Zelaya supporters set a truck on fire in which transit policy was allegedly escaping after having shot at a demonstrator yesterday in Tegucigalpa (AP photo)
Several headlines in today's world section of Mexico's daily 'La Jornada' put U.S fingerprints all over the 'coup' which deposed Honduran President Zelaya. The identical AP photo was used as above, with several bullet points. The third point, combined with today's article in the Wall Street Journal, titled 'US decides not to impose sanctions on Honduras', put the nails in the coffin.
Bullet point # 3: this coup originated in the United States with hawks Negroponte and the military - the ex-provost of the UNAH (Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Honduras). This makes a reference to Mr. Juan Almendares, the UNAH ex-provost who, among other accusations, stated that the coup should be condemned as a 'barbaric attack on culture'. The whole translated text of his statement can be found here.
At center stage is John Negroponte, whose mission throughout 2008 was to create an intelligence and diplomatic network in Central America in order to regain positions lost by the U.S. in concert with 'neutralizing' left regimes (read: Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador) and the ALBA integration initiative. ALBA was created by Hugo Chavez (brainchild of Fidel Castro) as a means of counter-balancing American influence in Latin America. Its acronym stands for Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas. Member nations include Venezuela, Nicaragua, Ecuador, Honduras, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Haiti, Guatemala, Mexico, Belize, the Dominican Republic and Cuba. Notice the absence of Honduras.
According to an analysis by John Grant of the Mrzine Monthly Review, the U.S. has very close ties with the Honduran military, who were the very people that kidnapped Zelaya, and put him on the plane that removed him from the country.
And President Obama never hesitated to condemn the removal of Zelaya, and continued to speak about restoring the president to his rightful post in Honduras. Secretary of State Clinton graciously received Zelaya, when he came calling on Washington to help him get back to his country. Clinton then proceeded to appoint Costa Rican, Nobel Peace Prize winner Oscar Arias to mediate between Zelaya, and his temporary replacement, Roberto Micheletti. Needless to say, nothing much has come of this mediation, with the side effect of Arias contracting the H1N1 virus.
Whether Zelaya is returned or not is hardly the point. The folks in charge at the moment are the military and that is probably just fine with the Obama Administration. Nik Nikandrov, in his oped piece titled 'Honduras Coup: the US Connection' makes a compelling case that the current situation serves US strategic objectives. So much for dealing with other nations with respect.
As for the article in the Wall Street Journal, the wording in a letter from the State Department to Senator Richard Lugar, the ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee was self-incriminating:
We energetically condemn the actions of June 28. We also recognize that President Zelaya's insistence on undertaking provocative actions contributed to the polarization of Honduran society and led to a confrontation that unleashed the events that led to his removal.
For related reading:The Honduras coup: why opposing it is not smart
Honduras: 'Zelaya hasn't resigned, it's a kidnapping' - slide show
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