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."

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"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."

JG - Venezuelans celebrate

From my archive of press clippings:

Jamaica Gleaner

Venezuelans celebrate

published: Sunday July 13, 2008

Winston Sill/Freelance Photographer

Venezuelan Ambassador Noel Martinez-Ochoa (left) welcomes Japanese Ambassador Masahiro Obata and wife Hiroko to the National Day shindig.

Chester Francis-Jackson, Contributor

My dears, it may have taken Jamaica qualifying for the World Cup in 1998 to bring out our sense of nationalism and patriotism. However, this was always evident in the nationals of other countries, particularly so in our Central and South American neighbours.

Read the whole article here.

Snippet(s):

"(A)s Venezuelans the world over celebrate the 197th anniversary of their independence, marking that anniversary is done with all the pomp and circumstance befitting a fiercely independent people and a great nation.

My dears, this signature calendar event on Kingston's social register is easily one of the most respected and anticipated social events of the season, steeped as it is in a history that once saw the great liberator Simon Bolivar taking refuge in Jamaica."

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"Among the notables out were: Governor General Sir Kenneth Hall and Lady Hall; Senate President, Dr Oswald Harding and Marigold Harding; Speaker of the House Delroy Chuck; Mayor of Kingston Desmond McKenzie; Security Minister Colonel Trevor MacMillan and wife Dr Olivia McDonald; Energy Minister Clive Mullings; Ambassador Dr Matthew Beaubrun; Ambassador Douglas Saunders; Ambassador Lorne McDonnough; Ambassador Maxine Roberts; Chief of Protocol Sandra Grant-Griffiths; Dr Simon Clarke; head of the European Union delegation in Jamaica, Ambassador Marco Mazzocchi-Alemanni; Spanish Ambassador Jesús Silva; US Ambassador Brenda LaGrange Johnson and Howard Johnson; British High Commissioner Jeremy Cresswell and Dr Barbara Munske. Canadian High Commissioner Denis Kingsley and wife Jo-Ann; Dr Ventura Díaz Mejia, Ambassador of the Republic of Colombia; Ambassador of the Dominican Republic Filomena Navarro; Chilean Ambassador Alfredo Garcia and wife Luz Santamaria; Senegalese Ambassador Dr Nafissatou Diagne; Ambassador Cedric Harper and Dr Barbara Harper; US Embassy Consul General Ed Wehrli and his fab wife Rose Wehrli; minister and charge d'affaires in the Embassy of the Republic of Korea, Hosung Lee; UNICEF's Bertrand Bainvel; Honorary Consul of Iceland Robert MacMillan; Honorary Consul of Lithuania Lois Lake Sherwood; Earl Levy and wife Beverly Junor Levy; Yvon and Cynthia DeSulme; Rear Admiral (retired) Peter and Carol Brady. Dr Adolfo and Sara Lou Mena; Frank Rosheuvel; Dr Ruth Potopsingh; Dr Jonathan Greenland; Andrea Bickhoff-Benjamin; the charming Jennifer Stanigar; David Fernandez and Carol Portillo; Candy DePass; Betty Valiente McKenzie; and Deputy Chief of Mission, Venezuelan embassy, Madai Hernandez and husband Marcelo Muñoz; and Professor Ulises Franco of the Venezuelan Institute of Culture and Cooperation; plus a number of others."