When the unacceptable becomes acceptable Honduras... then Ecuador... Then?

The coup d’etat in Honduras, with all of the atypical circumstances that may be offered as an excuse, is a dangerous precedent, because it underscores the immense power that is still held by those who have “always been in charge". What was done was wrong. Mediators were supported and then undermined. The fundamental role of the OAS was downplayed. And due to pressures that have become quite obvious in Colombia, the United States acquiesced "juxta modum", but they acquiesced.

Then it was Ecuador’s turn, one of those great little countries that lives with fears of the past so present, that its democracy only allows non-extendable four-year terms, which only benefit those who “fish in muddy waters”. It’s very difficult to change the traditional tendencies in these countries in so little time. And when a political leader with vision and charisma appears on the horizon, attempts are even made to reduce his term in office, in case he actually makes changes that may disturb secular inertia.

Thus, a warning for “fishing boats and coastal sailing”: reinforce intra-continental alliances and support transparency and clear information to strengthen democracy and its capacity for pro-action and reaction. “Unite, help each other” as Rubén Dario suggested many years ago. Stay alert –with the torches lit day and night – as Oswaldo Guayasamin and Miguel Angel Asturias urged, because they will not accept finally being dispossessed and removed from power. That’s the way democracy is: it must be quickly disguised, or it takes hold to the extent that it’s then hard to remove.

President Rafael Correa was able to put down the rebellion of sectors of the Ecuadorian police that not only sought to remove him from office, but also to assassinate him. It is now essential to determine who was behind this; who is inciting the rebellion; who, near or far, initiated the events in Honduras and now in Ecuador.

They must realize that the age of dominion and imposition is over. The time has come for liberated peoples to decisively take the reins of their own destinies, being constantly suspicious of those who are working in the shadows.

It is essential to mend the tears in the social fabric, which originated with oligarchy, and increased in recent years due to “globalizers” who dismantled the public sector and concentrated so much power in so few hands. It is unacceptable that a country that has so much wealth in the production of bananas and sea food, with oil resources and a formidable tourist trade must see its economy compromised by a few multinational companies and consortia.

If consistent evolution is not achieved –especially advisable in this country in which Darwin, in the Galapagos Islands, discovered the “secret of nature"- then revolution will ensue. As will military coups that must be condemned and counteracted, no matter what their source.

After ten presidents in a decade, the last three having been toppled by resounding military coups, the country now requires profound reforms, attending to the needs of all of the population, but especially the working classes and the notorious indigenous communities. Wealth must be distributed more evenly, and, once and for all, those who have the most must understand that only through solidarity will they achieve reasonable stability to meet their own objectives, and that they cannot continue to enjoy unbridled privileges, as is to be expected in a context of justice and public liberties.

The OAS and UNASUR must adopt strict measures to defend political stability in the Latin American republics, making it known to opposition groups –especially to sectors of the military with an authoritarian and opaque past- that they will use every means within their powers to prevent any change of course towards emancipation in Latin America and the Caribbean, after the bitter years of “Operation Condor”. An important part of that other world that we all desire depends on an intrepid, imaginative and diverse Latin America being aware of its immense potential...