Media blindnes to two ugly anti-semites

Latin American politics is not central to the concerns of many Australians but the recent treatment of Honduran politics highlights that some in the media are willing to forgive any wrongdoing no matter how evil if the perpetrators are sufficiently anti-American in their rhetoric and political posturing.

Honduras is a small, poor country with many problems but its people are mainly strongly anti-communist and both sides of politics have traditionally remained committed to an alliance between their country and the United States.

ZELAYA’S COUP ATTEMPT
The last president Zelaya was elected as President as part of that tradition but towards the end of his term-limited reign the multi-millionaire heir suddenly seemed to be inspired by Venezuelan tyrant Hugo Chavez and was lurching towards making Chavez-style changes to the constitution that would cement him in office permanently.

The courts in Honduras were having none of it and struck down his proposals as unconstitutional. Zelaya ignored the court’s ruling and attempted to proceed with a referendum which – if passed – would have had the effect of enabling him to remain president, without limit.

The Supreme Court of Honduras, the democratically elected Congress, the nation’s top electoral tribunal and the Attorney-General stated Zelaya’s actions were unlawful.

By this stage, Zelaya had assembled a mob who intended to conduct the ballot themselves, regardless of the legalities. His mob then broke into the army building where ballot papers for the referendum – which had been printed and supplied by the Venezuelan regime and flown into the country – had been confiscated on orders of the courts.

The Supreme Court ordered Zelaya’s arrest and detention because of his blatantly unlawful conduct. Unilaterally, the military appears to have decided it was best for Zelaya’s safety and stability in Honduras for him to be taken out of the country and let go. In retrospect, it was a PR mistake.

When the military – acting on impeachment decisions made in the legislature – physically removed the President, the left-wing media burst into action converting Zelaya into some sort of freedom fighter ousted by military coup.

There are elections scheduled for next month where Zelaya is unable to contest because of the term-limits he’d intended to remove.

It is expected that life will quickly return to normal after that election.

THE MARTYR EMPEROR HAS NO CLOTHES
But in the meantime, Zelaya has been falsely painted as a democratic martyr put to the political sword by sinister military forces.

He was intent on installing himself as a revolutionary leader. Not surprisingly, this provoked judicial concern and action, just as it would here if Kevin Rudd decided to conduct a referendum, without approval of the Parliament to change the constitution in a way not permitted by the current constitution and other laws.

Zelaya took the law into his own hands and paid the price.

The spin that he’s some kind of freedom fighter is a lie. A big lie of the kind once so effectively deployed in 1930s Germany.

And while not often an acceptable analogy to make, it’s appropriate in this case because Zelaya seems to have a particularly hateful bee in his bonnet about Israel, at one stage alleging the country had blasted him with radiation and toxic gases.

Zelaya’s key political ally David Romero, the boss of the state-owned radio station is even more specifically lunatic and anti-semitic in his views. On air he declared:

“There are times when I ask myself if Hitler was or not correct in finishing with that race with the famous Holocaust. If there are people that do damage in this country, they are Jewish, the Israelis. I want to name, this afternoon here in Radio Globo, by name and last name, who are the two officers of the Jewish army who are working with the Armed Forces of our country and who are in charge of carrying out all these conspiracy activities and undercover actions and everything else that is happening to the President of the Republic.
“After what I have learned, I ask myself why, why didn’t we let Hitler carry out his historic mission. Forgive me for the grotesque expression. But I ask myself after I have realized this and many other things. I believe it should have been fair and valid to let Hitler finish his historic vision…”

Not to be outdone, Zelaya’s ally’s past includes a stretch as a Marxist rebel in the 1980s where he committed multiple acts of terrorism, before becoming a rising star in the left-wing party in Honduras until his career burst into flames after claims by his daughter that he’d repeatedly raped her during her childhood.

While David Romero-Ellner is a uniquely ugly and disturbing figure, he is not alone in the promoting anti-semitism to advance his political interests in the region.

THE CHAVEZ CONNECTION
Excellent political commentator Daniel Greenfield has explored the connection between Zelaya and Hugo Chavez’s political movement in Venezuela.

He explains that Chavez’s regime has persecuted the Jewish community, his supporters have launched anti-semitic graffiti campaigns across the nation, Jewish schools and synagogues have been raided and so on.

In one outrageous speech, Chavez declared that the troubles in the world were due to “the descendants of those who crucified Christ…(and) took possession of the riches of the world.”

The Venezuelan Jewish community is gravely concerned about what the future may bring. Many have fled the country. Jewish schools have been closed. There is a sense of dread about what could happen next.

Chavez, Zelaya and their ilk are given little real scrutiny on these issues because they position themselves as anti-American, which delights many left-wing journalists to such an extent that they don’t want to hear about the multiple abuses of power committed by these deeply malevolent dictators.

History won’t judge these perpetrators or their promoters very kindly at all. Nor will it be kind to those who do nothing about it.