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http://ameblo.jp/warm-heart/entry-10130078824.html から転載。 2008-08-22 00:19:42 その内容を簡単に紹介する。 ホンジュラスはホセ・マヌエル・セラヤ大統領の現政権下で、左翼政策を指向する試みを幾つも経験してきた。ベネズエラのウーゴ・チャベス大統領との関係が進むにつれて、かつて歴史的に強い絆で結ばれていたアメリカ合衆国との関係がここ数ヶ月徐々に弱まってきた。 「最初のバナナ共和国」 ホンジュラスは「バナナ共和国」という別名を最初に付けられた国である。その別名は大なり小なりほとんどの中米諸国の蔑称となった。20世紀になる時点で輸出の60%以上がバナナだった。ホンジュラスはユナイテッド・フルーツ社のような多国籍企業に実質支配される植民国家になったのだ。 アメリカ合衆国とホンジュラスの関係 ホンジュラスはこれまで長年アメリカの利益を支持し続けてきた。ニカラグアのサンディニスタ・マルクス主義政権にも、エルサルバドルの左翼武装勢力にも、アメリカに追随して反対した。（＊当然反キューバの急先鋒だったと思われるが、そのことには言及していない） 経済的にもホンジュラスはアメリカと密接不可分な関係にある。海外からの投資の2/3はアメリカからのものである。2004年には、中米自由貿易協定（CAFTA）に調印した。 だが最近の両国関係は友好的とは言えない状態にすっかりなってしまっている。 アメリカ食料医薬品局（FDA）がホンジュラスのメロンに健康面で問題があることを指摘し、輸出用メロンのコンテナー3000台分が宙に浮いた。その安全性を証明するためメロンにかぶりついたセレス大統領の姿をテレビが放映し、ベネズエラは全量を買い上げると申し出た。 外交面でも関係が悪化した。ホンジュラス駐在のチャールズ・A・フォード米大使が今年7月24日、３年間の任期中、脅迫感を覚えることが度々あったと言い切った。セラヤ大統領は「野蛮な放言だ」とこれに応酬した。 カラカス（ベネズエラの首都）とのより密接な関係 ベネズエラのチャベス大統領は今年1月、ニカラグア、グアテマラ、ホンジュラスを歴訪、関係を強化し、左翼オルテガ大統領下のニカラグアを「変革の震央」にあると持ち上げた。またホンジュラスにとっては時宜を得た訪問でもあった。 セラヤ大統領は「ペトロカリベ」という地域石油協定への加入を発表、議会はそれを批准した。この協定によってホンジュラスはベネズエラから石油を購入し、価格の60%を90日間で支払い、残り40%は猶予期間を2年置いて25年払いとすることができる。これによって経済的にゆとりある政策を取ることが可能になった。現在ホンジュラスは日量2万バレルの原油をベネズエラから買い付けている。 ホンジュラスがベネズエラと関係を強めたことは驚くべきことではない。だが、北のこれまで歴史的に同盟関係にあった国に目を向けないで、南の隣人にどこまで依存しさらに広くて有意義な関係を結んでいくのかは、不透明のままである。 セラヤ大統領は7月30日、キューバやベネズエラが進める米州ボリバル代替構想（ALBA）に加盟すると発表した。アメリカ頼みの政策を転換し改革を進めたいからだ。 記事はこの後、「セラヤは扉を開いた」として、これから先に控える困難について言及している。 議会の批准を得なければならないが、野党はもとより、与党の中にも根強い反対者がいる。批准を得るのは容易でない。経済の厳しい困難を解決するためにセラヤ大統領は、思い切った行動に打って出た。だが国全体としてはホンジュラスはまだ左へ舵を切ったとは言えない状態にある。 ホンジュラスが批准問題で決する内容に関わりなく、ホンジュラスとベネズエラの今ある強固な関係は、無視したままではいられない。アメリカのホンジュラス政策も今後大きな影響を受けることになるだろう。 ----------------------------------- 英文元記事はこちら ⇒ http://www.coha.org/2008/08/the-state-of-honduras-under-zelaya-in-the-pink/ The State of Honduras under Zelaya- In the Pink? Under current Honduran president José Manuel Zelaya Rosales, the country has experienced multiple changes that demonstrate a new penchant for leftist policies. Honduras’ strong historic ties with the United States have gradually weakened in recent months as relations have improved with Venezuela’s president, Hugo Chávez. The nation is undergoing a period of political redirection, which could potentially foreshadow the rise of the “Pink Tide” in Central America. The Archetypal Banana Republic Honduran Relationship with the United States Economically, Honduras is inextricably linked with the United States. Nearly two-thirds of the foreign investment in Honduras comes from this country, and the U.S. is also Honduras’ chief trading partner, specializing in the maquila industry (yarn and textiles). In 2004, Honduras signed the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) with the U.S., eliminating tariffs and external barriers between the two countries while promoting regional integration. The multifaceted nature of U.S. influence in Honduras should have, but did not guarantee a strong relationship between the two nations. However, in spite of these connections, ties between the United States and its southern trading partner have recently been less than amicable. On March 23, 2008, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a health alert, blocking cantaloupes produced by Agropecuaria Montelíbano, a company that exports 3,000 containers of melons a year to the U.S. and the European Union. What should have been no more than a minor setback between U.S.-Honduran relations amassed to more when Zelaya dramatically bit into a melon on national television to display the “injustice” of the FDA restriction. Venezuela, perhaps in an act of showmanship, offered to buy all of the melons originally slated to go to the United States, which provoked further ire from the FDA. After four months of research, the FDA has yet to prove their accusations correct, which has left Agropecuaria Montelíbano in limbo. A recent diplomatic row between Honduras and the U.S. has added fuel to the fire. On July 24, 2008, U.S. Ambassador to Honduras Charles A. Ford declared that he had often had felt intimidated during his three-year stint in Honduras. These statements elicited outrage from Zelaya, who declared that the diplomat’s comments were “barbarous.” He further charged that the U.S. is to blame for the inter-American drug trade because they create the demand for drugs, regardless of where they are produced. Zelaya has since declared that the amount of U.S. aid that Honduras receives does not “make us vassals” or give Ford the right to humiliate the nation. The use of such strong rhetoric, including terms that evoke feudal power arrangements, forecasts a rocky future in relations between the two countries. In addition to these recent fissures, the increasingly close relationship between Honduras and Venezuela does not bode well in Washington. Stronger Connections in Caracas On January 28, 2008, Zelaya announced that Honduras was becoming a member of Petrocaribe, the Venezuelan-engineered oil-subsidy initiative. The Honduran Congress ratified this action on March 13, with 69 votes in favor of the agreement. Under its terms, Honduras has 90 days to pay Venezuela for 60 percent of the oil’s selling price, and 25 years to pay the remaining 40 percent with a two-year grace period and a one percent fixed interest rate. Petrocaribe has grown to encompass 19 members since its origination in 2005, including the mid-July additions of Guatemala and Costa Rica. The soft-loan oil initiative is attractive to many Central American and Caribbean countries because of its preferential oil prices and economic accessibility, a necessary condition for many of the region’s indebted nations. As a member of Petrocaribe, Honduras now buys 20,000 barrels of crude oil per day from Venezuela, the fifth-largest oil producer in the world. In a June meeting with Chávez in Tegucigalpa, Zelaya stated, “[Petrocaribe] is an alternative that provides great opportunities to alleviate the economic crises and face the volatility of the world’s food market.” Just as Venezuela bought cantaloupes from Honduras after the U.S. FDA ban, the Venezuelan oil initiative provided Caracas with the opportunity to bring about one small solution to the world food and resource crisis while simultaneously achieving a public relations victory. In light of the lack of U.S. initiatives to combat the region’s economic problems, it is not surprising that Honduras eventually turned to Venezuela. However, it is unclear to what extent Honduras will depend on its southern neighbor and begin to build a broader and more meaningful relationship, rather than axiomatically looking to its traditional northern ally. Zelaya Opens the Door Zelaya was quick to mention that Honduras’ joining still needed to be ratified by its National Congress, an announcement made more necessary by the internal divisions it has incited from a number of pro-U.S. groups and individuals throughout the country. Unquestionably, the Honduran bid has earned Zelaya national criticism both within and outside of his party, Partido Liberal. The opposition has claimed that Zelaya has started Honduras on a “political project” that could potentially jeopardize relations with the United States. Even members of Zelaya’s own party have raised serious doubts about the move. Roberto Micheletti, the president of congress and a ranking PL official, has expressed his vigorous opposition. Others, such as María Elena Mondragón, the ex-president of the Banco Central de Honduras, have said that the move does not bring any economic benefits to Honduras and that if ALBA was truly a worthwhile initiative, Brazil and Chile surely would have joined by now. The contentious issue has raised doubts with some about Zelaya’s political credo. With Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Cuba, Honduras would be joining a group of some of the most avid critics of the U.S. in Latin America. Zelaya invited the presidents of present members of ALBA to come to Honduras on August 25, at which time he will formally accept the offer extended to him by President Chávez. However, Honduran membership in ALBA is still uncertain, as 65 of 128 deputies in National Congress have expressed their rejection of their country’s inclusion. These deputies will be the deciding factor in determining Zelaya’s acceptance of ALBA membership when they vote whether to confirm it or not after the August 25 ceremony, as per Article 205, line 30 of Honduras’ constitution. However, it is certain that with this presidential acceptance, Zelaya has further distanced himself from the U.S. – a move which will reverberate into the future. Has the Pink Tide Infiltrated Central America? The strong internal divisions in the Honduran government that have emerged as a result of Zelaya’s actions show that the country as a whole is not drifting to the left, despite the president’s search for new alternative solutions to the present grim economic plight. Zelaya’s actions mark indubitable changes. At a recent meeting of the Honduran Council of Private Business (Cohep), executive secretary Bejamín Bográn asked, “Which path will Honduras take in the future?” For Hondurans, the uncertainty of the future of their nation is extremely unsettling.While the Honduran Congress has ultimate control over whether the nation will definitively join ALBA, the current unyielding collaboration between Venezuela and Honduras has not gone unnoticed, especially in the United States. This evident change of pace will undoubtedly influence future Washington initiatives regarding Honduras, as long as Zelaya is at the helm.
gataro-cloneの投稿
セラヤ政権下でホンジュラスは ― ピンク色化したのか？
テーマ：世界の動き
西半球（特に南北アメリカ大陸）に関わる政治、経済、外交問題をモニターする“Council on Hemispheric Affairs”（略してCOHA）という税免除の独立研究機関がワシントンにある。その機関誌（電子版）に「セラヤ政権下でホンジュラスは ― ピンク色化したのか？」と題する記事が掲載された。最近の中南米における反米・左傾化の流れを受けて、もっとも親米色の強かったホンジュラスにも左傾化の影響が押し寄せていることを伺わせる内容だ。
Honduras was the first country to be aphoristically tagged with the sobriquet ‘banana republic.’ The pejorative moniker, which came to categorize almost all the countries of Central America, originated from Honduras’ increasing dependence on the international banana trade. At the turn of the twentieth century, more than 60 percent of the country’s exports were bananas. In addition, multinational corporations such as the United Fruit Company (UFC), extended their influence well beyond the trade sector and became, in effect, the pro-consul of the country. The UFC, now Chiquita Brands International, has a long history of political involvement in the nation, including the 1975 allocation of $2.5 million in bribes to the Honduran president at the time, Oswaldo López Arellano, in order to obtain a sweetheart of a banana deal. In not cracking down on corrupt U.S. commercial interests in Honduras, U.S. authorities strengthened ties with the Central American government and formed a relationship that has outlasted the banana wars.
Despite this last minute history, Honduras has been a longtime supporter of U.S. international interests. As the U.S. Department of State website maintains, “Honduras is an ally of the United States and generally supports U.S. interests in international fora.” In 1985, Honduras backed the U.S. decision to oppose a Marxist Sandinista government in Nicaragua and a leftist insurgency in El Salvador. Honduras became one of the first nations to sign an International Criminal Court agreement with the U.S., and the U.S. has maintained a military presence at the Enrique Soto Cano Air base. In 2005, Honduras also became the first country in the Western Hemisphere to sign an agreement with the Multinational Challenge Corporation (MCC), in which this U.S. government organization allocated $215 million to help Honduras improve its transportation system and enhance its agricultural development.
In January of 2008, Chávez toured Central America, visiting Nicaragua, Guatemala, and for the first time, Honduras. After his trip, Chávez proclaimed that “things were changing in Central America, because before we [Venezuela] were blocked from here.” He further stated that Nicaragua, under leftist President Daniel Ortega, was “the epicenter of changes.” These statements refer to the Venezuelan president’s warm reception by the governments of the region, a welcome that implied a potential for increased collaboration between the countries visited and socialist Venezuela. Chávez’s remarks, especially regarding Honduras, have proved right on point; in the months that followed this trip the relationship between Honduras and Venezuela became indisputably stronger.
On July 30, 2008, Zelaya announced that Honduras would join the Bolivarian Alternative for the People of our America (ALBA). Often referred to as Chávez’s brainchild, ALBA is the Venezuelan response to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and seeks to integrate Latin American nations into a high-minded, development and foreign policy making scheme. As of now, its membership is limited to five countries, not including Honduras. The announcement marked the fruition of weeks of speculation that Honduras would join Nicaragua and become the second Central American nation to join the group.
Are Zelaya’s recent decisions truly for the good of Honduras, or is he merely embracing the ideological shift to the left that is emerging throughout Latin America? Zelaya posits that the opportunities presented to Honduras by Venezuela are in the best interest of the Honduran people. However, in spite of appealing to economic and social interests, Zelaya must be aware that closing the gap between his country and Venezuela sends a politically charged statement to Washington that is reflective of Honduras’ waning commitment to its northern neighbor. If Zelaya had wanted to avoid speculation on his recent leftist moves, in light of the amount of attention the “Pink Tide” has been receiving in Latin America, he would have found other solutions to Honduras’ existing domestic problems.
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