In a Coup in Honduras, Ghosts of Past U.S. Policies

Source: New York Times

We do not want to go back to a dark past,” Mr. Obama said, in which military coups override elections. “We always want to stand with democracy,” he added.

The crisis in Honduras, where members of the country’s military abruptly awakened President Manuel Zelaya on Sunday and forced him out of the country in his bedclothes, is pitting Mr. Obama against the ghosts of past American foreign policy in Latin America.

The United States has a history of backing rival political factions and instigating coups in the region, and administration officials have found themselves on the defensive in recent days, dismissing repeated allegations by President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela that the C.I.A. may have had a hand in the president’s removal.


Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/30/world/americas/30honduras.html?_r=1&hp

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This is the change in foreign policy that I voted for.

This is a major shift from the policies of administrations, Democratic and Republican, of the last 50 or so years. Remember it was not just the Republicans, but Democrats who supported what the Contras were doing in the 1980s. (I hope that this policy will be reinforced by closing the School of the Americas.)

This is the President of the US explicitly making a major change in policy - in a direction that DU should love.

People seer what they want to see when it confirms their own pet theories, especially when the pet theories involved are some conspiracy theory BS, totalistic ideology, or other form of circular reasoning.

People may need time to believe this... the long history the American government has of lying to Americans makes it hard for some to believe this. Whatever the case may be, our President speaking out on reversing this policy is a good sign.

goes back to the middle of the 19th century and does involve both political parties (in their various permutations). Various administrations supported (at least in theory), the dictatorship of Bautista. Eisenhower and Guatemala; Kennedy and Cuba; Nixon and Chile; Carter and Nicaragua (and El Salvador); Reagan and pretty much every military dictatorship in Latin America...
It's a disgusting legacy and needs to be addressed.

and Obama in 2008. (In 2008, Obama did not speak much about this, but Kerry's and Kennedy's endorsement speaking of foreign policy implied it.) thanks for the nice list of examples.

American history. The current events are incredibly disturbing, yet fascinating at the same time.

It must be interesting to see all of this through the perspective of their history and culture.

I don't really see a change in the past administrations. I do remain hopeful.

Yes Obama says that he condemns the coup - words are cheap. This would not be the first time an administration played dumb or lied.

I'm just curious. You can't possibly expect him to send in troops or do much else about it at the moment.