It now appears that both sides in the Honduran standoff are waiting on the United States to weigh in. Despite those on the left (Chavez, Castro) continuing to push for less involvement by the U.S. in Central and South America so they can step into the void, they are now calling on the United States to take a stand, on their respective sides, of course. Chavez had this to say:
“Do something,” Mr. Chávez had said to reporters. “Obama, do something.” – NY Times, July 12, 2009
Hillary Clinton has joined with Castro and Chavez in calling for the return to power of Manuel Zalaya. But as Mary Anastasia O’Grady reports in today’s Wall Street Journal:
“If there is anything debatable about the crisis it is the question of whether the government can defend the expulsion of the president. In fact it had good reasons for that move and they are worth Mrs. Clinton’s attention if she is interested in defending democracy.”
There’s the rub, if she’s interested. It seems that the Obama administration has an aversion to democracy, once they get in office. When polls in the U.S. show that 68% of the people believe a second stimulus is coming while 60% oppose a second stimulus, that tells you something about their feelings about democracy. Their silence on Iran and their speaking out on Zalaya’s behalf, reinforces that belief. The Obama administration’s goal is to get power, and do whatever they can as quickly as they can to consolidate it. It seems like a page out of any tin pot dictator’s playbook. Chavez could have written it himself.
Now the Obama administration has gone silent on the situation in Honduras. Will they find their voice? Will it be the voice of our Founding Fathers, or Che, Hugo, and Fidel?
