Later the USA exerted a major influence, most recently through the support of Honduras' right-wing governments. President Carlos Flores was democratically elected in November 1997. Land cleared for banana plantations and commercial logging has led to massive deforestation, causing soil erosion, flooding, and mudslides. Hondurans are of mixed Mayan and Spanish descent. Spanish is mainly spoken, with some native groups speaking their own languages.
Peasant farmers live in poor quality housing often on hillsides or next to rivers.
Growing numbers of urban poor live in slums on the hills around towns. This debt can never be repaid, especially following the devastation of Hurricane Mitch. Christian Aid is campaigning for Honduras' debt to be cancelled through the Jubilee 2000 initiative. Hurricane Mitch hit Central America for 11 days at the end of October and in the first week of November 1998. It quickly died down but in November 1999 fresh storms hit the region.