It seems the eyes of the American news media and politicians are either focused on Europe and the looming financial crisis there or some 3,000 miles away from there where American troops are in harms way.
Yet, on our doorstep are events that could shape the future of the Americas. That is to say North America, Central America and South America.
The election cycle has begun in Mexico and while in Nicaragua and Guatemala elections came to a climax yesterday. Yet, no one seems predict the impact they will have on the United States. I thought it might be interesting to once again revisit history.
Yesterday a former army general involved in Guatemala's brutal civil war has won the nation's presidential elections on a promise to win a new war in the tiny Central American nation: this time against drug-traffickers.
Otto Pérez Molina, who campaigned on a promise to bring an "iron fist" against rising crime won the presidency with 54 percent of the vote. The retired general is the first former military leader elected president in Guatemala since the end of a 36-year civil war in 1996, a conflict that included more than two decades of military rule. Some 200,000 Guatemalans died in fighting between leftist guerrillas and the military.
Guatemala's per-capita homicide rate is twice that of Mexico's, and among the highest in the world. In the last year, Guatemala has twice ordered military surges to quell spikes of violence blamed on Mexican cartels.
President-elect Perez denied there was an attempt at genocide during the civil war. Or that villages were decimated by firestorms. Yet, past events in the war may prove a problem for the new president-elect. Mr. Pérez is under investigation in his own country for war-related crimes, and a Spanish judge investigating a genocide case has also heard allegations that he was involved in the torture of a villager in the 1980s. As president, he would have immunity from prosecution in Guatemala.
At the time of this writing the State Department had not made any comment regarding the election results. Perhaps if they watch and study other Central American nations they may see a trend occurring.
Our closest southern neighbor, Mexico, is gearing up for its July, 2012 presidential election. In a country where an estimated 50,000 have died as a result of their drug war. A leading presidential candidate of Mexico's ruling party said last Wednesday he would break with government policy and withdraw the army from the fight against drug gangs if he wins the election in 2012.
Santiago Creel, a former interior minister belonging to the conservative National Action Party (PAN) is considered a front runner in his party.
If he is elected the question that comes to my mind is how much will it cost the United States if the cartels roam the streets of Mexico at will?
A little over 2,600 miles to our south or almost the distance from Washington, D.C. to San Francisco, Daniel Ortega of Sandinista fame appears to have won his country's presidency again by a wide margin.
Ortega had yet to acknowledge a victory Monday, though he had already received congratulations from his leftist allies, Cuban President Raul Castro and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who has given the Ortega government more than $500 million a year in donations and discounted oil.
Ortega's opponents fear that if he wins with a clear majority, he would be able to change the constitution to legitimize the Supreme Court ruling and pave the way to becoming president for life.
Ortega led the Sandinista movement that overthrew dictator Anastasio Somoza in 1979, and withstood a concerted effort by the U.S. government, which viewed him as a Soviet-backed threat, to oust him through a rebel force called the Contras.
Again, our State Department has been mute on this.
I am not an expert on international affairs but I can't help but wonder how these events , so close to home,
will impact the Unites States, our security, our foreign relations and our economy. Maybe our government will do what it does best, fire anyone who states an opinion based on the obvious like it did last week when army Maj. Gen. Peter Fuller, deputy commander of NATO's effort to train Afghan forces was relieved of his command for criticizing Afghan President Hamid Karzai.
In last Thursday's remarks, Fuller was incredulous that Karzai, in a recent interview with the Pakistani press, had indicated that Afghanistan would come to Pakistan's aid if the U.S. ever attacked.
“Why don’t you just poke me in the eye with a needle!" Fuller said. "You’ve got to be kidding me … I’m sorry, we just gave you $11.6 billion and now you’re telling me, ‘I don’t really care’?"
Our country was founded by rebels and men who weren't afraid to speak out and damn the consequences. Today I suppose we are expected to be politically correct.
Well damn the political correctness, give me leaders who lead and are respected for being blunt and honest and have integrity. Give me leaders who aren't wearing blinders and can see our neighbors to the south represent just as much of a risk to our way of life as the terrorists.
The big question now is where do we find such an animal?
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