tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1338612245455097792.post2914048525097479482..comments2023-09-11T10:45:49.957-07:00Comments on Honduras Culture and Politics: "The freedom and fairness of this election is very much at risk": US Congress membersRAJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00097415587406899236noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1338612245455097792.post-4201668881659691392013-10-19T11:27:26.545-07:002013-10-19T11:27:26.545-07:00Thanks for the clarification. It may seem like Con...Thanks for the clarification. It may seem like Congressional statements like this are mere rhetoric. Since we know the work it has taken to inform congress members of the realities on the ground, we see these efforts as significant. One such effort led to Congress freezing $30 million of security funding in 2012. As we all know, the State Department's assurances to Congress intended to restore funding were later exposed by the media as misleading (at best).<br /><br />How one sees <a href="http://www.maryknollogc.org/article/honduras-impunity-results-loss-support" rel="nofollow">this sequence</a> depends to some extent on whether your expectations are set high or low. We see the mere fact that there are people in the US government who are paying attention as a major step forward; and especially, that the media cover the story now in such a way that incidents like these are detected means for once we are seeing how US policy affects Honduras.<br /><br />Finally, I do not think that the Grijalva letter is based on the premise that the president will experience a moral dilemma. It is a reminder to the State Department that Congress is not just a rubber stamp for whatever representation about Honduras might be made. In the run-up to an election that could see a candidate from a new party elected, this is important. If the US repeats the premature endorsement of the election's outcome that was its signature in 2009, that could be immensely destructive. If it stays completely silent, that could allow the Honduran establishment to read into the silence consent-- as happened in the aftermath of the coup in 2009. A statement from part of the US government that this will not be tolerated is important for Honduran activists.RAJhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00097415587406899236noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1338612245455097792.post-66668462900956357902013-10-19T04:32:34.555-07:002013-10-19T04:32:34.555-07:00I agree with you 100%. I didn't intend to comp...I agree with you 100%. I didn't intend to compare the signatories to Foghorn Leghorn in any way.<br /><br />Influencing Obama and Kerry and the agencies they relate to involves showing that they will be held accountable for caving in to the old guard hawks that have run policy including Obama's. Even that is usually not enough.<br /><br />I guess one of the motives for my comment is the presumption that open letters to Obama may inspire a moral dilemma in the president as opposed to W. Bush, who is understood to be the enemy. I can't distinguish between the two's policies in this region.Ian Keenanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16596558654735506132noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1338612245455097792.post-75839226471180470292013-10-18T22:31:41.130-07:002013-10-18T22:31:41.130-07:00The problem with ironic comments is they are open ...The problem with ironic comments is they are open to multiple readings. I assume (but may be wrong) that you are implying that the letter by these congress members is meaningless (Foghorn Leghorn) because after all, the US is complicit in the power relations that exist in Honduras. Well and good: but having someone in the US government actually paying attention to the way the US is behaving in Honduras is meaningful-- and in the last year we have seen more press attention to the details of what is happening there, and more attentiveness by Congress members. We are not about to give up.RAJhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00097415587406899236noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1338612245455097792.post-58931800525006698062013-10-18T08:23:27.876-07:002013-10-18T08:23:27.876-07:00In unrelated news, Foghorn Leghorn sent an open le...In unrelated news, Foghorn Leghorn sent an open letter to the fox asking him to guard the hen house.Ian Keenanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16596558654735506132noreply@blogger.com