Part I
According to
Tim Merrill, a writer for the Library of Congress, “The United States has had more influence on Honduras than any other nation in the twentieth century.”1 However, now in the twenty-first century diplomatically the United States is leaving Honduras alone. Since the military coup of Honduran president Manuel Zelaya in June of 2009, the United States has over looked Honduras’ economic and political situation. Moreover, Honduras seems to be in the back of American’s minds. With the Haiti, Chile, and Mexicali Earthquakes, Honduras is old news, but what most Americans do not know is human rights abuse in Honduras.
Zelaya wanted to change the article in the Honduran Constitution that would allow him to serve another term. Under the Honduran Constitution, only one term is allowed, but let’s back track to spring of 2009. Manuel Zelaya, still president of Honduras, calls for a special election asking the Honduran people if he can change the constitution to allow him to re-rerun for election. In May of 2009, Honduran Congress ruled Zelaya’s special election
unconstitutional.2 On June 28, 2009, Manuel Zelaya was arrest by Honduran troops in a military coup, to stop him pressing ahead with a constitutional referendum that would allow reelection. They then expel him to
Costa Rica at gunpoint.3 However, this is not the first time Zelaya has violated human rights in May of 2007, President Zelaya orders all the country's radio and TV stations to carry government propaganda for two hours a day for
10 days. 4 Even though Manuel Zelaya breached Honduran human rights, the United States would not support Honduras unless Zelaya was reinstated as president: when presidents like Honduras's Zelaya break the law, they forfeit their right to rule, regardless of whether they were initially elected. Honduras removed its would-be dictator, President Manuel Zelaya, but Obama joined Cuban dictator Castro and Venezuelan dictator Chavez demanding that Zelaya be reinstated.
Part II
Obama wants to weigh down Hondurans with Zelaya whether they want him or not, just because they once elected him. Under Obama’s way of thinking, Bill Clinton, who was impeached for obstruction of justice, shouldn’t have been forced to resign because Americans voted him into office. The way, I see it Obama wants presidents, once elected, to stay in office no matter what they do. It seems like Manuel Zelaya has spent too much time with Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez. What the United States did not realize was Manuel Zelaya was an imminent dictator. Castro, Chavez, and Ortega call themselves a democracy, but Americans know that they made themselves into an aristocrat. My host father told me “this is a man [Manuel Zelaya] has mislead the people, has filled his pockets with money, and has tried to make himself into a dictator.” Most Republicans disagree with Obama’s decision.
Republican Connie Mack, R-Florida, recently said, “There is little doubt that Zelaya, in his blatant power grab, has moved Honduras down a dangerous path toward less freedom, less security, and less prosperity…The United States and our allies in the region must now stand with the Honduran people to ensure the respect of freedom, the rule of law and democracy.” 5 and
Florida Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the ranking Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee agreed with Connie Mack, “the Honduran people deserve a government which upholds the constitution and protects their democratic rights. True proponents of democracy and human rights will hold true allegiance to these principles, not to the rulers who undermine them.” 6 Democrat Hillary
Clinton, says, “Honduras has taken important and necessary steps that deserve the recognition and normalization of relations… and the situation [coup] was well managed in Honduras in a nonviolent way.”7 How can Hillary Clinton say this when people are still getting killed? According to
Mark Weisbrot, co-director and co-founder of the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington, D.C, “Throughout the electoral campaign there were massive human rights violations. You have Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch—everybody has complained about this. In fact, in the middle of Secretary Clinton's trip, nine members of Congress sent her a letter—these were all Democrats, too, including some leadership—and asking her specifically to make sure that she got something in terms of human rights before restoring aid to the government of Honduras. And she completely ignored that letter and announced the restoration of aid the next day.”8 When Clinton says that this was nonviolent, she must have overlooked the black-and-white facts. What should the United States do involving Honduras?
Part III
Granted that I cannot solve the human rights abuse in Honduras completely, I suggest that Americans ought to research non-private organizations in North, Central, and South America. Last summer, I went to Honduras for four weeks. My trip, however, was cut short four weeks because of the Honduran Coup. My project supervisor said that Honduras was not safe enough for foreigners and even some Hondurans who radically supported Zelaya. It is a well-known fact that Honduras is a deprived country, and
Honduras is the second poorest country in the Americas.9 Well, to make a long story short. I was based with a non-private organization called
Amigos de las Americas. My project main objective was to restore Honduran independence. After Hurricane Mitch, many of the communities where I stayed, were never rebuilt. The entire crops were destroyed and some of the farmers said that the soil was no longer adequate. So to help the Hondurans back onto their feet, my partner and I made a school garden. The school garden was a viable tool that everybody in the community could help grow. We gathered many elders of the town, who know how to farm, and had them teach the schoolchildren to grow their own garden. My main objective was to stop the poorer Hondurans relying on the government for money for food for the schoolchildren. Although the United States has restored some Foreign Aid to Honduras, the U.S. Aid money and money from the Honduran government is not reaching the communities. Since I was there last summer, Hondurans have become even poorer because of the coup. However, my project supervisor said, “The good news is that in many of the communities, our school gardens provided snacks even after the money stopped.” So in conclusion, I suggest Americans donate money to organizations that help prevent human rights abuse.
