A sign from a pro-Honduran Government demonstration
Mary O’Grady, in The Wall Street Journal today, wrote about the deplorable tactics being used by the Obama State Dept to pressure the Honduran government to reinstate Zelaya.
Last week the administration took off the gloves and sent a message that it would use everything it has to break the neck of the Honduran democracy. Its bullying might work. But it will never be able to brag about what it has done.
The most recent example of the Obama-style Good Neighbor Policy was the announcement last week that visa services for Hondurans are suspended indefinitely, and that some $135 million in bilateral aid might be cut. But these are only the public examples of its hardball tactics. Much nastier stuff is going on behind the scenes, practiced by a presidency that once promised the American people greater transparency and a less interventionist foreign policy.
To recap, the Honduran military in June executed a Supreme Court arrest warrant against Mr. Zelaya for trying to hold a referendum on whether he should be able to run for a second term. Article 239 of the Honduran constitution states that any president who tries for a second term automatically loses the privilege of his office. By insisting that Mr. Zelaya be returned to power, the U.S. is trying to force Honduras to violate its own constitution.
It is also asking Hondurans to risk the fate of Venezuela. They know how Venezuela’s Hugo Chávez went from being democratically elected the first time, in 1998, to making himself dictator for life. He did it by destroying his country’s institutional checks and balances. When Mr. Zelaya moved to do the same in Honduras, the nation cut him off at the pass.
Former President GW Bush was not popular (to say the least) with the Commie Cool Club of South America. Obama, on the other hand, is eager to be seen as friendly with the likes of Chavez of Venezuela, Castro of Cuba, and Ortega of Nicaragua, and has sided with Zelaya, the enemy of his county’s constitution.
Mr. Obama’s methods are decidedly uncool. Prominent Hondurans, including leading members of the business community, complain that a State Department official has been pressuring them to push the interim government to accept the return of Mr. Zelaya to power.
When I asked the State Department whether it was employing such dirty tricks a spokeswoman would only say the U.S. has been “encouraging all members of civil society to support the San Jose ‘accord'”—which calls for Mr. Zelaya to be restored to power. Perhaps something was lost in the translation but threats to use U.S. power against a small, poor nation hardly qualify as encouragement.
Elsewhere in the region there are reports that U.S. officials have been calling Latin governments to demand that they support the U.S. position. When I asked State whether that was true, a spokeswoman would not answer the question. She would only say that the U.S. is “cooperating with the [Organization of American States] and [Costa Rican President] Oscar Arias to support the San José accord.”
The San Jose accord is bulls**t. Honduras had said from the beginning that Zelaya’s return to power was off the table.
How dare outsiders try to force a country to violate its own constitution.
Hang tough, Honduras.
Previously:
“Global Healer”, Obama To Cut Off Aid To Poor, Democratic Country
State Dept. Will No Longer Threaten Sanctions On Honduras
Senator Lugar Asks Clinton To Explain Honduras Policy
Obama Administration Seen As “Villains” By Hondurans
United States Revokes Visas For Four Honduran Officials
Zelaya Steps over Border Into Honduras; Then Promptly Steps Back
Ousted President Zelaya Leads Caravan Back To Honduras
Tens Of Thousands Of Pro-Government Hondurans March In Capital
Honduran “Coup-Mongers” Kick Venezuelan Diplomats Out Of Country (UPDATED)
US Turns Up Pressure On Honduran Interim Government To Restore Zelaya
Zelaya Vows To Return To Honduras; Asks Intl. Community For Help
Honduras Crisis Talks Resume In Costa Rica
Costa Rican President Oscar Arias Proposes Reinstating Zelaya
“Final Battle” In Honduras This Weekend?
Report: Sunday’s Violence In Honduras Orchestrated By Chavez
Obama Lies By Omission On Honduras
Clinton To Meet With Zelaya In Washington This Week
Honduran Military Removes Despot From Power
Obama “Stands With Democracy”, Defends Leftist Despot/Thug/Drug Trafficker
Nice Deb 