An international commission against impunity for Honduras?
While most of my attention has been on developments in Guatemala, Hondurans have also been taking to the streets to protest corruption in their government. The protests follow revelations that President Juan Orlando Hernandez' National Party received campaign donations from companies linked to a $200 million corruption scandal at the Honduran Institute of Social Security;
Like Guatemala, the protests are not simply directed at specific acts of corruption but at a ruling class that has plundered national treasuries for years and used "democracy" to serve their self interests. In Honduras' case, Hernandez and his supporters removed Manuel Zelaya six years ago because of his alleged violation of the constitution when he sought to have a vote to determine whether to hold a constitutional convention at which point, they might discuss reforms that would allow presidential re-election. However far-fetched, the alleged fear was that he was going to become an elected dictator.
Jump forward a few years and those who sought Zelaya's removal have now stacked the Supreme Court in an illegal manner. With no shame, the court then struck down an article of the constitution that prevented presidential re-election.
Among other things, protesters have demanded the establishment of an international commission to root out corruption in Honduras, something which I have been behind for a few years (See also Honduras Culture and Politics). If the US made an extension of CICIG's mandate in Guatemala a pre-requisite for moving forward with the (now dead?) $1 billion aid plan for Central America, why shouldn't the US attach similar conditions to our partners in Honduras and El Salvador?
Like Guatemala, the protests are not simply directed at specific acts of corruption but at a ruling class that has plundered national treasuries for years and used "democracy" to serve their self interests. In Honduras' case, Hernandez and his supporters removed Manuel Zelaya six years ago because of his alleged violation of the constitution when he sought to have a vote to determine whether to hold a constitutional convention at which point, they might discuss reforms that would allow presidential re-election. However far-fetched, the alleged fear was that he was going to become an elected dictator.
Jump forward a few years and those who sought Zelaya's removal have now stacked the Supreme Court in an illegal manner. With no shame, the court then struck down an article of the constitution that prevented presidential re-election.
Among other things, protesters have demanded the establishment of an international commission to root out corruption in Honduras, something which I have been behind for a few years (See also Honduras Culture and Politics). If the US made an extension of CICIG's mandate in Guatemala a pre-requisite for moving forward with the (now dead?) $1 billion aid plan for Central America, why shouldn't the US attach similar conditions to our partners in Honduras and El Salvador?
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