As someone who has spent some time in Honduras, I was disgusted when a few days ago, Hillary Clinton called Honduran President Manuel Zelaya's symbolic step onto Honduran territory "reckless". Given that Zelaya is a citizen and democratically elected, one might wonder why she would make such a "reckless" statement. Wonder no more. There is good reason to believe she is knee-deep in covertly supporting the coup forces.
One of the untold stories over the last few years has been the role of Republican and Democratic consultants in supporting anti-democratic forces around the world. Not only has James Carville been a member of that group, but one of Hillary Clinton's closest confidants, Lanny Davis, is now working directly for and being paid by the forces that overthrew Zelaya.
Davis, if you recall, was the most vocal Obama critic among Hillary's closest advisors. He continually labeled Obama as unfit, unprepared and too far to the left.
Davis, a member of the Orrick Law firm, has been hired by the Latin American Business Council of Honduras to help with public relations in support of the coup. Davis has been lobbying on Capitol hill and appearing on cable news, including CNN, as a shill for the business interests and elite of Honduras. And the interests are powerful. Foremost among them is Chiquita banana (formerly the United Fruit company), which has fought indigenous rebellions from Colombia to Guatemala.
Chiquita, the Business Council and the Honduras Chamber of Commerce have virulently opposed Zelaya's raising of the minimum wage. This is the real reason why the coup occurred, not the ridiculous notion that he was removed because of a non-binding referendum on term limits.
Honduras is an extremely poor country, with many indigenous people, including the Garifuna, who are descendants of slaves brought to Honduras. Garifuna villages, many in the northern part of the country I am most familiar with, are among the poorest in the country. There is no social safety net, and Zelaya was beginning to address some of the worst conditions that exist.
While Zelaya does not represent the same bottom-up social movements that have put progressive leaders into office in Ecuador, Bolivia, Venezuela (yes, you Chavez haters, he is a progressive) and elsewhere, he represented a significant break with the oligarhies of the past.
And now behind the scenes, while Obama speaks openly about returning Zelaya to office, Hillary and her closest advisors have been pushing against implementing any sanctions that could resolve this crisis in a matter of days. Instead, the administration is "playing out the clock", hoping that this will drag out until the next elections at the end of this year.
Does anyone believe that Lanny Davis does not regularly communicate with Hillary? Does anyone believe that the two of them have a different world view?
In regard to Honduras, Obama will be judged, not by what he says, but what he does. Having your Secretary of State aligned so closely with a person on the payroll of the anti-democratic forces in Honduras is a bad sign and one that real journalists should be questioning.