The
Murder That Exposed Hillary Clinton’s Grim
Legacy in Honduras
Most U.S. coverage failed to mention Hillary
Clinton's support for the Honduran regime that
assassinated activist Berta Cáceres
By Adam Johnson
March 18, 2016 "Information
Clearing House"
- "FPIF"-
Who murdered Honduran environmental activist
Berta Cáceres?
While the
identities of the killers remain unknown,
activists, media observers, and members of the
Cáceres family are blaming the increasingly
reactionary and violent Honduran government.
The
authorities had frequently clashed with Cáceres
over her high-profile campaign to stop land
grabbing and mining while defending the rights
of indigenous peoples.
While
Cáceres’ death and the outcry of grief over it
did draw some mainstream U.S. media coverage,
there was a glaring problem with it: Hardly any
of the articles mentioned that the brutal regime
that probably killed Cáceres came to power in a
U.S.-backed coup.
Here’s
a quick recap.
In June
2009, the Honduran military abducted the
democratically elected President Manuel Zelaya
at gunpoint and flew him out of the country. The
United Nations, European Union, and Organization
of American States (OAS) rushed to condemn his
ouster.
Fifteen
House Democrats joined in, sending a letter
to the Obama White House insisting that the
State Department “fully acknowledge that a
military coup has taken place” and “follow
through with the total suspension of
non-humanitarian aid, as required by law.”
But
under Hillary Clinton’s leadership, the State
Department staunchly refused to do so. Emails
revealed last year show that Clinton knew
very well there was a military coup, but
declined to add her voice to the loud objections
coming from the international community.
As
The Intercept‘s Lee Fang
reported, Clinton attempted to use her
lobbyist friend Lanny Davis to open up back
channels with Roberto Micheletti, the
illegitimate interim ruler military strongmen
installed after the coup.
This
maneuver effectively endorsed the new right-wing
government that would go on to crack down on
Cáceres and other activists.
In the
original version of her memoir Hard Choices,
Clinton disclosed she had no intention of
restoring the rightfully elected Zelaya to
power.
“In the
subsequent days [after the coup], I spoke with
my counterparts around the hemisphere, including
Secretary Espinosa in Mexico. We strategized on
a plan to restore order in Honduras,” Clinton
wrote, “and ensure that free and fair elections
could be held quickly and legitimately, which
would render the question of Zelaya moot.”
This is
why State Department officials blocked the OAS
from adopting a resolution that would have
refused to recognize Honduran elections carried
out under the dictatorship.
Interestingly, the paperback edition of her
memoir released last year
left out what happened in Honduras
altogether.
Likewise, outlets like
The Washington Post,
NBC,
CNN, and
NPR treated the coup — and its subsequent
purging of environmental, LGBT, and indigenous
activists — as an entirely local matter, leaving
out Clinton’s role and our government’s
involvement.
The New York Times briefly
mentioned what happened in Honduras seven years
ago and the subsequent increase in oppression.
But it left out any mention of U.S.
responsibility.
Cáceres
wasn’t killed in a vacuum. Her death is in part
the result of a deliberate strategy by the
United States to prop up a regressive
government. The mainstream media should have
mentioned our own government’s role — and the
role of the Democratic Party’s leading
presidential candidate — when it reported on her
death.