Scary, Impressionable Mel
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The Prensa Latina ran an article today stating that President Mel Zelaya will attend the celebration of the 28th anniversary of the Sandinista Revolution, which replaced the US-backed military dictatorship of Anastasio Somoza with a socialist leaning, ex-guerrilla president, Daniel Ortega.
The decision drew the immediate criticism of former president Rafael Callejas. President Zelaya will be holding bilateral talks with Hugo Chavez and Daniel Ortega.
According to the article, Mel defended himself saying:
“Honduras tiene identidad propia y debe defender su integridad sin importar las ideologías.”
Translation: Honduras has its own identity, and must defend its integrity without caring about ideologies.
To me that smacks of Louis XIV’s infamous declaration: “I am the state”. Mel is defending HIS integrity, not that of Honduras.
I am not so worried about Honduras boot-licking the IMF, the World Bank, and the US. I’m worried about our impressionable president, who looks with an admiring eye to Cuban, Nicaraguan and Venezuelan propaganda. I’m sure he will probably announce a policy change in the next few days, as a result of his chats with his friends Hugo and Daniel.
Both Daniel Ortega and Chavez have capitalized on White House hypocrisy to rise to power. The US government doesn’t really care about the poverty in Latin America, or oppression. They prefer a right-leaning dictator, (dare we say Hugo’s favorite f-word: fascist) to a left-leaning president, which is what most Latin American countries elected last year.
Ultimately the losers are the Latin American poor, who subscribe to false hopes, the false hopes that failed in Russia, China and Cuba. We need nationalism without Capitalism, or Socialism, or Marxism. We need a new ideology.
Mr. Zelaya is not being independent by leaning to the left. He is simply choosing a different idol to worship.
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If I had any voice in the matter, and of course I don’t, at this point I think a benevolent dictator would be the best hope for Honduras. That may sound shocking but it seems that neither major political party wants to or will ever do anything REAL about corruption and that is what is causing this country to rot away.
IMHO.
My mother agrees with you, but I just don’t like the idea of a dictator, whether left-wing or right-wing.
She says that when Carías was dictator/president there was no national debt, and the country was peaceful, ordered and stable.
Nevertheless, there was no freedom of speech, and the opposition, the Liberal party was persecuted to the brink of extinction.
The idea of a dictator, even a benevolent one, is a scary proposition, and contrary to everything that this country has endured and gone through. Honduras does not need a dictator, instead what it needs is a president that understands that his responsibility is to set an agenda for sustainable progress for the future and to stick with it. There will be many problems along the way, as there always are, but eventually something will be accomplished if they stick to the agenda.
I do share your opinion that Mel is on the wrong path. His leftist views will only scare away foreign investment and will create a state of division and confusion that the country cannot afford to have. I sincerely hope that he will realize his mistakes and take actions to correct them.
Thanks Ricardo.
I also hope he will see the consequences of what he’s doing, but I am almost sure he won’t, unless forced to. Powerful leaders seldom if ever see their mistakes, their pride and insecurity blind them.