(U.S. Rep. Dana) Rohrabacher, Righeimer defend Honduras visit

[sabra]

Source: daily pilot

COSTA MESA — U.S. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Huntington Beach) on Tuesday defended an unusual trip he made to Honduras with now-Costa Mesa Councilman Jim Righeimer. The trip was discussed in U.S. diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks and published in The New York Times.

"I'm a senior member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, and I was there to make sure that I fully understood all the forces that were in place in Honduras, and also to give legitimacy to the government that had been elected there," Rohrabacher told the Daily Pilot.

The trip came under fire because it was made in opposition to President Obama's foreign policy. Generally members of Congress uphold White House foreign policy abroad, even if they disagree.

...

Also traveling with the contingent was longtime Rohrabacher contributor and rare coin dealer John R. Saunders, as well as SG Biofuels President Kirk Haney, who worked as an intern for the congressman at one time.

San Diego-based SG Biofuels is run by a friend of Rohrabacher's wife.

Rohrabacher and his group, who visited the country from Jan. 31, 2009, to Feb. 2, according to the WikiLeaks cable, met with President Porfirio Lobo and Honduras Congressional President Juan Orlando Hernandez.

Rohrabacher promised to urge the U.S. government to re-instate visas revoked as a result of the coup d'etat, according to the cable.

Read more: http://articles.dailypilot.com/2010-12-21/news/tn-dpt-1222-rohrabacher-20101221_1_president-porfirio-lobo-honduras-foreign-policy

[Downwinder]

1. The rest of the story.

Congressional Travel to Honduras Used to Support US Lawmaker's Business Interests

http://narcosphere.narconews.com/notebook/erin-rosa/2010/12/congressional-travel-honduras-used-support-us-lawmakers-business-interest

[yellowcanine]

2. give legitimacy to the government that had been elected there

Elected? I thought this was a coup installed government.

[EFerrari]

5. There was an "election" on schedule during the repression

that was boycotted by between 60-70% of the electorate. That's the government these people went down to legitimize. Unfortunately, the people of Honduras weren't fooled.

[xxqqqzme]

3. My congressional creep person

Whorbacher is always willing to have his pimps tell him what to do. Constituents not so much.

[Roy Rolling]

4. What luck!

Just when a businessman who contributed to a Congressman needs to visit Honduras to firm up a business deal, that Congressman is visiting the same place on "Foreign Affairs Committee business" to "make sure" he fully understood all the forces in place in Honduras (whatever the hell that means). What luck! :sarcasm:

[seafan]

6. WikiLeaks: Rohrabacher pushed for self-serving business ties with Honduras coup government.

Private Links in Lawmaker’s Trip Abroad

By ERIC LIPTON
December 19, 2010

WASHINGTON — When Representative Dana Rohrabacher, Republican of California, visited Honduras early this year to congratulate the newly elected president, the congressman showed up with an unusual delegation.

"Newly elected", NYT?? Really?


Several paragraphs later....

The country was eager to accommodate the congressman — who said in an interview that his actions were entirely appropriate and reflected his activist approach to foreign policy — given that the previous Honduran president had been forced out of office and into exile, and the new government was angling for United States support.

Way to deceive your readers, NYT.

There at (Rohrabacher's) side was not just the typical collection of Washington foreign policy aides, but also a group of California real estate investors and businessmen, including a dealer in rare coins, and top executives from a fledgling San Diego biofuels company run by a friend of the congressman’s wife.

Using his status as a senior Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Mr. Rohrabacher cheered his hosts in Honduras by openly challenging the Obama administration’s foreign policy agenda there, then arranged a series of meetings with top Honduran officials, including the president, during which the congressman “enthusiastically promoted” the biofuel company’s plans to perhaps set up operations in Honduras, says a State Department summary of the meetings included in the files obtained by WikiLeaks.

.....

As the UK Guardian sums up:

Memos written by State Department officials show that Congressional trips sometimes involve members pushing their own foreign policy agendas, even if they conflict with those of the administration in office.

And for Rohrabacher, that includes pushing a personal business agenda as well.




Our current government and media are broken, and do not serve the people.

[gratuitous]

7. Dana has quite a record as a one-man State Department

It might be nice to see if Huntington Beach is ready for some new representation.

[lobodons]

8. Honduras? Are you sure its not Denmark?

I think I smell a rat.

[Judi Lynn]

9. WikiLeaks Expose Questionable Details From Dana Rohrabacher's Visit to Honduras

WikiLeaks Expose Questionable Details From Dana Rohrabacher's Visit to Honduras
By Matt Coker, Mon., Dec. 20 2010 @ 4:54 PM

R. Scott Moxley told you in October about Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Huntington Beach) having inserted himself in the violent 2009 coup that toppled the democratically elected president of Honduras, Manuel Zelaya.

•Was Dana Rohrabacher Playing Kingmaker in Central America?

To refresh your memory, that post ended with the Surfin' Congressman having traveled to Honduras in January to let the newly elected government--the choice of that country's oligarchy and rightwing military--know that Republicans in the U.S. supported them.

Thanks to WikiLeaks, we now know more about his "unusual delegation."

That's the description the New York Times uses in today's piece about Rohrabacher being accompanied by a group of California real estate investors and businessmen, including a dealer in rare coins, and top executives from a fledgling San Diego biofuels company run by a friend of the congressman's wife, Rhonda Carmony.

More:
http://blogs.ocweekly.com/navelgazing/2010/12/dana_rohrabacher_honduras_coup.php