Almost a year ago to the day, members of the Honduran military physically removed then-President Manuel Zelaya from the presidential palace, stripping him of the presidency and forcing him into exile in Costa Rica.
In spite of massive international attention and multilateral efforts in the days and months that followed, reconciliation -- both domestically and internationally -- remains elusive. The region continues to be divided over current President Porfirio Lobo's legitimacy, to the point that on a recent return flight from Peru, Lobo's plane had to bypass Ecuadorian airspace because the Ecuadorian government still refuses to recognize his presidency.
Arguing in Lobo's favor is the progress he has achieved in stabilizing the country's finances and, arguably, its political situation. But a persistent crisis in public security continues to threaten the country's slow and bumpy return to normality.