Honduran Violence, U.S. Aid Test Obama's Global Image
New America Media, News Analysis, Roberto Lovato, Posted: Jul 06, 2009
While English language television in the United States mined the minutiae of Michael Jackson’s upcoming funeral, millions watching Spanish, Portuguese and French language media in the rest of the Americas were transfixed by live broadcasts of the Honduran military shooting and killing a 10 year-old boy and other protesters.
From the U.S.-Mexico border to the southern tip of Argentina and Chile, Latin Americans were besotted by television and internet images of the tens of thousands of Hondurans who risked their lives while staging a peaceful march to the airport where a plane carrying the ousted President of Honduras, Manuel Zelaya, and United Nations President Miguel d’Escoto was trying to land.
In the course of Sunday’s mass mobilization by Hondurans, many throughout the continent watched the drama of the police stepping out of the way of the marchers when their chief declared that he “holds the military responsible” for any bloodshed. Shortly after blood was, in fact, spilled as at least 2 people were killed by the military and several others were injured, according to Telesur, which broadcast live from the Tegucigalpa airport.
Public and official outrage in response to the killings and shootings are sure to intensify pressure on the military coup leaders who already face worldwide denunciation and pressure. The Organization of American States (OAS) suspended Honduras' membership Saturday; The European Union and most countries in Latin America with embassies in Honduras have withdrawn their ambassadors; the World Bank and some governments have either suspended or frozen loans to Honduras.
But the military coup leaders are still recipients of U.S. economic and military aid.
As a result, the whole Latin American world is watching Honduras and President Obama, who still has not heeded calls to suspend U.S. military aid to Honduras. In fact, Latin America may well be where the decline and fall of Obama’s global rock star status begins.
The Obama Administration has chosen to respond to the crisis in a manner that will signify little to millions watching the bloodshed taking place in Honduras; While nobody in the hemisphere wants the return of the actions of the Bush era, many already believe that the Obama Administration’s inactions mean that the “new” or fundamental “change” Obama promised during his also widely-viewed Summit of the Americas speech last April adds up to little more than this: more militarismo, but with a smile.
For example, rather than officially declare and denounce the Honduras putsch as a “coup”, which would, among other things, trigger a cutoff of military and other aid, the Obama Administration has instead chosen the symbolic act of suspending joint military operations.
In a region where U.S. military aid, U.S. military training and U.S. political support for dictatorships responsible for killing, torturing and disappearing millions are at the heart of why Obama needed urgently to signal a “new” U.S. policy, Obama’s continued “Si Se Puede” (Yes We Can) to continued military aid for such human rights violation-plagued governments as those of Colombia, Mexico and Honduras will only tarnish his and the U.S. image in the region.
The President’s inability or unwillingness to call for an immediate
suspension of U.S. military aid is already raising questions about the motives and role of Obama Administration operatives like Hugo Llorens, the current U.S. Ambassador to Honduras.
From 2002-2003 – the year many in Latin America condemned the attempted military coup in Venezuela - Llorens was the Director of Andean Affairs at the National Security Council (NSC).
Llorens was charged with advising then President Bush and his National Security Advisor on issues pertaining to Venezuela, Bolivia, Colombia, Peru, and Ecuador. Although Llorens and the Obama Administration do not recognize the current government, they did, apparently, know that the Honduran coup was going to take place.
That the Obama Administration knew of the coup and did not cutoff aid immediately after it took place, makes its claims that it tried to “stop” the coup seem naive, at best.
That the Administration may not cutoff aid even after coup-appointed Honduran Foreign Minister Enrique Ortez described President Obama as "ese negrito que no sabe nada de nada” (that little black boy who knows nothing about nothing) is to add political insult to tragic injury before a hemispheric audience; That Obama may not cutoff military aid even after Sunday’s increased bloodshed adds even graver injury to that insult.
And in Latin America, a region where the word “Honduras” now means “defend democracy”, a region where many know that Democrat-led U.S. regimes have propped up military dictatorships, assassinated leaders and covertly destabilized left-leaning governments with the same zeal and effectiveness as Republican regimes, President Obama and the United States, no longer have the luxury of being on the wrong side of history made on the streets. This hemispheric sensibility was articulated forcefully by Argentinian President Cristina Fernandez, who traveled with the Presidents of Ecuador and Paraguay to El Salvador on Sunday in order support Zelaya. During their late night press conference, Fernandez seemed to speak to and for millions when she stated, "We're not just defending Honduras. We're defending ourselves." The question President Obama must answer as unequivocally and rapidly as possible is, “Who are Latin Americans defending themselves from?”
Related Articles:
Honduran Coup Tries to Halt Advance of Latin America's Left
Exclusive: Priest Fears for Life After Coup in Honduras
Coup in Honduras - Viewed from Inside and Outside
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User Comments
LEO LACAYO on Jul 06, 2009 at 13:40:07 said:
It is shameful how the plight of the Honduran people is being misrepresented to the American people and how useless this Administration has made itself on the world stage.
The ousted President of Honduras, Zelaya, fired the Vice President , refused to sign over 200 laws enacted by Congress, thumbed his nose at the Supreme Court and was finally ended when the Armed Forces supported the Court and Congress. Mr. Zelaya violated the Constitution. The Constitutional President of Honduras is Robert Micheletti; the fact that the UN, OAS, Fidel Castro, and the Chavez mafia support the tin horn dictator Mr. Zelaya with Obama's blessing means OBAMA is betraying America by thumbing his nose at our values. Rep. Salazar (D.CO) has introduced the perpetuation of Obama here by eliminating term limits too. In Honduras 10,000 thugs for Obama's friendly left and 7,800,000 citizens for National Dignity, say enough is enough, in the words of San Francisco's Mayor Gavin Newsom: WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT !
Antonio on Jul 06, 2009 at 13:01:57 said:
There was NOOOOOO coup in Honduras! I guess once the mainstream media gets the propaganda coming from Castro/Chavez, they only believe the propaganda!
Hondurans are defending themselves from the fraudulent scheme devised by the enemies of freedom and democracy to impose Marxism with “democratic” elections and referendums. Hondurans have seen this strategy unfold in the countries being destroyed by the Marxist thugs headed by Castro/Chavez. They don’t want the tragedy of those countries repeated in Honduras. They would rather be isolated for a few years than enslaved for more than 50 like the Cubans!
The enemies of democracy work along these lines in Latin America:
1. Select a wannabe dictator -- a depraved megalomaniac who is ready to sell out his country (like Chavez, Morales, Correa, Zelaya). Help him run for president of the country.
2. Invest millions in a “professional” campaign demonizing the opposition and promising CHANGE to help the poor, end corruption, improve schools… whatever people want to hear.
3. Commit as much fraud as possible to make sure the wannabe dictator wins.
4. Have “protectors of human rights” like Insulza (OAS) -- who have really been trampling on human rights by promoting communism for years -- declare that the elections were “legal and transparent.”
5. Make sure that, once in power, the wannabe dictator takes over the Legislative and Judicial branches of power, destroys the country’s institutions, intimidates and controls the media, and demonizes, intimidates and even kills anyone trying to defend the country.
6. Have a referendum to approve a new constitution. Representatives of the people are supposed to write that constitution. In reality, people don’t even know what’s in the new constitution, which is written by Spaniards working for Castro/Chavez before the wannabe dictator even “runs” for office.
7. Have Insulza (OAS) and others who pretend to “protect human rights” declare that the referendum is perfectly “legal and transparent.”
The goal of the new constitution is to help the wannabe dictator become a full-blown dictator for life (like Castro in Cuba), prevent people from defending themselves, and use the country to help drug cartels, Islamic terrorists, etc. destroy the U.S. And all of it under the cloak of “democracy”!
Congratulations, Hondurans! You are right! Any thinking person would rather be isolated for a few years than enslaved for more than 50 like the Cubans!
Hondurans have seen this strategy unfold in the countries being destroyed by the Marxist thugs headed by Castro/Chavez. They don’t want the tragedy of those countries repeated in Hondurans. They would rather be isolated for a few years than enslaved for more than 50 like the Cubans!
J. Bloom on Jul 06, 2009 at 10:21:42 said:
This article is fundamentally wrong. This was my view before giving a closer look and finding that this a multi-million dollar news media manipulation by Chavez and his allies. Honduras is indeed defending its democracy. As an international lawyer who has defended human rights I can't but tell you to check the documents to find the new Honduran govt is right. +80% of them support the new president.
R CONCEPCION on Jul 06, 2009 at 07:44:09 said:
I AGREE WITH THIS ARTICLE...THE LONG-TERM POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC INFLUENCE OF THE UNITED STATES IS BEING SACRIFICED IN EXCHANGE FOR SHORT-TERM FAVORS TO THE HONDURAN ARMY AND OLIGARCHY...OBAMA'S PRO-POOR, PRO-UNION, PRO-GOVERNMENT REGULATION. PRO-UNIVERSAL ACCESS TO HEALTH CARE AND EDUCATION HAVE MORE KINSHIP WITH CHAVEZ,ORTEGA, CORREA, FUNES,MORALES, LUGO, KIRCHNER,BACHELET,COLOM,ZELAYA THAN THE PRO-DEREGULATION, PRO-BIG BISINESS, PRO-PRIVATIZED HEALTH CARE, ANTI-UNION. NIXON, BUSH, CHENEY AND EISENHOWER!!!! YET, UNLESS HE OFFICIALLY CERTIFIES THAT THERE WAS A COUP IN HONDURAS, THE AMERICAN LAW THAT AUTOMATICALLY CUTS OFF ALL FORMS OF US AID TO HONDURAS CANNOT TAKE EFFECT!!!OBAMA WILL DESTROY THE PHENOMENALLY HUGE ROCK STAR RESERVOIR OF GOODWILL, TRUST AND ADORATION THAT HE AND HIS SI SE PUEDE HACER CAMBIO PLATFORM OF CHANGE HAS INSPIRED IN LATIN AMERICA!!!! THE CLOCK IS TICKING, PRESIDENT OBAMA AND THE WORLD IS WATCHING NOT JUST LATIN AMERICA BUT THE REST OF THE 3RD WORLD REGIONS OF THE MIDDLE EAST (HONDURAS HAS ARAB IMMIGRANTS AS WELL), ASIA-PACIFIC AND AFRICA AS WELL...IT IS NOT YET TOO LATE TO PUT YOUR 2009 CAIRO SPEECH ENDORSEMENT OF THE UNIVERSAL APPLICABILITY OF FREEDOM AND HUMAN DIGNITY WHERE YOUR MOUTH IS!!!! YOU ONLY HAVE ONE SHOT IN LATIN AMERICA TO PROVE YOUR PLATFORM OF CHANGE IDEOLOGY AND THE HONDURAN COUP IS IT- AFTER THIS, THE FUTURE OF US INFLUENCE IN LATIN AMERICA WILL EITHER HAVE A METEORIC RISE LIKE HALLEYS COMET OR WE SHALL WITNESS A SELF-INFLICTED LOSS OF US INFLUENCE IN A NEW LATIN AMERICAN ZEITGEIST...
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