Reply #1: Oscar Arias called the Honduran Constitution "the worst in the world."

[Peace Patriot]

It is not a great surprise that it is "the worst"--considering that it was written by Reagan's henchmen to enshrine the power of the military and the "ten families"--but it is something of a surprise that Arias said it (--quoted by Greg Grandin in an article in The Nation this week). Arias is as close as you're going to get to an Obama/Clinton State Dept. spokesman in Latin America. He was Clinton's designated initial negotiator in the Honduran situation. He also worked closely with the Bushwhacks to impose CAFTA on Costa Rica and to inflict a very demoralizing blow on the left and the unions in Costa Rica, who lost that vote by a hairsbreadth, after fighting extremely hard to defeat it, with Arias calling in all of his political chips in CR to ram it through. CAFTA is head to head with ALBA, the Venezuela-organized trade group in the Caribbean. The issue is US-dominated "free trade for the rich" vs a more egalitarian, grass roots oriented trade group with Venezuela as the biggest, most powerful member but by no means in a parallel position to the US in CAFTA (which is more like "Bambi Meets Godzilla"). CAFTA was no benefit whatsoever to Honduras, which continued to have the highest poverty rate in Latin America. That is why President Zelaya abandoned CAFTA and joined ALBA, with immediate benefits to the poor in Honduras (for instance, cheap oil from Venezuela and lowered bus ticket prices).

So, Oscar Arias is no friend of Hugo Chavez or of the poor. He has fought tooth and nail for the rich. Further, the initial peace proposal that emerged rather quickly from his brokering of the parties in Honduras included restoring Zelaya to his rightful office but greatly limiting his powers as president and specifying that Zelaya drop the proposal for a Constituent Assembly to revise the Honduran Constitution (that proposal was coming from the unions and other grass roots groups and has widespread support in Honduras).

Now we have Arias saying that it's "the worst Constitution in the world." He also said that, if a fair election cannot be conducted in Honduras (and it is patently obvious that that cannot occur), the "only solution" is to hold a Constituent Assembly.

I hope that what is going to happen is this (although I don't think it's wise to hold your breath until the US does the right thing in this situation): The US officially calling for a vote, yes or no, on forming a Constituent Assembly, ousting the Junta, putting Zelaya back in charge and working with the OAS to run a clean election on this issue in Honduras. The US clearly has the power to do these things. Honduras is a US-dependent country, with a large US military base and presence (which stood down while the plane carrying the kidnapped president refueled there on its way out of the country).

The Junta can then engage in a civilized political process--in which they lose some points and gain some points vs the poor majority of Honduras--or they can get the fuck out of Honduras and go to their real homeland in Miami. They claim to be "patriots" and to love their country and that is why they are ripping it to shreds, but what they really love is money. That is the motive behind their vulture-like grip on Honduran society. If they really loved their country, they would never would have shot up the president's house, kidnapped him at gunpoint and exiled him, nor would they be brutalizing the Honduran people, after ripping up the very Constitution they claim to be defending. That is love of money.

Holding out the hope that our country does the right thing...