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Surrounded by the planet’s second biggest coral reef, the Caribbean island of Roatan attracts most of its tourists by offering world class diving.
asserted
island → see → diving
But turn off the main road, a 25-minute drive northeast from the airport – as I did last week – and visitors will discover another, rather more controversial feature of the Honduran island that has put it on the map.
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that → turn → map
Armed guards man a barrier gate beyond which Honduras in many ways ceases to exist and the private city-state of Prospera begins.
Once a guard has made sure a visitor has signed a ‘temporary touristic access permit’ and ‘agreement of co-existence’ – in which they agree to be bound not by Honduran law but by Prospera’s legal codes – the road surface miraculously improves as they enter a controversial community which has been described as a country within a country.
asserted
which → man → country
The billionaire Silicon Valley backers pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into Prospera and other so-called ‘special economic zones’ around the world – more of which later - believe they are creating the future blueprint for human society.
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they → pour → society
Or more accurately their idea of society – lightly regulated, minimally taxed and super high tech: a libertarian utopia in which governments have as little power and individuals as much freedom as possible.
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individuals → regulate → power
For some it’s a matter of survival as they believe the world is descending into anarchy.
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world → ’ → anarchy
Palantir and PayPal founder Peter Thiel, Open AI boss Sam Altman and venture capitalist Marc Andreessen are among those who have ploughed at least $200 million into Prospera, which extends – for now – to just over 1,000 acres.
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which → plough → acres
The enclave follows in an eccentric tradition that goes back at least as far as the Principality of Sealand, a ‘micronation’ set up by a British pirate radio operator on an offshore fort in the North Sea, which he declared independent in 1967.
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he → follow → 1967
The billionaire Silicon Valley backers pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into a private, for-profit charter city Prospera believe they are creating the future blueprint for human society
Surrounded by the planet’s second biggest coral reef, the Caribbean island of Roatan attracts most of its tourists by offering world class diving
But
asserted
island → pour → diving
turn off the main road, a 25-minute drive northeast from the airport and visitors will discover another, rather more controversial feature of the Honduran island that has put it on the map
asserted
that → turn → map
But while Sealand has never been accepted by any country, Prospera’s existence is officially recognised by Honduras.
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existence → accept → Honduras
Not that it is allowed to fly its own flag, nor can it divert from Honduran foreign policy and criminal law (although Prospera insists local police cannot enter unless they are shadowed by its own officers).
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they → allow → officers
But in many other ways, the impoverished Central American nation has relinquished its territorial sovereignty to an enterprise that bills itself as ‘the future of human governance, privately run and for profit’ - a situation that has incensed many Hondurans who question how much they’ve benefited.
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they → relinquish → much
Supporters of private cities insist these glossy communities will draw entrepreneurs there who, unfettered by choking regulations and high costs, will make important scientific and technological breakthroughs, which will lift many local people out of poverty and encourage talented Hondurans not to leave a country beset by corruption and crime.
asserted
which → insist → corruption
As part of a 2017 agreement, Prospera passes 12 per cent of the taxes and fees it collects to the Honduran government.
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it → pass → government
Ninety per cent of its jobs must go to Hondurans.
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cent → go → Hondurans
Venezuelan fund manager Erick Brimen says he founded Prospera eight years ago as a ‘poverty relief initiative’.
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he → say → initiative
Prospera levies an effective business tax rate of just one per cent, personal income tax of 5 per cent, 2.5 per cent VAT, and no capital gains tax.
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Prospera → levy → cent
Businesses based there can choose their own regulations from a ‘menu’ of options selected from more than 30 countries – and if they don’t like any of them, they can create their own.
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they → base → own
People wanting to live or work in Prospera don’t have to show any minimum level of wealth or income but foreigners must pay an annual fee of $1,300 (£960) if they want to live there permanently.
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they → want → 1,300
Prospera’s owners – an American company – hope eventually to attract thousands of entrepreneurs who will not only base their businesses there but move in their families and inhabit a perfectly designed and beautiful city built by robots and giant 3-D printers.
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who → hope → robots
Critics, however, counter that the noble intentions behind these ‘charter’ or ‘start-up’ cities has been warped by wealthy and powerful investors who simply want to get richer and more powerful – in Prospera’s case, the ‘tech bros’ determined to flee woke politicians and expensive red tape.
In places like Prospera, say cynics, these people want to play God.
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people → counter → God
Given most of the firms who sign up with Prospera aren’t actually physically there at all, opponents also claim that Prospera has become a haven for tax evasion.
uncertain
Prospera → give → evasion
Paul Romer, a Nobel Prize-winning former chief economist at the World Bank, has backed private cities in principle but subsequently condemned Prospera.
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Romer → win → Prospera
To him it is little more than a gated community for rich people who are ‘just trying to isolate themselves and do what’s best for them’.
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what → gate → them
Living in a ‘libertarian fantasy’ of being free of the government, he warned, is ‘not gonna turn out well’.
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he → live → government
View of vacation homes and resorts along Coxen Hole, Bay Islands
The Carnival Vista, the largest cruise ship from the Carnival Cruise Line, docked at Mahogany Beach in Roatan
Visitors relax and stroll along the shoreline at West Bay, Roatan, with small boats anchored in the shallow turquoise water on a sunny Caribbean day
A worker at La Catrachita bar in the town centre holds up a menu and poses with the peace sign
Situated along a picturesque coastal strip of sandy beaches and jungle-covered hills where bright green hummingbirds and huge butterflies flit among the kapok trees and coconut palms, Prospera has its own currency, the cryptocurrency Bitcoin.
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Prospera → dock → currency
It also has its own courts – presided over by a group of retired judges in Arizona who hear non-criminal cases online.
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who → have → cases
Its founders say some 500 companies – mostly tech ones – have invested in Prospera although only 30 of them are physically present there.
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30 → say → them
Its biggest asset is a budding bio-tech industry led by a clinic tucked away in a quiet corner of the fiefdom (Prospera actually occupies four sites around Roatan), which is conducting research unauthorised in the US and other countries.
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which → bud → US
Much of it is focused on human longevity - a particular obsession among the higher echelons of Silicon Valley.
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Much → focus → Valley
In 2024, Prospera hosted a convention - ‘Make Death Optional’ – for scores of such people.
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Death → host → people
Among various treatments, the Prospera-based clinic has developed a ‘follistatin’ gene therapy that involves the injection of DNA molecules that encourage the body to repair itself.
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that → base → itself
Tests on mice show it can extend their lifespan by nearly a third.
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it → show → third
While the therapy is illegal in the US, the clinic’s clients include Khloe Kardashian (who received ‘follistatin’ in Mexico) and Bryan Johnson, an eccentric tech billionaire who has been attempting to defy death by scientifically experimenting on his body but who has now developed an incurable chronic condition in his stomach lining.
Prospera is keen to encourage such ‘medical tourism’, says spokesman Ricardo Gonzalez, who adds that it’s just one example of community’s ‘amicable’ ethos towards business.
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it → include → business
Yet despite Prospera’s idyllic, sun-drenched setting, it’s doubtful any Silicon Valley billionaire would want to flee there quite yet.
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billionaire → drench → setting
Prospera doesn’t even have a supermarket.
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Prospera → have → supermarket
If you want to buy even a bottle of water from the only shop – and you may want to buy a lot as Prospera, almost on the Equator, is ferociously hot - you have to pay in Bitcoin.
uncertain
you → want → Bitcoin
Prospera’s bosses believe the population of thrusting young business entrepreneurs and their families could reach 100,000 in 20 or 30 years, and they showed me an impressive AI-created video of a $60 million plan to turn it into a real city.
uncertain
they → believe → city
But with few amenities, let alone citizens, Prospera is definitely a work in progress.
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Prospera → let → progress
…and 39 more, not listed.
The Aporia
