Central America After Mitch

In late October 1998, Hurricane Mitch pummeled Central America, causing extensive damage to the region, especially to Honduras and Nicaragua. A region already devastated by years of war, poverty and structural adjustment, Central America has now had to deal with a natural disaster which buried entire villages, killed thousands and left millions homeless and without the means to survive. As the authors in this NACLA Report on Central America after Mitch document, the damages were borne primarily by the poorest sectors of the population, many of whom lived in areas that were most exposed to floods and landslides in fragile housing that offered little protection.