Foreign Aid Cut Off To Honduras

A few weeks ago, the reactionary forces (rich folks) in Honduras staged a military coup and removed the popularly-elected president, Manuel Zelaya. Zelaya was a left-leaning president who was trying to make the society fairer and more equitable for all Honduran citizens. The coup then installed Roberto Micheletti as "interim" president.

Nearly every country in Central and South America opposed the coup, and demanded the elected president be restored to his rightful position. I think to them, it was reminiscent of the bad old days when elected governments were routinely overthrown by military coups. The United States also objected, and threatened to cut off aid to Honduras if they didn't restore Zelaya.

Since that time, the illegal government in Honduras has ignored all appeals to restore their elected democratic government. I don't think they thought the United States would follow through on its threat. They were wrong.

A state department spokesman says all aid for Honduras has been discontinued (except for humanitarian aid). This will cost Honduras about $200 million.

The spokesman said, "The Secretary of State has made the decision, recognizing the need for strong measures in light of the continued resistance to the adoptionof the San Jose Accord by the de facto regime and continuing failure to restore democratic, constitutional rule to Honduras."

I'm glad the United States had the courage to follow through on its threat. A threat is useless if no one believes you will actually follow through on it.

Now we should turn our attention to Israel and do the same thing. If the Israelis won't stop building settlements in occupied territory (Palestinian land), and return to the negotiating table to seriously negotiate a two-state solution, then we should cut off all foreign aid to them.

Especially with our economy in such poor shape, we should not be sending any money to rogue states.