"Best Practices in Afro-Latin Community Development: Lessons from a pilot Project on the Atlantic Coast of Honduras and Guatemala"

A major consequence of years of exclusion and neglect is that past attempts to change the social and economic conditions of Afro Latin American (AFLA) Communities have often been hampered by low selfesteem and significant degrees of internal apathy. This was often coupled with a deep sense of alienation from many of the regional and national institutions that are mandated to direct programs and resources to these populations. Disconnection and distrust were further aggravated by political processes in which AFLA leadership elements allied to the dominant national political parties, tended to mobilize people around development concerns primarily during election periods, making promises that were never kept.