[News] In Honduras and Haiti, the U.S. Rules by Proxy

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 Bush’s 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 doesn’t 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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