OAS Restores Honduras’ membership

[Freddie Stubbs]

Source: Miami Herald

Members of a Honduran delegation took their seats at the Organization of American States Wednesday, two years after the Central American nation was booted from the hemispheric group.

In a 32 to 1 vote, the countries voted to allow Honduras to rejoin the OAS, despite the coup that ousted former President Manuel Zelaya in 2009. Only Ecuador voted against the measure.

“The significance of this cannot be understated,” said Grenada ambassador Gillian Bristol, who spoke on behalf of Caribbean nations. “We somberly reflect on how our organization was fortified by being forced to apply its most stringent procedure against one of its members.”

The measure came four days after Zelaya returned to his country after living two years in exile. He left Honduras June 2009, when armed soldiers stormed his house and forced him aboard a plane in his pajamas. The country’s institutions had rallied against the controversial leader, because they believed that he was trying to change the constitution to continue his rule.

Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/06/01/2245700/oas-restores-honduras-membership.html

[rabs]

1. But does it really mean anything?

Honduras is being re-admitted to the OAS, currently a toothless, gutless, useless regional body that has been a tool of the United States since it's inception during the Cold War to thwart Soviet penetration in the Western Hemisphere.

The Soviets are long gone and so is the reason for the OAS' existance. In recent decades the OAS and its secretary generals have been nothing more than pandering, errand boys for whoever was/is in power in Washington.

It could be that the leaders of Brazil, Venezuela, Bolivia, and many others are snickering up their sleeves today.

Because on July 5/6, a REAL and ALTERNATE hemispheric body will come into being in Caracas, Venezuela.

It will be called CELAC, the Community of Latin American and Caribbean nations.

There are two members in the current OAS that were NOT invited to be part of CELAC.

The UNITED STATES and CANADA.

BRAZIL and MEXICO, plus VENEZUELA, will be the big boys in CELAC. hillary will be left on the sidelines. It is still not not known whether Honduras will be a part of CELAC.

---------------
CELAC Signals Start of a New Era in Latin America
Guy Taylor | Bio | 05 May 2011

A new regional cooperation bloc to include every country in the Americas except Canada and the United Sates has received almost no coverage in the English-language media. Some observers, however, believe the Community of Latin American and Carribean States -- CELAC for its Spanish acronym -- represents the first step in a historic geopolitical shift away from an era dominated by pro-U.S. policies.

"It's a regional grouping for a new era really, which is no longer about free trade and neoliberalism," says Alexander Main at the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington.

More

http://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/trend-lines/8750/celac-signals-start-of-a-new-era-in-latin-america

-------------------
April 26th 2011 - 23:50 UTC

Latam and Caribbean states create CELAC to counter US influence
Latin American and Caribbean Foreign Affairs ministers are meeting in Venezuela in anticipation of the presidential summit scheduled for July 5 in Caracas when a new regional integration organization is set to be born, the Community of Latin American and Caribbean states, CELAC.

More
http://en.mercopress.com/2011/04/26/latam-and-caribbean-states-create-celac-to-counter-us-influence

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Note the logo map in the letter "C," the United States and Canada omitted!

[Bacchus39]

2. does CELAC mean anything? n/t

s

[Judi Lynn]

3. It's a huge, HUGE step forward, away from the era when it was easy to pick off individudal countries

overturn their governments, and put in place either a puppet dictator or a military dictatorship.

Looks as if they've had more than enough of it, have learned from history well, and want a better future than the past they've seen.

Thanks for the info. on this organization. It's been a long time in coming because the tentacles were so tightly wrapped around the Americas.

Looking forward to hearing more, wish them the very best. It's their lives, their countries.

[rabs]

4. Honduras' status in CELAC at this moment --SUSPENDED

Here is the list of founding (Fundador) members of CELAC. Note Cuba ia among them, after having been suspended from the OAS for the past 50 years. (Two years ago the OAS invited Cuba back into the fold. Cuba told it to get lost.)

The total population of the community is about 550 MILLION.

Scroll to Republic of Honduras -- SUSPENDED

Scroll to Canada and the United States -- NOT THERE

----------------------------
Antigua y Barbuda Fundador
República Argentina Fundador
Mancomunidad de las Bahamas
Barbados Fundador
Belice Fundador
Estado Plurinacional de Bolivia
República Federal de Brasil Fundador
República de Chile Fundador
República de Colombia Fundador
República de Costa Rica Fundador
República de Cuba Fundador
República Dominicana Fundador
Mancomunidad de Dominica Fundador
República del Ecuador Fundador
República de El Salvador Fundador
Grenada Fundador
República de Guatemala Fundador
República Cooperativa de Guyana Fundador
República de Haití Fundador
República de Honduras Suspendido
Jamaica Fundador
Estados Unidos Mexicanos Fundador
República de Nicaragua Fundador
República de Panamá Fundador
República del Paraguay Fundador
República del Perú Fundador
Santa Lucía Fundador
Federación de San Cristóbal y Nieves Fundador
San Vicente y las Granadinas Fundador
República de Surinam Fundador
República de Trinidad y Tobago Fundador
República Oriental del Uruguay Fundador
República Bolivariana de Venezuela Fundador

-----------------------

Most South American nations are celebrating their 200th anniversary of their independence from the Spanish Empire.

Now with CELAC they are about to celebrate their independence from the Empire of the North.