Nov 23, 2005. /Lesprom Network/. Dozens of Honduran nationals, Hispanic-Americans and global environmentalists gathered Tuesday outside the Honduran embassy in Washington to protest what they called the rampant corruption of the current Honduran government and the illegal deforestation of the country's treasured national forests. Rampant corruption in the Honduran government is allowing massive illegal logging, the protesters say, even in "protected" parks such as the world-renowned Rio Platano Biosphere Reserve, depleting Honduras of its natural resources at an astonishing rate. Coming less than one week before presidential elections in Honduras, the demonstration called for "a true democracy" and condemned "spreading government corruption, cronyism and environmental destruction." Loggers throughout Honduras, particularly in Olancho, are logging forests at an unsustainably high rate - far beyond legal limits - and are clear- cutting in legally protected areas, such as national parks. The reason this occurs, the protesters say, is because of massive corruption within the government. Honduras is a mafia-controlled country, they contend. Porfirio "Pepe" Sosa Lobo is now a leading presidential candidate in the Honduran elections that will be held November 27. Pepe ran CODEHFOR, the Honduran forest management agency, when it was named by a United Nations Commission as the most corrupt organization in the Western Hemisphere. He reportedly made his fortune by accepting bribes from his friends in the timber industry. President Maduro has done little or nothing to enforce Honduras' forest management laws. Now is the time to take a stand to protect Honduras' rapidly disappearing forests, say the protesters. Maduro should disband CODEHFOR and create a new agency responsible for forest management that includes representation by all stakeholders in the community. A huge percentage - perhaps most - of the timber coming into the United States from Honduras is illegally cut. Protesters also called for a new U.S. regulation that bans the import of Honduran lumber until measures are taken to ensure imports are legally harvested. Alternatively, a call to exempt Honduran timber from CAFTA provisions could mean that the U.S. would levee a tariff on all lumber from Honduras.