Clinton Betrayed Democracy, Economic Justice, and Women and Children in Honduras
On June 28, 2009, the Honduran military overthrew the democratically elected and modestly progressive president, Manuel Zelaya. He was forced on a plane and sent into exile.
I wrote a commentary on June 30, 2009, raising the issue of possible US influence through leading members of the Honduran military, who were trained at what was formerly called The School of Americas in Fort Benning, Georgia. I stated: "You can bet your bottom dollar there were a few American hands behind what happened in Honduras. We just can't say just yet who they belonged to."
Given information that has been revealed since 2009, we now know a lot more about the US support for the 2009 military coup. Hillary Clinton, who was secretary of state at the time, didn't necessarily push the button that started it, but she was the Obama administration's most ardent advocate of keeping the military in power and preventing Zelaya from returning as a democratically elected leader.
The repercussions to Honduras of Clinton siding with the military have led to it becoming one of the most corrupt and violence-ridden nations in the world. They also reveal the deep contradiction between Clinton's espousal of democracy and the rights of women and children, and her neoliberal realpolitik interest in protecting the markets and profits of US-based corporations.
Honduras is one of the most violent nations in the world. The situation in the country’s second largest city, San Pedro Sula, demonstrates the depth of the problem.
For the fourth year running, San Pedro Sula has been one of the most dangerous places on the planet outside of a war zone. Its murder rate in 2014 was an astonishing 171 per 100,000. The city, which is caught in the crossfire between vicious criminal gangs, has been the largest source of the 18,000 Honduran children who have fled to the United States in recent years. [Italics added by BuzzFlash.]
It is hypocritically appalling that Clinton responded to the plight of these children fleeing to the US -- following the exponential rise in violence after the coup -- by stating in 2014:
They [the children fleeing violence] should be sent back as soon as it can be determined who responsible adults in their families are.... We have to send a clear message: Just because your child gets across the border, that doesn’t mean the child gets to stay.
http://www.truth-out.org/buzzflash/commentary/clinton-s-honduran-hypocrisy-killing-democracy-supporting-economic-inequality-abandoning-women
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