Honduran president Manuel Zelaya supported his decision to have Honduras enter the ALBA trade bloc. In remarks made to Reuters, the Honduran leader said that the move was necessary in order to combat poverty in his country:President Manuel Zelaya, a logging magnate seen as a moderate liberal, told Reuters that oil-rich Venezuela's offer to double international aid to the country, one of the poorest in Latin America, is unrivaled.
"I have been looking for projects from the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, Europe and I have received very moderate offers ... that forces us to find other forms of financing like ALBA," Zelaya said in an interview at his presidential palace…
"The war between communists and right-wingers is over, and if what we have now is not giving results, we have to turn to alternatives like ALBA," which also includes Cuba, Bolivia, Nicaragua and Dominica, he said.
The ALBA alliance is spearheaded by Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez who observed that “the courage of President Zelaya has no comparison.”
The move is expected to ruffle some feathers in Washington especially since Honduras was vital as a base for the anti-communist, U.S.-backed Contra rebels in the 1980s. Conservative ex-President Ricardo Maduro warned Zelaya not to “bite the hand that feeds you” by joining the ALBA. Yet “Honduras did not ask permission from any imperialist country to join ALBA," emphasized Zelaya as he accepted joining the trade bloc.
Image- BBC News
Sources- Reuters, PRESS TV, IPS, euronews, MarketPlace
You should also mention that the Bush administration, in yet another example of its support for terrorism, asked Zelaya in 2006 to give asylum to famous anti-Cuban terrorist and ex-CIA man Posada Carriles. Zelaya refused and acted with dignity no 'Western' president (see Europeans' complicity in the secret prisons affair) has shown in the last few years.
ReplyDeletePepito
anonymous, you should also mention that Bush has offered more support to Latin America more than any other President. You should also mention that in 2005 Honduras was offered the World Millennium Goals which offered more money than the LOAN that Hugo Chavez is giving us for "cheap" Petroleum. You should also mention that in turning our country Communist they can now nationalize anything they want. You should also mention that the lack of Diplomacy that Hugo Chavez holds is militant and revolutionary against Democratic FREE nations. Dont forget that Mel Zelaya is also one of the most corrupt Presidents in the history of Honduras. He has been bombarded by scandals and internal corruption that was made public on youtube.com by the ArcadiaFoundation. Dont put a blind eye to ALBA this is an international threat that is spreading like cancer amongst Populist countries and corrupt officials. Godspeed Latin America we need to stand strong for Democracy, No to ALBA.
ReplyDeleteI would like to say this to the second "Anonymous" (not Pepito).
ReplyDeleteThe USA never gives anything to anyone and if you believe the opposite, you live in a dream. They give and will get back in many forms, many times over what they "gave".
Please do NOT offend people's intelligence when you put together these two words: FREE and Democracy.
The countries you call free, are NOT; they live under the illusion of freedom.
Democracy?! Are you joking? There are only 2 or 3 countries on this Planet, that have an essence of Democracy, none are Democratic and certainly not the USA. How can you call them democratic when, unless you are rich or backed by a group of rich people, is the only way you can stand for presidency? If you are a popper, but with brilliant ideas and solutions, you do NOT stand a chance and that has nothing to do with Democracy.
It is amazing how quick people are, to point at political ideologies and "kill" them based on reputation gainned by mal-practice by someone at one time or another; what indeph knowledge do you have?! None, I think.
People are easily "drugged" by created illusions, actually this reminds me of when the Spanish saw so much gold, the Inka gold and thought they were rich out of the know world; they were so damn well fooled and that, is what 99.9% politicians are trainned to do; fool you.
BMG