°Ucinci Residential section of Tegucigalpa When I heard that the Oregon National Guard was sending some 180 infantrymen to Honduras for their annual two-week training, some part of me was shaken. culture—from Rock’n’Roll to Rambo, White Nights to Snow White, and the entire array of U.S.-made or franchised products—pervades this Latin world. And the currents run much deeper. We’ve worked hard at passing on a world view. My second morning, I watched an excited group of teachers recover their national union headquarters from a rightwing splinter group. Walking down the hill afterward, carrying their euphoria, I stopped at a panoramic overview of Tegucigalpa, and said to a young man standing there, “Your city looks wonderful from here.” “ Not at all as wonderful as the city up above,” he exclaimed, gesturing to the heavens. “ I used to be a communist, but now I’m a member of the Tennessee Full- Gospel Mission. We meet tonight. You -must join us.” Whether i t ’s anti-commun ist Tennessee evangelism, the Agency for International Development’s programs, or the highly touted notion that freedom can be equated with elections and materialism, the U.S. message is that we have answers for you and your culture depends on us. The (North) American Dream Tne Monroe Doctrine boldly outlined the role we planned to play in the region. President Buchanan, in his 1858 message to Congress, affirmed the dream: “ It is the destiny of the Anglo- Saxon race to extend itself across the entire North American continent. If this immigration can extend itself to Central America, in a short while these countries will have a North American population. . . . Liberty directed by law will bring about peace.” Though the migration went west, filling in the lands we usurped (over half Mexico's national territory—from California to Wyoming), the nations of Central America were left in the hands of their largely mestizo (mixed Spanish-Indian blood) populations. The U.S. chose instead to invest, heavily, in these safe countries just south of the border. And it wasn’t just in bananas. U.S. corporations saw Central and South America as a vast extension of their internal market, where products could be sold and manufactured without great fear of external competition. To protect its “ interests,” the concept of peace through law remained a U.S. responsibility, exercised through whomever we could place, or keep, in power. Despite occasional uprisings, the U.S. held onto its neo-colonial empire at little cost, making great profits. Because the U.S. continues to think of itself as the defender of freedom, despite how it’s perceived by the citizens of these nations, what it claims to want and claims to offer are too often at odds with reality. Gautama Fonseca, an attorney who writes a popular column in Honduras’s liberal newspaper, El Tiempo, laid it out for me in a nutshell: “The government of the United States states that it is interested in the democratization of Central America. All of Central America’s history is full of dictators, and everyone knows that those dictators have ruled thanks to the help they’ve received from the U.S. Perhaps the most notorious case is that of Nicaragua. No one would deny that the U.S. helped maintain the Somoza family in power for an extremely prolonged period. And this created the situation that N ow that the Sandinista government is a reality, the U.S. says itrs in favor of democracy in Nicaragua. And that it7s going to help democracy return through the hands ofSomoza's oldest colleagues. One would have to be crazy to think that was a way to bring about democracy in Nicaragua.77 brought the Sandinistas to power. Now that the Sandinista government is a reality, the U.S. says it’s in favor of democracy in Nicaragua. And that it’s going to help democracy return through the hands of Somoza’s oldest colleagues. One would have to be crazy to think that was a way to bring about democracy in Nicaragua.” The Buildup So in the interest of democracy, Honduras, which borders revolutionary Nicaragua, and insurgent El Salva and Guatemala, has been turned into a U.S.-managed garrison-state. The massive buildup of military facilities throughout Honduras includes several airfields capable of handling our largest jets. All dwarf Toncontin International, a fact bitterly mentioned to me by several Hondurans. The largest, Palmerola Airbase, an hour from Tegucigalpa, can land the
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