Honduras:Time for Latin America to Take
Charge
By Mark Weisbro
The mediation effort that U.S. Secretary of
State Hillary Clinton arranged to try to
resolve the Honduran crisis, which began
when a military coup removed Honduran
President Mel Zelaya more than four weeks
ago, has failed.
It is now time - some would say overdue -
for the Latin American governments to play
their proper role.
They should take the necessary steps to
implement the unanimous mandate from the
Organization of American States: "the
immediate and unconditional return" of
President Zelaya to his elected office.
This can be done with or without the help of
the Obama administration.
It is important to note that the last two
political crises in the region were resolved
without any significant input from
Washington.
The first was in March of last year, when
Colombia bombed and invaded Ecuadorian
territory, in an operation targeting
Colombian FARC guerillas.
Latin America was united in its response,
condemning the violation of Ecuador's
sovereignty. The crisis was resolved at a
Rio Group meeting on March 7, where
President Uribe of Colombia apologized and
pledged not to violate the sovereignty of
any country again.
In the summer of last year, right-wing
Bolivians opposed to the government of
President Evo Morales engaged in a series of
violent actions that raised the specter of a
separatist civil war.
The heads of state of UNASUR - the Union of
South American Nations -- met in Santiago
and unanimously declared their support for
the Morales government. This unified
regional response, and the ensuing
investigations of right-wing violence
sponsored by UNASUR, helped put an end to
the insurrectionary hopes of the Bolivian
right.
It was too much to expect that a mediation
process set up by US Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton would resolve the Honduran
crisis.
The US government has too many interests
that conflict with what the rest of the
region wants and needs.
First, there is the US military base in
Honduras, the only such base in Central
America. The constitutional reform process
that President Zelaya hoped to set in motion
could easily lead to voters' rejection of
foreign troops on their soil.
However as much our government may prefer
democracy as a political system, when there
is a choice between democracy and a military
base, Washington's track record is not a
good one.
Brazil's foreign minister Celso Amorim
complained to Clinton that the mediation
process should be within the framework of
the OAS resolution, and therefore should not
impose conditions on Zelaya's return -
especially, he said, a coalition government
with the people who overthrew the
government.
This was one of the conditions proposed by
Costa Rican President Oscar Arias, whom
Clinton recruited to mediate.
Amorim also noted that any negotiated
solution that was seen as rewarding the coup
perpetrators would increase the threat of
military coups in other countries.
These concerns reflect Latin America's
strong and unambiguous interest in a
complete reversal of the coup. They will
have to live with the consequences of
failure.
In Washington, by contrast, we have a muddle
of conflicting interests: powerful lobbyists
such as Lanny Davis and Bennett Ratcliff,
who are close to Clinton and are leading the
coup government's strategy; the Republican
right, including Members of Congress who
openly support the coup; and "New Cold
Warriors" of both parties in the Congress,
State Department, and White House who see
Zelaya as a threat because of his
co-operation with Venezuela's Hugo Chavez
and other left governments.
No wonder Washington's response to the coup
has sent so many mixed signals.
The first White House statement did not even
criticize the coup, and the State Department
still won't officially call it a coup. And
Clinton has repeatedly refused to say that
"restoring the democratic order" in Honduras
means bringing Zelaya back - much less
unconditionally.
It took three weeks for the administration
to threaten a foreign aid cutoff, and
Washington is alone in keeping its
ambassador in place.
Latin America gave Washington a chance to
use its influence with the Honduran elite to
restore democracy there. It didn't work. Now
it is Latin America's turn to take the lead.
Hopefully, Washington will follow.
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