Top Banana

In a strike against terrorist sympathizers, compassion and moral decency a United States District judge recently sentenced Lynn Stewart, a seventy-year-old diabetic, to 10 years in prison for 'willingly abusing her position as a criminal defense lawyer' by helping former CIA asset, Omar Abdel Rahman pass messages from prison. This exceptional meting out of justice was at the judge's discretion.

Two years later, in 2007, in a D.C. Federal Court, Chiquita, the international fruit corporation, admitted to funding a Colombian terrorist group, the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia - AUC), a right-wing anti-guerrilla group tied to many of the country's most notorious civilian massacres. For willingly supporting terrorist death squads Chiquita was ordered to cough up $25 million dollars and warned to be a bit more careful.

No charges were filed against the 10 Chiquita bosses involved in the payoffs. Nor were criminal charges pursued against chief executive, Cyrus Freidheim, (now boss of the Sun-Times Media Group), or former Securities and Exchange Commission chairman, Roderick Hills, (member of the Chiquita board and married to Carla Hills, former US trade representative under George H.W. Bush; no doubt also at the discretion of the Justice Dept serving the then President, George W. Bush.

Chiquita senior vice president and general counsel James Thompson sounded satisfied: "the Justice Department made "the correct decision, which reflected the [company's] good-faith efforts." To paraphrase-- "we support this War on Terror" thing but business is business.

100 Years of Servitude

There is a reason Central America and Columbia are still impoverished Banana Republics: Chiquita, formerly the United Brands, and heir to the almighty United Fruit. The recent coup in Honduras was merely the latest example of what a popular president can expect if he dares defend his country's workers. For the poor Hondurans the dream of democracy has meant more of the same.

Nothing remains of Tacamiche, Honduras but a few concrete foundations. No one lives here any more but lizards and crows.

"After six decades as a community among Chiquita's banana fields, the village was plowed under by Honduran soldiers. Chiquita [had] tried to enforce its court eviction of the village several times, but villagers refused to leave. The military came into the village in February 1996 with tear gas, bulldozers and rifles. In a statement issued through its attorneys, Chiquita stated that the February eviction "took place peacefully and no one was hurt." Tacamiche villagers dispute that claim. Photographs of the event show soldiers with assault rifles forcibly removing women and children as bulldozers destroy the village."-- that excerpt is from a series expose on Chiquita written for the Cincinnati Enquirer in 1998 by Mike Gallagher & Cameron McWhirter.

Although the facts the reporters described have not been refuted they were nevertheless forced to resign and the Enquirer issued Chiquita an apology for their questionable investigative "methods". As Fox News could have told the Enquirer when it's legal to lie in Corporate America telling the truth just aint worth the trouble. Which is why there' s been barely a peep in the mainstream news that there's some serious goings on down in Panama. It seems the farmers are tired of being forced to sell their bananas to Chiquita at a loss and the government knowing the company's biggest letters spell CIA is locked in a panic.

On July 2, 4500 mostly indigenous workers belonging to the powerful Banana workers union (Sitribana) began a strike at the Bocas Fruit Company in the province of Bocas del Toro.Workers from nearby farms quickly joined the strike. Other workers set up road blockades and occupied the airport. In response, the government mobilised 1500 police to brutally repress protesters.The deadly repression left at least 11 people dead and more than 200 injured.

It's All Europe's Fault

What those Central Americans don't understand is that the end of the Cold War was supposed to make Chiquita the Top Banana in Europe. They somehow forgot that Europe has its own servile, (sorry), client states that grow bananas.

Times have changed since the days when United Fruit (or the Octopus, "El Pulpo", as they call it in Latin America), could count on the CIA to keep profits flowing. And while Uncle Sam is quite happy to slap down Honduras it's not about to try and punch out Germany. Desperate to save its bottom line after its over-investment Chiquita spent millions bribing, (sorry), lobbying its buddies in Washington, finally winning sanctions against the EU for its import quotas.

So the natives may get restless and take up arms, a top banana simply does what it has to to save its skin.

Imperialism in Black Face (updated)

On the night of August 26th 2002 a quarter-size bullet hole from an AK-47 cut through a cinder-block wall and killed José Santos Callejas.

Callejas was the treasurer for the Honduran Human Rights Committee, and like other rights advocates there, he had gone from defending political and civil freedoms to challenging organized criminals and their landowner sponsors.

Days before being killed, Callejos had informed police about gang members suspected of having killed a German tourist during a bus robbery in July. NYTimes 9-2002.

This is the background against which to view the current impasse in Honduras. 75% of that country are dirt poor and the majority of those, practically illiterate. Among them are the Garifuna, or Black Karibs, originally from the island of St. Vincent, where as slaves they mixed with the natives and adopted their culture and the Garifuna language. [Currently, Garifuna settlements extend around the city of Trujillo and from Belize to Nicaragua.]

In response to the coup the Honduran Black Fraternal Organization (OFRANEH) cites the "undeniable involvement" of former US under-secretary of state Otto Reich and the DC-based Arcadia Foundation.

[The Black Fraternal Organization (OFRANEH—Organización Fraternal Negra Hondureña) is organized for the protection of Garifuna culture and language. The Honduran Advisory Council for the Development of Autochthonous Ethnic Groups (CAHDEA) represents Garifuna groups in the protection of civil rights and equal employment opportunities and has recently ratified the ILO (International Labor Organization) treaty which provides ethnic minorities with labor rights protection]

The Garifuna website accuses Reich of "heading misinformation and sabotage operations, with close ties to international terrorist Luis Posada Carriles and the Cuban-American mafia in Miami. Their account also names an anti-Zelaya civil coalition, the Movimiento Paz y Democracia, apparently funded by USAID and the National Endowment for Democracy (NED).

What has been established with scarcely a doubt is that the coup was undertaken to prevent a referendum that would determine if a majority of Hondurans desired to modify their constitution.

Such an initiative has never taken place in Honduras, a wholly owned subsidiary of Uncle Sam and Chiquita Bananas. During the Reagan years that country's elite ensured that the Central American nation would be stuck with a constitution that allowed for minimal participation by the Honduran people.

''In the 80's you could not talk about human rights because they would call you a terrorist or a guerrilla,'' said José Antonio Serrano, a member of the Honduran Human Rights Committee's national board. Serrano reportedly received several anonymous warnings to back off inquiring about Mr. Callejas's death.

Against the elite's opposition, Zelaya's proposal was backed by a majority of the country's labor unions and social movements. There is also no doubt that had the referendum been conducted during the upcoming elections in November there would have be a "yes" vote for convening a constitutional assembly.

Although he has rightly denounced Zelaya's illegal removal Obama has yet to recall the U.S. ambassador. Dan Restrepo, his adviser on Latin American Affairs, stated that the Obama government is communicating with the coup forces and trying to "feel out" the situation. Asked if Obama would recognize an unelected government in Honduras Restrepo replied that the administration "is waiting to see how things play out".

So here we have the ultimate irony. The first black U.S. president tacitly supporting a coup that seeks to maintain the exploitation of its black and brown population.

Update!
Obama's timid response has clearly emboldened the golpistas. As if to declare to the world that Obama may be president but is not really in charge the coup's foreign minister dismisses him as el negrito ... translation... little black boy. Wow, just wow..



Your move, Barack.