Good Guy in Honduras?
Today is Thursday, 2 July 2009.
In Honduras, the military ousts democratically-elected President Manuel Zelaya, so the latter must be the Good Guy, yes?
Hmmm.
Zelaya is a member of the Liberal Party of Honduras, which is not “liberal” in the sense that Ronald Reagan used the word. The LPH is a center-right party preaching free enterprise, personal responsibility, and less government. In other words, more-or-less Republican.
Zelaya was born into the Honduran oligarchy; the family’s businesses center on agriculture and forestry. He campaigned on a traditional platform of free trade, toughness on crime, and cutting government spending.
Then, midway through his term, Zelaya saw some light or other, and allied himself with the Bolivarianismo of Hugo Chavez, caudillo of Venezuela. (Which leads some to regard Zelaya as a socialist, or a leftist, or at least a “populist”.) Then, he attempted to stage a national referendum meant to lead to amendment of the Honduran Constitution, so he could run for a second term. This move was branded illegal by the democratically-elected Honduran Congress and the Honduran Supreme Court. Persisting in his scheme, Zelaya was kidnapped by the Honduran military and sent on involuntary vacation in Costa Rica.
So, is Zelaya a Good Guy?
To use classic Marxist terminology, the ideology and practice of the Bolivarianismo of Chavez and Zelaya are “subjectively left, objectively right”. For example, in the case of Chavez, a military dictator talks left and acts right. Chavez may prate of fundamentally re-structuring society, but, in practice, the structure of society remains the same, it’s just that a single Jefe takes position at the top, forces the oligarchy to disgorge more of its profits, and then distributes same to the lower classes, thus making the latter dependent on El Jefe, and emphatically not freed to become independent historical/political actors. In other words, no difference from the corrupt shell games of Peronism or Fidelismo.
Zelaya isn’t a Good Guy, but just an oligarch who wants to subjugate other oligarchs to himself, buying political support from the poor with trinkets and crumbs, and reigning in splendid solitude as El Supremo.
What we are witnessing in Honduras is not a struggle between Left and Right, but a spat within the ruling class.
___________________________________________
Note: today is the actual anniversary of USA/USE independence, when the Continental Congress voted: “Resolved, That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States, that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved.”
What happened on 4 July was merely approval of the wording of the announcement of action which had already been taken.
In Honduras, the military ousts democratically-elected President Manuel Zelaya, so the latter must be the Good Guy, yes?
Hmmm.
Zelaya is a member of the Liberal Party of Honduras, which is not “liberal” in the sense that Ronald Reagan used the word. The LPH is a center-right party preaching free enterprise, personal responsibility, and less government. In other words, more-or-less Republican.
Zelaya was born into the Honduran oligarchy; the family’s businesses center on agriculture and forestry. He campaigned on a traditional platform of free trade, toughness on crime, and cutting government spending.
Then, midway through his term, Zelaya saw some light or other, and allied himself with the Bolivarianismo of Hugo Chavez, caudillo of Venezuela. (Which leads some to regard Zelaya as a socialist, or a leftist, or at least a “populist”.) Then, he attempted to stage a national referendum meant to lead to amendment of the Honduran Constitution, so he could run for a second term. This move was branded illegal by the democratically-elected Honduran Congress and the Honduran Supreme Court. Persisting in his scheme, Zelaya was kidnapped by the Honduran military and sent on involuntary vacation in Costa Rica.
So, is Zelaya a Good Guy?
To use classic Marxist terminology, the ideology and practice of the Bolivarianismo of Chavez and Zelaya are “subjectively left, objectively right”. For example, in the case of Chavez, a military dictator talks left and acts right. Chavez may prate of fundamentally re-structuring society, but, in practice, the structure of society remains the same, it’s just that a single Jefe takes position at the top, forces the oligarchy to disgorge more of its profits, and then distributes same to the lower classes, thus making the latter dependent on El Jefe, and emphatically not freed to become independent historical/political actors. In other words, no difference from the corrupt shell games of Peronism or Fidelismo.
Zelaya isn’t a Good Guy, but just an oligarch who wants to subjugate other oligarchs to himself, buying political support from the poor with trinkets and crumbs, and reigning in splendid solitude as El Supremo.
What we are witnessing in Honduras is not a struggle between Left and Right, but a spat within the ruling class.
___________________________________________
Note: today is the actual anniversary of USA/USE independence, when the Continental Congress voted: “Resolved, That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States, that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved.”
What happened on 4 July was merely approval of the wording of the announcement of action which had already been taken.
posted by HH at 11:45 AM
1 Comments:
Good post HH
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