[R-G] Fw: Military aid flows to Honduras despite coup

[Richard Menec]

URL:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/military-aid-flows-to-honduras-despite-coup/article1236664/

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From: "Richard Menec" <menecraj at shaw.ca>
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Sent: Friday, July 31, 2009 9:29 AM
Subject: Military aid flows to Honduras despite coup


> Globe and Mail
> Ottawa - The Canadian Press         Thursday, Jul. 30, 2009 04:41PM EDT
>
> Military aid flows to Honduras despite coup
>
> To dismay of human-rights groups and opposition critics, National Defence 
> confirms training program remains in operation
>
> Jennifer Ditchburn
>
> Canada is still providing training to members of the Honduran army, 
> despite the military coup that sent the Central American country into 
> turmoil late last month.
>
> National Defence confirmed the government has maintained its military 
> training assistance program with Honduras, which provides language and 
> peacekeeping training to soldiers.
>
> The Conservative government is already facing criticism for not following 
> the lead of the United States and European Union in taking concrete action 
> against the regime, although it has condemned the coup.
>
> "That's a message to them, that we may criticize you in public but don't 
> worry we'll maintain economic and military relations with you, and that's 
> what real power is, economic and military relations," said Grahame Russell 
> of Rights Action, a non-governmental organization that works in Central 
> America.
>
> "A logical step would be to say we're going to suspend participation until 
> the situation is resolved," said Liberal foreign affairs critic Bob Rae.
>
> "Otherwise it gives the impression that for us it's just business as usual 
> and there's nothing more that can be said or done."
>
> Early on June 28, members of the Honduran military stormed the 
> presidential palace in Tegulcigalpa and removed democratically elected 
> president Manuel Zelaya.
>
> They put him on a plane to Costa Rica, and have barred him from entering 
> the country at border crossings. They've also broken up protests by 
> supporters of Mr. Zelaya, and maintained curfews across Honduras. Some 
> dissidents have been jailed.
>
> Mr. Zelaya had challenged the country's legislative and judicial branches 
> by announcing he would hold a referendum on major constitutional reform, a 
> move only the country's supreme court was allowed to make.
>
> A leftist, he also confronted the country's elite by raising the minimum 
> wage by 60 per cent and proposing other social reforms in the hemisphere's 
> second-poorest country.
>
> Some conservative voices in the United States have backed Mr. Zelaya's 
> ouster, linking him with Venezuela's president Hugo Chavez.
>
> The Canadian government issued a statement condemning the coup. It also 
> supported the suspension of Honduras from the Organization of American 
> States and is backing the mediation efforts of Costa Rican President Oscar 
> Arias.
>
> But it has hesitated to take further steps.
>
> Peter Kent, minister of state for foreign affairs, said Canada's 
> one-year-old military training program, known as MTAP, is "not a major 
> issue."
>
> This year, three Honduran soldiers are receiving English-language training 
> at bases in Kingston, Ont., and St. Jean, Que., and two others are 
> attending Canada-funded peacekeeping courses in Chile and Argentina. The 
> cost is estimated at $70,000 annually.
>
> "The MTAP program that we support is, at this point in Honduras, a very 
> small investment," Mr. Kent said in an interview.
>
> "We're reviewing all of the security assistance that we provide, but at 
> this point it's not a major issue."
>
> The U.S., which has major military operations in Honduras, announced a 
> week after the coup that it was suspending $17.9-million in military aid 
> and an estimated $195-million in development aid. The EU also suspended 
> development aid of about $100-million.
>
> "We're focusing our support on President Arias's attempts to find a 
> non-violent, mediated solution, and the earliest possible return of 
> President Zelaya and Honduras to democratic practice and principle," said 
> Mr. Kent, who has spoken directly to the key players.
>
> He added Canada is not cutting the $16.4-million in development aid it 
> provides each year to Honduras.
>
> But non-government groups that work in the region say Canada must go 
> beyond words if it wants to send a message that it does not countenance 
> the toppling of democratic governments - and a first step would be to end 
> the military program.
>
> "It doesn't really matter what it's doing, whether it's training the 
> military to be good polite people or training them to use new armaments," 
> said Rick Arnold of Common Frontiers.
>
> "You need to have some areas where you stand up and say we're not going to 
> continue the kind of relationship we had with you in the past."
>
> Mr. Russell, who recently returned from Honduras, said the government 
> should be taking a series of steps against Honduras as Washington has 
> done.
>
> The most recent action by the Obama administration was to strip visas from 
> officials associated with the coup, and revoke the credentials from the 
> Honduran ambassador, who had supported the coup.
>
> "It sends a clear message to the regime that small measures are being 
> taken, and if they don't restore the constitutional order than (sic) 
> larger measures will be taken," Mr. Russell said.
>