The U.S. and Honduras
Arturo Valenzuela's statement to the Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs is not too remarkable, but one thing jumped out at me:
During 2010, Honduras made significant progress in strengthening governance, promoting national reconciliation, addressing some of the problems of human rights violations, and restoring diplomatic relations with many countries in the hemisphere. As President Lobo has said, he has sought to redirect the country on a path towards democratic normalization following the disruption of the institutional order that took place in June 2009. In our view, he has prepared the groundwork for the restoration of Honduras to the Organization of American States. The U.S. Government is supporting Honduras through robust programs managed by several agencies, including the Departments of the Treasury, Defense, Homeland Security, State, and USAID, and we will seek new ways to support the country’s efforts to achieve its economic development objectives.
This is so over the top and inaccurate that I would wager that he does not believe it either. Just browse, for example, Amnesty International's Honduras reports, which discuss police intimidation of human rights activists, threats against journalists, and refusal to address human rights violations that occurred after the coup. Then take a look at Human Rights Watch, which discusses the overall climate of intimidation and failure to deal with human rights abuses.
My hunch is that it is a bone for the key Republican members of the committee, who thought the Honduran coup was the best thing since sliced bread. The committee chair, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, even went personally to Honduras to tell Roberto Micheletti how great he was.
5 comments:
Valenzuela has been the chief US apologist for the coup, the human rights abuses, the tainted election and of Lobo's flaunting of the San Jose agreements. Even his extremely weak conditions for political normalization have been violated - yet aid has resumed and he claims things are hunky dory.
Valenzuela's conditions were:
A government of national unity needs to be formed. The congress has to take a vote on the return of President Zelaya to office. And another element of the San Jose Accords that I think would be very, very important as Honduras moves forward to try to reestablish the democratic and constitutional order is the formation and the structuring of a truth commission, which was also contemplated in the original Tegucigalpa framework and San Jose Accords.
The "national unity government" is a joke without Zelaya or any of his people (unions, peasants, social sectors, etc). Valezuela went against the entire region and dashed any hopes of the Honduran Congress voting to reinstate Zelaya when he made clear the result of the vote did not matter in US eyes. The Truth Commission is a sham according to everyone but the Government. Amnesty Intl. heavily criticized its mandate, composition and capacity.
So this upbeat assessment does not strike me as a "bone" to Republicans. It strikes me as the consistent hypocritical Obama policy on Honduras.
Valezuela went against the entire region and dashed any hopes of the Honduran Congress voting to reinstate Zelaya when he made clear the result of the vote did not matter in US eyes.
Given they encouraged the Honduran Congress to approve the deal that would have re-instated Zelaya, I'm hard pressed to see how Valenzuela "went against the entire region." What did you expect the Administration to do? Send in the Marines?
Second, how what the vote "tainted."?
"The "national unity government" is a joke without Zelaya or any of his people (unions, peasants, social sectors, etc)."
Is there some prohibition on these groups participating today?
While I don't approve of the way Zelaya was removed from office, to single our Honduras while giving a pass the anti-democratic measures taken by left-wing governments in nations such as Venezuela or Nicaragua, exposes to real hypocrisy about Latin America and the problem isn't in the US but rather places like Brazil.
Conservative, there is ample and abiding repression in Honduras. Just because the corporate, anti-democracy media, or most academics, don't highlight it, doesn't mean it doesn't exist.
I saw it personally a year ago.
Quotha does a competent job on her blog with respect to this repressive regime, and the US governments cynical complicity with the low-level terror campaign.
They have eyes but they do not see...ears but they do not hear...
And so it goes.
If they murder someone close to me down there, I'm coming after them.
Esqualido scum.
Just because the corporate, anti-democracy media, or most academics, don't highlight it, doesn't mean it doesn't exist.
Right, so their showing it in Egypt but somehow covering it up in Honduras? Doubtful. Just because the media doesn't depict things in the way you want them to doesn't mean there is a cover up.
If they murder someone close to me down there, I'm coming after them.
I'm sure "they" are quaking in their boots!
He is speaking to the Senate today, so I will be curious to see whether his message is identical or not.
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