A Guide to Tegucigalpa Graffiti

The June 2009 military coup and ensuing political crisis unleashed a barrage of partisan graffiti on many areas of Tegucigalpa. It is slowly being painted over, but much still remains—and occasionally gets augmented—giving certain neighborhoods of the capital a shopworn look. Some of the terminology you'll see follows below; other graffiti is not printable in a family book such as a Fodor's guide.

"asesinos": assassins

"dictador": dictator

"ejército": army

"golpe": coup

"ladrones": thieves

"lobo": Porfirio Lobo, the current president, elected in November 2009

"mel": Manuel Zelaya, the deposed president

"micheletti": Roberto Micheletti, the interim president who assumed power

Thankfully, things are calm these days in Tegucigalpa, outside the occasional march that does nothing more than snarl traffic. Most folks here are relieved to have put the 2009 events behind them.