http://www.maryknoll.org/GLOBAL/ALERTS/no_negroponte.htm George W. Bush’s presidency has begun with a return to the Reagan-era agenda. Of concern to those of us in the Latin American solidarity community has been his unapologetic attempt to revive Cold War diplomacy through the nomination of former Iran Contra criminals to key diplomatic posts. Reagan-era Assistant Secretary of State Elliott Abrams has been selected as the National Security Council’s senior director for democracy, human rights and international operations (a post which does not require Senate approval). Some might remember that Abrams pled guilty to two misdemeanor counts of lying to Congress during the Iran Contra hearings and was subsequently pardoned by George Bush, Sr.
Though we cannot prevent Abrams’ return to prominence, we can keep out former U.S. Ambassador to Honduras John Negroponte who played a significant role in the CIA-sponsored terrorism of Hondurans during the Nicaraguan Contra War. The Bush administration has officially nominated Negroponte to be U.S. Ambassador to the UN, and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee is preparing to hold nomination hearings before the close of July.
This nomination is particularly egregious now that the international community has issued a vote of no confidence in U.S. human rights promotion by dropping our country from the UN Human Rights Commission. John Negroponte deliberately falsified State Department human rights reports throughout his time in Honduras. U.S. missionaries and many people of faith and conscience were murdered by the CIA-trained Honduran Battalion 3-16, which Negroponte at best overlooked and at worst oversaw. His nomination is an outrage, but sadly, it will pass through with minimal resistance unless constituents do something about it.