<html>
<body>
<h1><font face="Georgia" size=1><b>U.S. proxies stage fake coup
"elections" in Haiti & Honduras, excluding candidates of
the majority democratic movement<br>
</u></font><font face="Georgia" size=5 color="#FF0000">In Honduras and
Haiti, the U.S. Rules by
Proxy</b></font></h1><font face="Georgia" size=3>By <i>Glen Ford<br>
</i>Created <i>12/01/2009 - 20:14<br>
</i><b>A Black Agenda Radio commentary by Glen Ford<br><br>
</b> [1] <br>
</font><font face="Georgia" size=2>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.<br>
</font><font size=3> <br>
</font><div align="center"><font face="Georgia" size=4 color="#2323DC"><b>
“<i>Wherever the U.S. has the power to thwart the democratic process, it
does so.”<br>
</i></b></font><font size=3> <br>
</font></div>
<font face="Georgia" size=2>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.<br>
</font><font size=3> <br>
</font><font face="Georgia" size=2>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
</font>
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_occupation_of_Haiti">
<font face="Georgia" size=2 color="#0000FF"><u>for nearly 20
years</a></font><font face="Georgia" size=3 color="#0000FF">
[2]</u></font><font face="Georgia" size=2>, between 1915 and 1934.
Honduras was the original, prototypical
“</font><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banana_republic">
<font face="Georgia" size=2 color="#0000FF"><u>banana
republic</a></font><font face="Georgia" size=3 color="#0000FF">
[3]</u></font><font face="Georgia" size=2>,” 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. <br>
</font><font size=3> <br>
</font><font face="Georgia" size=2>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.<br>
</font><font size=3> <br>
</font><div align="center"><font face="Georgia" size=4 color="#2323DC"><b>
“<i>What has emerged under Obama is not a reversal of historic U.S.
imperial policies in the Americas, but a cosmetic adjustment.”<br><br>
</i></b></font></div>
<font face="Georgia" size=2>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.<br>
</font><font size=3> <br>
</font><font face="Georgia" size=2>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. <br>
</font><font size=3> <br>
</font><font face="Georgia" size=2>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
</font>
<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/01/world/americas/01honduras.html?hp=&pagewanted=print">
<font face="Georgia" size=2 color="#0000FF"><u>very low
turnout</a></font><font face="Georgia" size=3 color="#0000FF">
[4]</u></font><font face="Georgia" size=2>. <br>
</font><font size=3> <br>
</font><font face="Georgia" size=2>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,
</font><a href="http://www.haitiaction.net/News/HIP/11_26_9/11_26_9.html">
<font face="Georgia" size=2 color="#0000FF"><u>only about ten
percent</a></font><font face="Georgia" size=3 color="#0000FF">
[5]</u></font><font face="Georgia" size=2> of the people turned out for
elections in which Aristide's party was excluded. <br>
</font><font size=3> <br>
</font><font face="Georgia" size=2>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
</font><a href="http://www.blackagendareport.com/">
<font face="Georgia" size=2 color="#0000FF"><u>
www.BlackAgendaReport.com</a></font>
<font face="Georgia" size=3 color="#0000FF">
[6]</u></font><font face="Georgia" size=2>.<br>
</font><font size=3> <br>
</font><font face="Georgia" size=3>BAR executive editor Glen Ford can be
contacted at Glen.Ford@BlackAgendaReport.com.
<ul>
<li>
<a href="http://www.blackagendareport.com/?q=category/americas/haiti-elections">
Haiti elections</a>
<li>
<a href="http://www.blackagendareport.com/?q=category/americas/honduras-elections">
Honduras elections</a> <hr>
</ul><b>Source URL:</b>
<a href="http://www.blackagendareport.com/?q=content/honduras-and-haiti-us-rules-proxy">
http://www.blackagendareport.com/?q=content/honduras-and-haiti-us-rules-proxy</a>
<br>
<b>Links:<br>
</b>[1]
<a href="http://media.libsyn.com/media/blackagendareport/20091202_gf_HondurasHaiti.mp3" eudora="autourl">
http://media.libsyn.com/media/blackagendareport/20091202_gf_HondurasHaiti.mp3<br>
</a>[2]
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_occupation_of_Haiti" eudora="autourl">
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_occupation_of_Haiti<br>
</a>[3]
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banana_republic" eudora="autourl">
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banana_republic<br>
</a>[4]
<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/01/world/americas/01honduras.html?hp=&pagewanted=print" eudora="autourl">
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/01/world/americas/01honduras.html?hp=&pagewanted=print<br>
</a>[5]
<a href="http://www.haitiaction.net/News/HIP/11_26_9/11_26_9.html" eudora="autourl">
http://www.haitiaction.net/News/HIP/11_26_9/11_26_9.html<br>
</a>[6]
<a href="http://www.blackagendareport.com/" eudora="autourl">
http://www.BlackAgendaReport.com/<br>
</a>[7]
<a href="http://www.addtoany.com/share_save?linkurl=http://www.blackagendareport.com/?q=content/honduras-and-haiti-us-rules-proxy&linkname=In" eudora="autourl">
http://www.addtoany.com/share_save?linkurl=http://www.blackagendareport.com/?q=content/honduras-and-haiti-us-rules-proxy&linkname=In</a>
Honduras and Haiti, the U.S. Rules by Proxy<br><br>
<br>
</font><x-sigsep><p></x-sigsep>
<font size=3 color="#FF0000">Freedom Archives<br>
522 Valencia Street<br>
San Francisco, CA 94110<br><br>
</font><font size=3 color="#008000">415 863-9977<br><br>
</font><font size=3 color="#0000FF">
<a href="http://www.freedomarchives.org/" eudora="autourl">
www.Freedomarchives.org</a></font><font size=3> </font></body>
</html>