The Americas Re-Elect: George Washington's Ghost
by
John M. Carey
When
July 28, 2009
Details
*This op-ed originally appeared in openDemocracy. It draws on John M. Carey's article titled "The Re-electionistas: The Debate Continues" which appears in the Summer 2009 issue of Americas Quarterly.
In the early hours of 28 June 2009, Manuel Zelaya was removed from the Honduran presidency and deported to Costa Rica by his own military. A month on, a key issue in the unfolding Honduran crisis remains Zelaya's ambition to change the Honduran constitution to allow himself to run for a second term.
A day after the drama in Tegucigalpa, the presidents of Colombia and the United States met at the White House. Barack Obama and Ălvaro Uribe discussed the future of the US-Colombia free-trade pact, human rights, and drug policy; but looming over the conversation was the question of whether in the coming months Uribe would himself attempt to alter the Colombian constitution to allow himself to run for a third consecutive term in the 2010 elections.
As the meeting drew to a close, Obama noted that George Washington had buttressed his own reputation, and American democracy, by refusing a third term and stepping down in 1797. Obama's message to Uribe was lost on no one...
To read the full text of this article please go to the openDemocracy website.
Removal of Manuel Zelaya
From what I understand, Manuel Zelaya was removed from the presidency for advocating a 60% increase in Honduras's minimum wage, which was unsettling to Chiquita Brands International Inc., Dole Food Co., and a coalition of textile manufacturers and exporters, all of whom rely on cheap labor. Haiti and Honduras have always set the bottom line for minimum wages, and if Honduras raises its hourly rate, the rest of Latin America and the Caribbean will most likely be forced to follow.