Israel Matzav

No wonder Honduras opposes US interests

Last week, I blogged an article that claimed that the reason why Honduran President Porfrio Lobo has decided to support 'Palestinian statehood' at the UN last month has more to do with the Honduran business community than it has to do with the Obama administration's support for former President Manuel Zelaya, a protege of Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez. Here's the other side of the story.

But the real question is why has President Lobo decided to switch positions. His new stand on the issue came just hours after he met with Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Riad al-Maliki and appears to take into account the high potential for Arab investment and oil shipments and, quite likely, Honduras’ own large Palestinian population which is heavily represented in the merchant class.

But there is surely more to it than that. There can be no doubt that President Lobo, smarting from what he no doubt considers Washington’s shabby treatment, also made his declaration as a shot across the America’s bow.

The White House’s failure to support Honduras, even after the certifiably free and fair 2009 elections, has pushed a once close friend away. President Lobo clearly feels he must take a position in line with other Latin American countries skeptical if not overtly hostile to the U.S. like Brazil, Nicaragua, Ecuador, Bolivia and Venezuela.

If the United States wants to see more positive actions in Honduras it must rebuild relations with Tegucigalpa. For starters, the Obama Administration can undo the punitive measures it took in the wake of former President Zelaya’s removal from office which are still in effect despite the November 2009 democratic elections. These include restoring travel visas for Honduras's Supreme Court judges, members of Congress and businesspersons as well as a restoration of all aspects of the U.S. foreign aid that was suspended.

Make no mistake. For the United States, negative trends throughout Latin America are a result of a vacuum created by a pronounced lack of American will. By surrendering a leading role in the Organization of American States (OAS) to Brazil, Washington has, in effect, allowed a new sun to burn brightly over Central and South America. We should not be surprised that the planets there are orbiting it.

Someone ought to let House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairwoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen know about this. As I understand it, Latin America is an area of particular concern to her. This kind of bullheaded foreign policy, which is so typical of the Obama administration, does no one any good. Zelaya is (thankfully) not returning to power.

Labels: Barack Hussein Obama, Brazil, Honduras, Hugo Chavez, Manuel Zelaya, Organization of American States, Porfrio Lobo.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 11:51 PM