UN and OAS to Assist Honduras in Political Crisis

[Judi Lynn]

UN and OAS to Assist Honduras in Political Crisis



Protesters demand the resignation of Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández in
Tegucigalpa, on May 29, 2015. | Photo: AFP

Published 30 June 2015 (20 hours 54 minutes ago)

The United Nations and the Organization of American States (OAS) will assist the government of Honduras in the implementation of the Inter-American Convention against Corruption, in order to reinforce the national dialogue in the violence-hit Central American nation.

The announcement was made in Washington on Monday and follows a request made by Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez to the UN amid a series of anti-government protests that have been staged by tens of thousands of Hondurans across the country in recent days. The main demand of demonstrators is the resignation of the president.

"The dialogue will involve all sectors of Honduran society, it aims to strengthen democratic institutions and comprehensively combat impunity and corruption," the OAS said in an official statement. It also announced that its representatives in the country along with a special commission will work jointly with national authorities to weather the crisis.

"The dialogue will involve all sectors of Honduran society, it aims to strengthen democratic institutions and comprehensively combat impunity and corruption." The OAS said in an official statement and announced that its representatives in the country along with an especial commission will work jointly with national authorities to weather the crisis.

More:
http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/UN-and-OAS-to-Assist-Honduras-in-Political-Crisis-20150630-0001.html

[Peace Patriot]

1. Hm-m. This could get interesting.

Do you think that the UN and the OAS could restore democracy in Honduras, and put Honduras back on the progressive path that it was on before the U.S.-supported rightwing coup d'etat and the U.S. State Department-rigged 'elections'?

I think it's possible for several reasons. One is certainly the leftist democracy movement that has swept South America, which means that the OAS of today is quite different from the U.S.-bullied OAS of previous decades. Another is the U.S./Cuba talks (more travel; opening of embassies, etc.). Another is Obama's tacit approval of the Colombia/FARC negotiations in Cuba. Also, Brazil President Dilma Rousseff's visit to the U.S. this week. Rousseff was tortured by U.S.-supported fascists in Brazil, when she was young. Now she's welcomed as a head of state. Also, her predecessor and mentor, Lula da Silva, engaged in extraordinary efforts to stop the Honduran coup. He failed, but it is still an on-going concern throughout Latin America, in particular by the dominant leftist governments.

I don't know to what extent Obama was involved in the U.S.-supported coup in Honduras. It occurred only six months into his first term. I'd like to think that it was a time-bomb left by the Bush Junta, and implemented by Bush Junta moles in the diplomatic service and the military, to undermine a more peaceful, open Obama Latin American policy, after they handed him two wars and a ruined economy to keep him occupied for most of his presidency. But, as I said, I don't know. He seemed to go along with the coup, even with Hillary Clinton's ludicrous U.S. State Department-rigged Honduran s/election.

In any case, maybe Obama WAS involved but now regrets it. We'll see. Some of the above listed reasons for hoping that the UN and the OAS can help Honduras--U.S. opening to Cuba; FARC peace talks--are Obama policies NOW. Maybe there won't be any, or as much, U.S. obstruction of democracy and social justice. Also: Obama has run into the Great Wall of Leftism in Latin America. Lula and Rousseff have both told him, I am sure, that Cuba and Honduras, and the U.S.-funded war in Colombia, were huge obstacles to friendly relations and corporate deals in the region. He's no doubt heard it from others as well.

All of this points to hope for Honduras, from a UN/OAS mission. But that hope is nevertheless tenuous. There are stronger reasons to fear more of the same--repression, fascism, militarism, very harsh times for workers and the poor, and for rural farmers. The UN/OAS mission may merely shore up this extremely corrupt government, and deflect the mass protests into "talks" which produce no significant change. That's the likely outcome, given the U.S. Corporate/Pentagon/Miami Mafia interests in Honduras. Can the UN and the OAS counter these interests?