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2009 in
Honduras: A Blow Against Latin America
The worst
predictions for the emerging, and in many cases weak
Central American democracies, became a reality in 2009
in Honduras.
The conservative oligarchy, the army and some corrupt
political sectors, led by the long arm of the extreme
Right in the United States, carried out a military coup
against President Manuel Zelaya.
Some people thought that after almost five decades of
wars, interventions and coups which caused a high loss
of human life and economic damages, the 21st century
would start out with new form of domestic and foreign
policy in Central America.
However, the events which have taken place in Honduras
since June have demonstrated that the old practices of
fascism remain in force in the new millennium.
The coup had no reason to be in strict terms of domestic
policy because Zelaya only had seven months left in
office. All predictions announced Porfirio Lobo's
victory in the November elections, and the predictions
came true even with the coup. Lobo had leaked his
intentions to abandon, or at least to diminish Honduras’
participation in
ALBA, the Bolivarian Alliance for
the People’s of Our America.
Even the pretext of the coup, a consultation on possible
reforms to the Constitution, was laughable. The "fourth
poll" was not binding. The Congress, dominated by the
Right, would not accept to call a referendum on the
subject, and Zelaya repeated over and over that he had
no intentions of running for re-election.
However, some events aroused suspicion and concern in
the region, both in the halls of the Central American
oligarchies as well as in the corridors of the White
House, the State Department and the U.S. Congress.
Washington warned that certain things were escaping from
their hands. Nicaragua, with the return to power of the
Frente Sandinista, is now one of the leaders of ALBA. In
El Salvador, the extreme Right was in disarray after the
triumph of the Farabundo Marti National Liberation
Front’s candidate, Mauricio Funes. Even the discredited
Organization of American States lost the fight and had
to accept the end of sanctions against Cuba. In
Guatemala, a timid social-democracy announced the end of
the era of privileges for the rich and the advent of
hope for the poor.
In Costa Rica, where people say that not a single leaf
moves without the approval of the U.S. Embassy, a couple
of years ago a persistent resistance forced a referendum,
and it almost throws away the FTA, the "crown jewel" of
former President George W. Bush’s policy toward Central
America.
Thus, the coup was an option of supreme necessity for
the United States, even at the cost of going back to the
era of fascist dictatorships. It made us realize that
there is not a new era in continental relations.
The great lesson of the coup in Honduras, which was
actually a coup gainst Latin America, is that our people
must struggle and sacrifice for sovereignty and self-determination.
Our people cannot give anything away. And we are still
facing an empire whose hallmark is the perverse
conception of an evident hegemonic and voracious destiny.
Taken from
Radio Havana Cuba |
