From my archive of press clippings:
Jamaica Gleaner
More aid coming from US for regional security - PM
Published: Sunday April 19, 2009
Prime Minister Bruce Golding says he is encouraged by the commitment of the president of the United States of America, Barack Obama, to give more assistance to the Caribbean and Latin America to reduce piracy and gun and drug running through the region's waters.
Read the whole article here.
Showing posts with label Latin America. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Latin America. Show all posts
Friday, September 11, 2009
Friday, September 4, 2009
JO - Handling of Honduras crisis flawed from the start
From my archive of press clippings:
Jamaica Observer
Handling of Honduras crisis flawed from the start
SIR RONALD SANDERS
Sunday, August 02, 2009
Call it Latin American "hot blood" or "Commonwealth cool", but there is definitely a marked difference between how the Organisation of American States (OAS) and the Commonwealth handle conflicts in their member states.
SIR RONALD SANDERS
Both the 53-nation Commonwealth and the 34-nation OAS have had their share of coup d'états, fraudulent elections and abuse of civil and human rights. And both organisations have drawn up Declarations of Principle for their member states - infractions of which lead to penalties of some kind.
Read the whole article here.
Snippet(s):
"(W)hereas in the OAS suspension of a state from membership of the organisation was the first step taken in relation to Honduras where it was claimed a coup d'état had occurred, in the Commonwealth suspension of a member state is an action of last resort, taken only after many initiatives have been exhausted.
Unlike the OAS, the Commonwealth has standing machinery designed to deal with breaches of the fundamental democratic principles to which it adheres."
&
"The OAS secretary general was given 72 hours to find a solution to the Honduran situation. He might just as well have been asked to push a huge boulder up a steep mountain. There was no way it could have been achieved given the high emotion that existed on all sides.
In giving him such a mandate, the OAS General Assembly was clearly pressed into their decision by a group of countries led by Venezuela, Argentina, Nicaragua and Bolivia (the key members of ALBA) who wanted their man, Manuel Zelaya, immediately back in the presidency, whether or not he had been removed in accordance with the Honduran Constitution and law. As an important aside, let me say in this connection that however legally correct the impeachment of Zelaya may have been, the interim regime wrong-footed itself by having the military remove him from the country."
Jamaica Observer
Handling of Honduras crisis flawed from the start
SIR RONALD SANDERS
Sunday, August 02, 2009
Call it Latin American "hot blood" or "Commonwealth cool", but there is definitely a marked difference between how the Organisation of American States (OAS) and the Commonwealth handle conflicts in their member states.
SIR RONALD SANDERS
Both the 53-nation Commonwealth and the 34-nation OAS have had their share of coup d'états, fraudulent elections and abuse of civil and human rights. And both organisations have drawn up Declarations of Principle for their member states - infractions of which lead to penalties of some kind.
Read the whole article here.
Snippet(s):
"(W)hereas in the OAS suspension of a state from membership of the organisation was the first step taken in relation to Honduras where it was claimed a coup d'état had occurred, in the Commonwealth suspension of a member state is an action of last resort, taken only after many initiatives have been exhausted.
Unlike the OAS, the Commonwealth has standing machinery designed to deal with breaches of the fundamental democratic principles to which it adheres."
&
"The OAS secretary general was given 72 hours to find a solution to the Honduran situation. He might just as well have been asked to push a huge boulder up a steep mountain. There was no way it could have been achieved given the high emotion that existed on all sides.
In giving him such a mandate, the OAS General Assembly was clearly pressed into their decision by a group of countries led by Venezuela, Argentina, Nicaragua and Bolivia (the key members of ALBA) who wanted their man, Manuel Zelaya, immediately back in the presidency, whether or not he had been removed in accordance with the Honduran Constitution and law. As an important aside, let me say in this connection that however legally correct the impeachment of Zelaya may have been, the interim regime wrong-footed itself by having the military remove him from the country."
_____
Responses to: ronaldsanders29@hotmail.com
Sir Ronald Sanders is a consultant and former Caribbean diplomat.
Saturday, August 29, 2009
re: "Honduras coup: Nice job, but here's how to do it better next time"
J Michael Waller at PoliticalWarfare.Org ("Words, images and ideas as tools of first resort.") had some suggestions for Honduras.
Money quote(s):
"How different modern Latin American history would be if the US had backed the brave Venezuelan officers and civilians who dared challenge the man who would abuse the democratic system to become an aggressive dictator.
Across Latin America, the Chavez model of political subversion of existing democratic and legal structures is taking root, with extremists taking power through Venezuelan petrodollar-funded covert operations to topple pro-western governments and create a Bolivarian "near abroad."
The US has done nothing to try to stem the trend. Nothing. Democrat or Republican - American leaders have handed the playing field over to Chavez and his Cuban and Iranian allies. It's been a pathetic show.
How refreshing it was to see that humble Honduras is the only country in the region not to lose its political cojones and that, to keep its Chavez-backed president from violating the constitution, its other institutions acted.
"It's all about process. As Jimmy Carter and George W. Bush proved in Venezuela, it's not really democracy that the US wants. It's legalistic process that matters. Just like the bureaucrat who doesn't care if you've really complied with a regulation, all that matters is the piece of paper that certifies that you did comply. Whether or not you really did. So Chavez can build his dictatorship simply by working through the democratic system and subverting it, and his model has been replicated again and again in the Americas. All to the cheer of do-gooders and demokracy-uber-alles fanatics alike.
And when the Good Guys step in to stop the nonsense, they are condemned because they are working outside The Process."
&
"Zelaya is a nut and illegal political agent of a foreign power who has alienated practically everyone in Honduras. He can hardly get TV time. His own party unanimously abandoned him, voting to agree to his resignation and the alleged "coup." The rest of the democratically elected congress called on the military to take action against him, too. So did the Supreme Court."
Money quote(s):
"How different modern Latin American history would be if the US had backed the brave Venezuelan officers and civilians who dared challenge the man who would abuse the democratic system to become an aggressive dictator.
Across Latin America, the Chavez model of political subversion of existing democratic and legal structures is taking root, with extremists taking power through Venezuelan petrodollar-funded covert operations to topple pro-western governments and create a Bolivarian "near abroad."
The US has done nothing to try to stem the trend. Nothing. Democrat or Republican - American leaders have handed the playing field over to Chavez and his Cuban and Iranian allies. It's been a pathetic show.
How refreshing it was to see that humble Honduras is the only country in the region not to lose its political cojones and that, to keep its Chavez-backed president from violating the constitution, its other institutions acted.
"It's all about process. As Jimmy Carter and George W. Bush proved in Venezuela, it's not really democracy that the US wants. It's legalistic process that matters. Just like the bureaucrat who doesn't care if you've really complied with a regulation, all that matters is the piece of paper that certifies that you did comply. Whether or not you really did. So Chavez can build his dictatorship simply by working through the democratic system and subverting it, and his model has been replicated again and again in the Americas. All to the cheer of do-gooders and demokracy-uber-alles fanatics alike.
And when the Good Guys step in to stop the nonsense, they are condemned because they are working outside The Process."
&
"Zelaya is a nut and illegal political agent of a foreign power who has alienated practically everyone in Honduras. He can hardly get TV time. His own party unanimously abandoned him, voting to agree to his resignation and the alleged "coup." The rest of the democratically elected congress called on the military to take action against him, too. So did the Supreme Court."
Monday, May 18, 2009
re: "Illegal immigration, Liberal Elites, and Obama"
David Paulin at American Thinker ("devoted to the thoughtful exploration of issues of importance to Americans") discusses how American communities cope with illegal immigration.
Money quote(s):
"Millions of Hispanics, mostly poor and uneducated, have immigrated to America illegally since the early 1990s. Most are Mexicans and most of them are high school dropouts. Compared to what they might have had in a slum or impoverished rural area of Mexico or Central America, these immigrants have done well here."
"Most middle-class Americans are fed up with illegal immigration. They get no sympathy from liberal elites, however, including the open-borders elites at that lofty bastion of American journalism, the agenda-setting New York Times. "
&
"On his recent visit to Mexico, President Obama spent much time hobnobbing with that country's elites. He also should talk with ordinary middle-class people in Latin America, outside of Mexico, to get their opinion on illegal immigration. Most have no sympathy for gate-crashing Mexicans and other illegal Hispanic immigrants.
The President will have no trouble finding these folks who are solidly middle-class. They form long lines starting early in the morning outside the gates of U.S. Embassies across Latin America. They're eyes are pensive as they clutch carefully prepared applications for visas and work permits. They wait patently in the hot sun. Most will be disappointed by the decision of the Embassy official behind the glass window. But those whom I've met vow to try their luck again some other day.
To them, America is about more than economic opportunities and social programs. They admire America's culture: believe it's a place with a rule of law that applies to everybody, whether you're Kenneth Lay or Martha Stewart. And they believe it's a place in which ordinary people obey little social courtesies, like going to the back of a line at a bank, rather than bribing a security guard to let them go to the front; that's how it's done in parts of Latin America I've visited.
In America, you stop your car at a red light, even when no cops are around; that's the sort of civic culture that foreigners admire who are from dysfunctional countries without a civic culture. Accordingly, gate-crashing Mexicans who are deported get little sympathy from them."
Money quote(s):
"Millions of Hispanics, mostly poor and uneducated, have immigrated to America illegally since the early 1990s. Most are Mexicans and most of them are high school dropouts. Compared to what they might have had in a slum or impoverished rural area of Mexico or Central America, these immigrants have done well here."
"Most middle-class Americans are fed up with illegal immigration. They get no sympathy from liberal elites, however, including the open-borders elites at that lofty bastion of American journalism, the agenda-setting New York Times. "
&
"On his recent visit to Mexico, President Obama spent much time hobnobbing with that country's elites. He also should talk with ordinary middle-class people in Latin America, outside of Mexico, to get their opinion on illegal immigration. Most have no sympathy for gate-crashing Mexicans and other illegal Hispanic immigrants.
The President will have no trouble finding these folks who are solidly middle-class. They form long lines starting early in the morning outside the gates of U.S. Embassies across Latin America. They're eyes are pensive as they clutch carefully prepared applications for visas and work permits. They wait patently in the hot sun. Most will be disappointed by the decision of the Embassy official behind the glass window. But those whom I've met vow to try their luck again some other day.
To them, America is about more than economic opportunities and social programs. They admire America's culture: believe it's a place with a rule of law that applies to everybody, whether you're Kenneth Lay or Martha Stewart. And they believe it's a place in which ordinary people obey little social courtesies, like going to the back of a line at a bank, rather than bribing a security guard to let them go to the front; that's how it's done in parts of Latin America I've visited.
In America, you stop your car at a red light, even when no cops are around; that's the sort of civic culture that foreigners admire who are from dysfunctional countries without a civic culture. Accordingly, gate-crashing Mexicans who are deported get little sympathy from them."
Saturday, May 9, 2009
JO - Coup d'état
From my archive of press clippings:
Jamaica Observer
Coup d'état
PATRICK WILMOT
Saturday, March 28, 2009
The English have no equivalent for coup d'état, the violent seizure of state power by armed groups. The tradition of the coup was begun in Europe and became the favoured means of changing governments in Latin America for almost two centuries.
PATRICK WILMOT
But for most of the latter half of the 20th century the coup became associated with the instability and bad government of Africa. Coups were generally of two types. In the first Western intelligence agencies used covert methods to remove governments they disliked.
Read the whole article here.
_____
Patrick Wilmot, who is based in London, is a writer and commentator on African affairs for the BBC, Sky News, Al-Jazeera and CNN. He's a visiting professor at Ahmadu Bello and Jos universities in Nigeria.
Jamaica Observer
Coup d'état
PATRICK WILMOT
Saturday, March 28, 2009
The English have no equivalent for coup d'état, the violent seizure of state power by armed groups. The tradition of the coup was begun in Europe and became the favoured means of changing governments in Latin America for almost two centuries.
PATRICK WILMOT
But for most of the latter half of the 20th century the coup became associated with the instability and bad government of Africa. Coups were generally of two types. In the first Western intelligence agencies used covert methods to remove governments they disliked.
Read the whole article here.
_____
Patrick Wilmot, who is based in London, is a writer and commentator on African affairs for the BBC, Sky News, Al-Jazeera and CNN. He's a visiting professor at Ahmadu Bello and Jos universities in Nigeria.
Monday, February 9, 2009
JO - Our shared home is the Americas
From my archive of press clippings:
Jamaica Observer
Our shared home is the Americas
James G STAVRIDIS
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Travelling throughout the Caribbean and Latin America for the last 20 months as Commander of US Southern Command, I've had the wonderful opportunity and privilege to experience all that this hemisphere has to offer.
Read the whole article here.
Jamaica Observer
Our shared home is the Americas
James G STAVRIDIS
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Travelling throughout the Caribbean and Latin America for the last 20 months as Commander of US Southern Command, I've had the wonderful opportunity and privilege to experience all that this hemisphere has to offer.
Read the whole article here.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
JG - China targets LatAm and Caribbean (Part 1)
From my archive of press clippings:
Jamaica Gleaner
China targets LatAm and Caribbean (Part 1)
published: Sunday November 16, 2008
Winston Sill/Freelance PhotographerCharge d'affaires in the Embassy of the People's Republic of China, Liu Kan (right), greets Courtenay Rattray of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and his wife Tanya. Occasion was a reception celebrating the founding of the Chinese Republic, held at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel on September 23.
The Chinese government launched its first ever policy paper on Latin America and the Caribbean region on November 5 in Beijing. Below is an extract from the policy paper.
Read the whole article here.
Jamaica Gleaner
China targets LatAm and Caribbean (Part 1)
published: Sunday November 16, 2008
Winston Sill/Freelance PhotographerCharge d'affaires in the Embassy of the People's Republic of China, Liu Kan (right), greets Courtenay Rattray of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and his wife Tanya. Occasion was a reception celebrating the founding of the Chinese Republic, held at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel on September 23.
The Chinese government launched its first ever policy paper on Latin America and the Caribbean region on November 5 in Beijing. Below is an extract from the policy paper.
Read the whole article here.
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