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Failed coup indication leftist policies rising in Latin America
Published: 02 October, 2010, 02:37
Edited: 03 October, 2010, 19:26
Ecuador, Quito : Supporters of Ecuador President Rafael Correa gather outside the National Police Hospital in Quito late on September 30, 2010 where Correa spent 12 hours under siege by rebel police who he said wanted to kill him. (AFP Photo / John Silva)
(29.9Mb) embed videoTAGS: Conflict, South America, Protest, Politics, USA
It was a moment that ignited Latin America once again. The attempted coup against the democratically elected President Rafael Correa of Ecuador seemed reminiscent of previous coups that destabilized past democracies.
The last of which occurred in Honduras in June of 2009.
One woman attending a massive demonstration to honor those killed by the right wing government in Honduras said, "They, the coup-mongers, they call them the natural allies of the United States. And why are they natural allies? Because this coup is theirs. Because it corresponds to the interests of the United States."
Almost immediately, the US was implicated in the Honduran coup. The right wing military generals who carried out the ousting of the democratically election president of Honduras Manuel Zelaya were trained in the United States.
The US State Department was the first to support the right wing government in an election most countries around the world deemed as illegitimate.
As for the former President of Honduras, he was in the midst of implementing leftist reforms similar to those in Venezuela, Brazil, Bolivia and Ecuador.
Which is why the crisis in Ecuador brought back memories of Honduras of Rodolfo Pastor, he worked for the Zelaya government.
"You have to wonder how these forces and these dark sectors within Ecuadorian society are strengthened and embolden by the coup in Honduras, and by the precedent that was set. And of course by the decision for the U.S. to support that coup," Pastor said.
Nearly every country in Latin America has experienced US intervention in one way or another. The ambassador of Nicaragua to the US insists the military coup in Honduras is paramount to understanding why the US needs to maintain control in the region.
"We can't forget that after the coup d'etat in Honduras, the United States has an interest in paralyzing the integration of the ALBA countries and the development of the social processes generated and made dynamic in the ALBA countries," said Ambassador Denis Moncada.
The fact that the coup failed in Ecuador is an indication the people of Latin America are mobilized in the direction of the left turn sweeping the continent.
It happened in Venezuela when President Hugo Chavez was temporally ousted by right wing forces. The people brought him back to power.
Then again, the people of Honduras generated one of the largest resistance movements in Central America against the right wing; US backed government of Pepe Lobo.
It’s an ideological shift in Latin America the US up against. Socialist leader from Bolivia, Venezuela, and Ecuador to emerging world power Brazil are operating participatory democracies; where the poor people of their countries are intimately involved in the direction of their political future.
The pull from right to left is distinct, obvious and very much alive in Latin America.
01.10.2010, 01:04
5 comments
Coup d'état continues in EcuadorChaos broke out in Ecuador when members of the nation’s military and national police forces turned to violence to protest a new law that reduces their pay and benefits. |
02.10.2010, 03:30
4 comments
US media ignore Ecuador chaos and anarchyWhile chaos and anarchy break out in Ecuador, the US media ignored the attempted coup. Are there more important topics on their mind, or is it simply that no one cares? |
Reid Campbell the U.S might very well be behind this failed coup. It hard to believe that the U.S is still running the School of Americas—school that trained so many cold blood killers in Latin America. I think though those days are over. It is interesting that to see that leaders of Latin America quickly put their weight behind the democratic elected government of Raphael Correa. I think the United States is a bully and it does not know how to win alliances through means other than military violence and that is the reason the U.S has lost support among ordinary people in Latin America. Is the U.S going to change its aggressive ways? I do not think so.
To state that the generals leading the coup were trained in the US is misleading. You make it sound like they were trained in the US to perticipate in this coup. Thousands of officers from latin american countrys are trained in the US every year, if they go back to their prospective countries, become generals and attempt a coup it can hardly be because of the training they recieved when they were junior officers. I will say though that the power elite in the US will always support their elite brethren in any country and use their media and influence to help those elite maintain or regain their power. Allowing the people to actually be in control of a country could eventually lead to problems in their own oligarchy.
I did not right the comment at the top. But since I´m in here I might add that being from the US and having lived in a latin american country for the last 14 years I´ve noticed that in the country I live in, like most latin american countries, about 80+% of the population exist on 1% of the money.( Kinda like where the US might be heading if the people dont wake up soon). When a president comes along who ACTUALLY tries to help the people it scares the heck out of the people who have all the money and they will do anything to protect that money. Unfortunatly the rich people who run the US will support such a coup as they see it a threat to themselves as well. And if someone doesnt start supporting some kind of population control down here things will only get worse. RC