[News] In Honduras and Haiti, the U.S. Rules by Proxy
Anti-Imperialist News
news at freedomarchives.org
Fri Dec 4 13:04:10 EST 2009
U.S. proxies stage fake coup "elections" in Haiti
& Honduras, excluding candidates of the majority democratic movement
In Honduras and Haiti, the U.S. Rules by Proxy
By Glen Ford
Created 12/01/2009 - 20:14
A Black Agenda Radio commentary by Glen Ford
[1]
As the old song goes, They smile in your
face...back-stabbers. The Obama administration
artfully pursues a policy of smiles and
handshakes all around while undermining
democratic forces through proxies whenever the
opportunity arises. Washington reserves its
rawest deceits for the small countries of the
Americas like Honduras and Haiti.
Wherever the U.S. has the power to thwart the democratic process, it does so.
The Barack Obama presidency was supposed to
signal a new era in U.S. foreign policy,
including in Latin America, which had turned
decisively against George Bushs blustering,
bullying and coup-making. What has emerged under
Obama is not a reversal of historic U.S. imperial
policies in the Americas, but a cosmetic
adjustment.President Obama uses far less warlike
language than his predecessor, but he deploys
every trick and deceit in the book to maintain
U.S. dominance in the region. And like all
bullies who have had their noses bloodied, he
tries to create fear in the hemisphere by picking on the smaller countries.
For most of the 20th century, Haiti and Honduras
were de facto colonies of the United States.
Haiti was occupied by the U.S. military
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_occupation_of_Haiti>for
nearly 20 years [2], between 1915 and 1934.
Honduras was the original, prototypical
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banana_republic>banana
republic [3], ruled by a local oligarchy totally
subservient to the United States. Both Haiti and
Honduras are prime examples of a U.S. strategy to
under-develop its neighbors a deliberate policy
of impoverishment and petty tyranny.
But blatant gunboat diplomacy doesnt work very
well anymore for the United States in most of
Latin America, where a popular consensus has been
achieved that rejects U.S. hegemony. Recognizing
the drawbacks of overt American aggression,
President Obama artfully pursues a policy of
smiles and handshakes all around while
undermining democratic forces through proxies whenever the opportunity arises.
What has emerged under Obama is not a reversal
of historic U.S. imperial policies in the Americas, but a cosmetic adjustment.
In Haiti, the U.S. proxy is the United Nations,
which took over the job of military occupier from
George Bush in 2004, after the Americans sent
democratically elected President Jean-Bertrand
Aristide into exile. Aristide's Lavalas Family
party has been suppressed ever since.
In Honduras, the Americans still find it possible
to act in the old-fashioned way, through the
local oligarchy and its U.S.-dominated military.
Back in June, the Honduran military bundled
democratically elected President Manuel Zelaya
into a plane, made a stop at a U.S. airbase, and
sent him into exile in Costa Rica. Zelaya then
snuck back into Honduras, living under the
protection of the Brazilian embassy.
The U.S., standing virtually alone in the
hemisphere and the world, refused to call the
removal of President Zelaya a coup, and announced
that Washington would recognize the results of
last weekend's elections to succeed Zelaya even
though they were held under military martial law.
Hondurans who opposed the coup had no one to vote
for, so of course, the oligarchy's candidate won
in a
<http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/01/world/americas/01honduras.html?hp=&pagewanted=print>very
low turnout [4].
President Aristide's party was last week barred
from taking part in legislative elections
scheduled for February, in Haiti. The
oligarchy-controlled elections commission claimed
the party failed to fill out some forms properly.
Back in June,
<http://www.haitiaction.net/News/HIP/11_26_9/11_26_9.html>only
about ten percent [5] of the people turned out
for elections in which Aristide's party was excluded.
These two electoral travesties are the true face
of President Obama's policy on democracy in the
Americas. Wherever the U.S. has the power to
thwart the democratic process, it does so, and
then bides its time, waiting for another
opportunity to stab its neighbors in the back.
For Black Agenda Radio, I'm Glen Ford. On the
web, go to <http://www.blackagendareport.com/>www.BlackAgendaReport.com [6].
BAR executive editor Glen Ford can be contacted
at Glen.Ford at BlackAgendaReport.com.
*
<http://www.blackagendareport.com/?q=category/americas/haiti-elections>Haiti
elections
*
<http://www.blackagendareport.com/?q=category/americas/honduras-elections>Honduras
elections
----------
Source URL:
<http://www.blackagendareport.com/?q=content/honduras-and-haiti-us-rules-proxy>http://www.blackagendareport.com/?q=content/honduras-and-haiti-us-rules-proxy
Links:
[1]
http://media.libsyn.com/media/blackagendareport/20091202_gf_HondurasHaiti.mp3
[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_occupation_of_Haiti
[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banana_republic
[4]
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/01/world/americas/01honduras.html?hp=&pagewanted=print
[5] http://www.haitiaction.net/News/HIP/11_26_9/11_26_9.html
[6] http://www.BlackAgendaReport.com/
[7]
http://www.addtoany.com/share_save?linkurl=http://www.blackagendareport.com/?q=content/honduras-and-haiti-us-rules-proxy&linkname=In
Honduras and Haiti, the U.S. Rules by Proxy
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