U.S.: Honduras Coup a "Lesson" for Zelaya Not to Follow Venezuela's Path

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Sun, 2009-07-26 23:14

Goldstein

U.S.: Honduras Coup a "Lesson" for Zelaya Not to Follow Venezuela's Path
July 23rd 2009, by James Suggett

http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/news/4652

excerpt:

Quote:
Mérida, July 22nd 2009 (Venezuelanalysis.com) -- The military coup that ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya last month should serve as a "lesson" for Zelaya to steer clear of Venezuela's Bolivarian Revolution and President Hugo Chavez, according to U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Philip Crowley.

In a press conference on Monday, Cowley stated, "We certainly think that if we were choosing a model government and a model leader for countries of the region to follow, that the current leadership in Venezuela would not be a particular model. If that is the lesson that President Zelaya has learned from this episode, that would be a good lesson."

On June 28th, the Honduran military kidnapped Zelaya and deposited him in Costa Rica, and Roberto Michelleti, a fellow party member of Zelaya and head of the Congress at the time, took over as de facto president.

Coup government officials have cited Honduras's entrance into the Venezuela-led fair trade group known as ALBA (Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America) last year, and Zelaya's initiative to allow Hondurans to elect an assembly to re-write the nation's constitution, as motivations for the coup.

Sun, 2009-07-26 23:27

RosaL

Quote:
Crowley also accused Venezuela of intervening on Honduran affairs. The U.S. is "concerned about unhelpful steps that [President Chavez has] taken with some of his neighbors, and interference that we've seen Venezuela - with respect to relations with other countries, whether it's Honduras on the one hand, or whether it's Colombia on the other," he said.

The mind boggles.

Mon, 2009-07-27 00:07

M. Spector M. Spector's picture

Do we really need more threads on Honduras? Is there really more than one story going on there?

Mon, 2009-07-27 00:38

ceti

Check this article. Raimondo does not have to dig deep to uncover the linkages between the Clintonites in the US state department and the coup leaders.

So what we have is this: a powerful group within the Democratic Party, clustered around Hillary Clinton, actively pushing for the legitimization of the Honduran coup on behalf of their corporate clients – Chiquita, which has a long and dishonorable history in the region, and the Honduran association of big businessmen, who have long used the state as their personal instrument.

This corporatist alliance is a logical ally of the Clintonistas, who – along with the neocons – have stepped up to the plate as the coup leaders’ leading apologists in Washington. After all, the corporatist model – in which the state acts on behalf of its big business backers, privileging their interests and subsidizing their projects at taxpayers’ expense – reached new heights of corruption under Bill Clinton.

Big U.S. business interests are threatened by Zelaya’s attempts at social reform and his pursuit of an independent foreign policy that puts Honduras first – not the Honduras business council and the U.S. government. Even Lanny Davis is saying it might not have been such a good idea – but, according to him, we have to let bygones be bygones and "move on." Now where have we heard that line before?

Mon, 2009-07-27 00:58

Goldstein

M. Spector wrote:

Do we really need more threads on Honduras? Is there really more than one story going on there?

I didn't want to jump in on a thread that I'm not informed about (it takes too much time to read 56 responses). From what I've been reading the Obama admin. has been denying involvement in the coup. This isn't confirmation of anything, but this is very clear rhetoric as to who's side they're on...

Mon, 2009-07-27 01:01

Goldstein

RosaL wrote:
The mind boggles.

I agree Rosa, a case could easily be made that there is less reason for the U.S. to be there than Venezuela. Also the hypocrisy is stunning, Venezuela can't work to resolve conflicts with its neighbors, but the United States can have a military base in Honduras?

What if Venezuela tried to have a military base in any other Latin American country? I think the U.S. would almost without a doubt, bomb it...

Mon, 2009-07-27 01:13

NDPP

Honduran Military Appears to Back Plan to Restore Zelaya to Office - Not To Power

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2009/jul2009/hond-j27.shtml

"The San Jose Accord, a proposal submitted by Costa Rican President Oscar Arias as part of a US - instigated mediation process, calls for Zelaya to return to the presidential palace, but under conditions in which he would be a virtually powerless figurehead in a government of 'unity and reconciliation' dominated by the very forces that overthrew him in a June 28 coup. The coup leaders themselves, having accomplished their principle objectives would be granted amnesty for their crimes. Until now, the accord - while accepted by Zelaya - has been repeatedly rejected by the right wing coup regime.."