" and to promise the punishment of those responsible. The National Police accused the Mara Salvatrucha of multiple crimes and, in effect, the confessions of persons arrested and brought to justice confirmed that point later. The massacre in San Pedro Sula led to a heated political debate about the opportunity and need to toughen the Penal Code even more, to punish gang leaders with sentences of up to 30 years in prison and even to reestablish the death penalty - 1946- for those convicted of extremely serious crimes.

Forbes Magazine

PĂĄgina 11


Fredy Nasser Biography Fredy Antonio Nasser Selman, Born in the city of Tegucigalpa, M.D.C. on June 4, 1956. He completed his secondary studies at the San Miguel Salesian Institute in Tegucigalpa; then graduated from the School of Architecture of the University of Texas A & M, in 1978 he returned to Honduras, and began his business facet. He is currently CEO of Grupo Terra.

Business trajectory In 1978 he founded the real estate Campo Fresco, and since 1992 he started the business of generating thermoelectric energy and then hydroelectric power in Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala, with a current capacity of 350 megawatts. In 1992 it obtained the concession to rehabilitate and operate two thermal power plants located in Puerto Cortes and La Ceiba, in the midst of a major energy crisis in the country, with an investment of US $ 18 million, in 1998 it launched two new thermal projects, Choloma I and II, has subsequently generated constant projects and made important investments in the area, today it provides about 30% of Honduran energy.4 5 In 2010, it inaugurated the Mega Hydro Xacbal Project, a hydroelectric plant, located in the republic of Guatemala. The construction started in 2007 and with its 94 Megawatts, it will supply electricity to an equivalent of 405 thousand homes. In 1996, he founded Hondupetrol, a company dedicated to the import and distribution of fuels, later serving at the Retail level through Gasolineras UNO in Honduras and the Republic of El Salvador; In 2009, it acquires Shell's operations in Central America, becoming the largest fuel distributor in Central America. Forbes Magazine

Pรกgina 12


In 2006, Grupo Terra acquired 90% of the share capital of Interairports S.A., thus managing the four international airports under concession that exist in Honduras, under its own brand, Aeropuertos de Honduras. He has also had business in the communication branch, founded Megatel (later Aló), the second telephone company in Honduras, 12 Then he made 40 percent of the shares in Empresa Nicaragüense de Telefonica (Enitel), both of which were sold by the US $ 85 million to América Móvil, from Carlos Slim and today they operate as Claro.

Forbes Magazine

Página 13


Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.