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<a href="http://www.counterpunch.org/landau01152010.html" eudora="autourl">
http://www.counterpunch.org/landau01152010.html<br>
</a></font><font face="Verdana" size=2 color="#990000">January 15-17,
2010<br><br>
</font><h1><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=4><b>Magical Realism
<br><br>
<br>
</i></font><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=5 color="#990000">A
Coup in Honduras ... So Twentieth Century!
</b></font></h1><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=4>By SAUL LANDAU
and NELSON P. VALDES <br><br>
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<dl>
<dd><font face="Verdana" size=2>“I don’t see why we need to stand by and
watch a country go Communist because of the irresponsibility of its own
people.”</i></font><font size=3> <br><br>
<dd>-</font><font face="Verdana" size=2>– Henry Kissinger, June 26,
1970<br><br>
<dd>“I’ve heard many in this room say that they will not recognize the
elections in Honduras. … What does that mean in the real world, not in
the world of magical realism?” <br><br>
<dd>-- W. Lewis Amselem, US Representative to the Organization of
American States, Nov. 11, 2009<br><br>
</font>
</dl><font face="Verdana" size=6 color="#990000">F</font>
<font face="Verdana" size=2>or US magical realists, a coup becomes a coup
after Washington defines it as such. On March 10, 1952 Cuban General
Fulgencio Batista grabbed power and sought to legitimize his coup by
holding fake elections. Magically, the coup makers won; Washington
recognized Batista.<br><br>
In 1964, Brazil’s military removed President João Goulart and covered
naked crime with electoral fig leaves, as if coups came with routine
republicanism.<br><br>
In 2009, few imagined military goons taking orders from a corrupt supreme
court, kidnapping a President and exiling him to Costa Rica. Fewer
imagined Costa Rican President Oscar Arias cooperating with kidnappers,
and instead of charging them with major felonies, allowed them free
return in their military plane. More 21st Century Magical Realism
surfaced when Arias evolved from collaborator to mediator – with US and
OAS blessing.<br><br>
Washington could have frozen the plotters’ assets, or denounced the
coup-supporting Honduran congressional hooligans for producing a fake
resignation letter by President Manuel Zelaya, one he had not signed and
with the wrong date.<br><br>
In stead of the State Department labeling the blatant heist a coup,
officials “studied” the absurd allegation that Zelaya had violated
Honduras’ Constitution by calling for a referendum (consultation) with
his people -- to see if they wanted to change the document. Indeed, a
2009 State Department human rights report had labeled as corrupt the very
Supreme Court that ordered Zelaya arrested – but not kidnapped and
exiled.<br><br>
By November, the thugs had repressed opposition media, killed, tortured
and beaten protesters. Then, the conditions were ready for the plotters
to hold “elections.” 50% or less voted for candidates that reflected none
of Zelaya’s programs. Despite charges of fraud and irregularities,
Washington recognized the process and beseeched the world to forget
Honduras’ disagreeable past: five months of a nation’s upset
stomach?<br><br>
With US support, President “Whatshisname,” a member of the worried crème
de la crème, moved the former Banana Republic now riddled with
maquiladoras, back into “the community of nations” – with objection from
dozens of member countries.<br><br>
“Hey,” said a reporter in Tegucigalpa, “the election was as legitimate as
the Afghanistan farce.” Success took longer than its plotters desired,
but official Washington defined last year as ancient history. The
kidnapping of Zelayafor offering legal steps to reform -- and subsequent
death squad murders, well, “let auld acquaintance be forgot…”<br><br>
The dozen oligarchic families have owned the country for decades. They
learned from their experiences with the quixotic Zelaya’s “disobedience”
not to delegate political control to even wealthy allies. The hotsy totsy
class has now pushed family members to “win” congressional seats and
“serve” on the court.<br><br>
Hondurans’ Cro Magnon elite replaced Zelaya because, like many
illegitimate entities, they grew concerned that their victims, the
majority of Honduras, would mobilize and change the constitution: the
foundation that protected them against structural change. Zelaya’s
proposed non-binding referendum threatened their minority rule.<br><br>
A new Constitution would allow the majority to replace the Cold War
system. From the late 1940s on, Washington trained local militaries
to use anti-Communism as the pretext to repress movements advocating
policies opposed by large US investors and local aristocracies.
Counterinsurgency from the 1960s through the 1980s became the era of
military dictatorships -- with republican façades.<br><br>
Utopians believed Obama’s ascension would bring change: the President
would respect even elections that didn’t turn out as desired, one that
had prevailed for centuries when Latin Americans elected the “wrong”
presidents. “I don’t see why we need to stand by and watch a
country go communist due to the irresponsibility of its own people. The
issues are much too important for the Chilean voters to be left to decide
for themselves,” said Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, justifying
support for the 1973 coup in Chile.<br><br>
Thirty six years later, at the Trinidad summit, President Obama eschewed
such crudeness. The rule of law went hand in hand with its globalization
policies. Coups upset business.<br><br>
So why did the ruling elite and its military stage a coup and ultimately
get Washington’s blessing?<br><br>
Because they thought they could get away with it. And they did. The old
policy, favoring large corporations and banks, prevailed. After all,
Obama’s first acts were bailing out big banks and auto companies. So,
thanks to amnesia (was there a coup there?), Honduras is again safe –
temporarily – for Chiquita Banana, US banks and local
aristocrats.<br><br>
PART 2 next week.<br><br>
</i>Saul Landau</b> has written for Counterpunch for years. Counterpunch
published his
<a href="http://www.easycartsecure.com/CounterPunch/CounterPunch_Books.html">
A BUSH AND BOTOX WORLD</a>.<br><br>
Nelson Valdes</b> is Professor Emeritus, University of New
Mexico<br><br>
<br><br>
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