What
You're Missing in our subscriber-only CounterPunch newsletter
MY LAI VET SAYS: HERE IT
COMES AGAIN IN IRAQ
Tony Swindell
recalls "Butcher's Brigade" in '69; says "gooks"
have now become "ragheads", every adult male is an
"insurgent" ... atrocities against Iraqi civilians
are soon going to explode in America's face; US Government's courtroom jihads against terror
stumble. Alexander Cockburn on Lodi case where Feds paid $250,000
to man who "saw" world's three top terrorists at mosque.
As neocons
and Israel lobby howl for US to bomb Teheran, an Iranian outlines
simple path to peace. CounterPunch
Online is read by millions of viewers each month! But remember,
we are funded solely by the subscribers to the print edition
of CounterPunch. Please
support this website by buying a subscription to our newsletter,
which contains fresh material you won't find anywhere else, or
by making a donation for the online edition. Remember contributions
are tax-deductible.Click
here to make a donation. If you find our site useful please:Subscribe
Now!
Whose Democracy
is the US Supporting in Nicaragua?
By BRYNNE KEITH-JENNINGS
In Nicaragua, the US government continues
to flex its muscles to achieve an electoral defeat of Daniel
Ortega in the November presidential elections. Ortega, president
during the Sandinista revolution in the 1980s, is running for
president for the fourth time since his first defeat in 1990.
As in other parts of the world, the U.S. continues to tout its
support of democracy as the justification for intervening in
the internal affairs of a sovereign state, an act that is in
itself inherently undemocratic.
In a recent interview in the
Nicaraguan news magazine Confidencial, U.S Ambassador
Paul Trivelli stated, "What we are trying to do is to support
the democratic process, and tell people that in this country,
in the electoral process there are antidemocratic forces and
there are democratic forces." Through his actions, however,
Ambassador Trivelli has shown a strange understanding of the
meaning of "support the democratic process".
Take the present month of April
as an example. On April 5, 2006, Trivelli sent a letter to several
political parties offering to fund primaries that would result
in one presidential candidate in order to increase their chances
of defeating Ortega. When this offer was rejected by the parties,
all of whom had already declared their separate candidates, Trivelli
chose another tactic. In a highly publicized meeting, Trivelli
met with the leaders of the Liberal Constitutional Party (PLC),
many who have been stripped of their U.S. visas, and close associates
of the party leader, former U.S.-supported ex-President Arnoldo
Aleman, who has been convicted of embezzling over $100 million
from state coffers. Trivelli urged the party to participate in
an effort to defeat Ortega, which would include ditching their
candidate José Rizo, chosen in internal party elections
earlier this year. When the party refused to remove their candidate,
Trivelli went back to his rhetoric denouncing the PLC, stating,
"A party that is controlled by Mr. Aleman is still not
in the category of democratic parties" He then met with
Presidential candidate Eduardo Montealegre, former PLC member
who split from the party. In a statement that barely fell short
of endorsing Montealegre, Trivelli stated that he is the democratic
choice for the presidency.
Trivelli's recent actions prove
that democracy is a fluid concept, one that applies when convenient
for the US State Department. He negotiates with the PLC if it
could mean the possibility of achieving an alliance to beat Daniel
Ortega. When not successful, he reiterates that the PLC is undemocratic,
another pressure tactic.
All of these actions then lead
to the obvious question, "Why so much fear of Ortega?"
In his rhetoric, Trivelli suggests that Ortega's term as president
from 1984 to 1990 indicates that he does not know how to govern
democratically, as quoted in the in the Nicaraguan daily La
Prensa, "Ortega already governed, and he did so badly."
Recent statements by both Condoleezza Rice and John Negroponte
suggest that the fear is based on regional developments; that
is, that Hugo Chavez from Venezuela is supporting Ortega, a longtime
friend of Fidel Castro, in order to strengthen the relationships
among leaders in the region.
Trivelli himself has stated
that he would support anyone "elected democratically, who
governs democratically, with a sensible economic policy and who
is ready to cooperate with the United States on security issues."
Although Ortega's rhetoric frequently challenges the role of
the US in Nicaragua, in recent years, he has proven to be more
a political opportunist than an ideologue or potential threat
to the United States. He has not said that his government would
renege on current IMF loans or otherwise alter the US-supported
neoliberal reforms that the US define as "sensible economic
policies". Regardless, it should be the Nicaraguan people,
not U.S. policymakers, who decide whether or not he deserves
a second term in office.
Beyond Trivelli's wavering
definition of democracy, however, is the issue of Nicaraguan
sovereignty and United States' interference in Nicaragua's internal
politics. Why is a U.S. official attempting to form an electoral
alliance in another country? Trivelli demonstrates his arrogancy
and hypocrisy by acting in every way to impede the development
of democracy in order to promote "the unity of democratic
forces".
Since 1990, when U.S.-favored
candidate Violeta Chamorro defeated Ortega in the elections,
the US has been utilizing a much more subtle strategy towards
Nicaragua and its neighbors than the military force of the 1980s.
Having already shown these countries who is "boss",
the US only needs to send messengers like Trivelli to remind
countries like Nicaragua of what happens if they should depart
too far from U.S.-favored policy. The peace that remains in
Nicaragua after 1990 is a painful, bitter peace: a peace in which
officials such as Trivelli feel free to intervene in internal
politics as if they were another actor in the Nicaraguan system.
Perhaps a larger movement would be necessary to change this
relationship of domination and dependence. But as a diplomat,
the very least Trivelli could do is to demonstrate an iota of
respect for the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, which
states that "it is the duty of all persons enjoying such
privileges and immunities not to interfere in the internal affairs
of that State," and a respect for the people of Nicaragua,
who have the right to political processes.
Brynne Keith-Jennings works as an educator work Witness
for Peace in Nicaragua and can be reached at: nicaragua@witnessforpeace.org
Now
Available
from CounterPunch Books!
The Case
Against Israel
By Michael Neumann
CounterPunch
Speakers Bureau Sick of sit-on-the-Fence speakers, tongue-tied and timid?
CounterPunch Editors Alexander Cockburn and Jeffrey St Clair
are available to speak forcefully on ALL the burning issues,
as are other CounterPunchers seasoned in stump oratory. Call
CounterPunch Speakers Bureau, 1-800-840-3683. Or email beckyg@counterpunch.org.