People Profile, Honduras
Patricia Isabel Rodas Baca, Honduras
Who is she? Rodas is the foreign minister of President Manuel Zelaya's toppled government. She was formerly head of the leadership committee of the ruling Partido Liberal (PL) one of the two traditional parties of the Honduras oligarchy. The other is the opposition Partido Nacional.
Why watch her? Rodas is Zelaya's righthand (wo)man and was instrumental in his increasing alignment with radical leftists such as Venezuela's President Hugo Chávez . This move alienated the ruling elite and ultimately led to the 28 June ouster of Zelaya. Rodas was bundled out of the country along with Zelaya but went initially to Mexico, rather than Costa Rica.
Born: Honduras.
Education: Rodas claims to have a doctorate in history.
Public life:
Rodas is the youngest daughter of Margarita Baca Saravia, a Nicaraguan and Modesto Rodas Alvarado, a deceased Partido Liberal (PL) caudillo, known as the “Lion of Liberalism". She spent most of her childhood in Nicaragua and Costa Rica after her father, who had been picked by the PL to run in the 1963 presidential elections, was forced to leave the country after a coup d'etat led by Colonel Osvaldo López Arellano days before the election, which Modesto was expected to win. Following her father's death in 1979, she returned to Nicaragua to spend time with her mother and witnessed the Sandinista Revolution. Rodas's links with Nicaragua remain strong; she married a Sandinista, Rodolfo Gutiérrez and, on various occasions, has expressed admiration for Nicaragua's President Daniel Ortega, participating in the recent 19 July celebrations commemorating 30 years of the Sandinista Revolution. Rodas has been an active member of the PL and in 2005, was picked to head the PL leadership committee, assembling a group known as the “Los Patricios" within the party, aimed at generating grass roots support - which met with suspicion from the PL's traditional elite. Rodas was named foreign minister in January 2009 following a minor cabinet reshuffle.Timeline:
1963: Leaves Honduras with her family after her father is forced into exile.1979: Witnesses firsthand the Sandinista revolution which saw the end of the Somoza dictatorship.
2003: Encourages presidential hopeful Manuel Zelaya to foment ties with Venezuela.
2005: Named head of the PL leadership committee (CCEPL) for a four year period.
December 2007: Government pursues deal with Venezuela to take advantage of the preferential terms provided to Caribbean countries under its Petrocaribe initiative (after idea was first mooted in 2005).
August 2008: Zelaya announces plans to join Alba.
January 2009: Named foreign minister following a cabinet reshuffle.
28 June 2009: Kidnapped by the military and taken to Mexico following the ouster of President Manuel Zelaya.
Strengths: Minimal, even though Rodas wields considerable influence over Zelaya. Her political fate is inextricably linked to that of Zelaya.
Weaknesses: Zelaya prospects are deteriorating thanks to his swaggering rhetoric and “reckless" behaviour. Although the coupsters have showed some signs of wavering, especially over the peace proposals drawn up by President Oscar Arias of Costa Rica, they have held together and show every sign of outmanoeuvring the Zelaya government. Zelaya and Rodas lack support from Honduras's main institutions - congress, the judiciary, the Roman Catholic Church; the local private sector, as well as the military. The common perception that Rodas is responsible for Zelaya's shift to the Left, which she has encouraged of late with her recent appearances with leaders such as Chávez and Ortega - has led to her vilification by the Right (who nickname her “Comandante Patty", leaving her the main target of anti-communist scaremongering.
Prospects: Bleak. She is almost certain to be a casualty of any government of national unity.