karmalised

There are moments in American foreign policy that run a déjà vu chill down one’s spine. Just such a moment was the recent talk to a group of Cali businessmen by William Wood, U.S. Ambassador to Colombia. In his remarks, Wood endorsed efforts by the present government of President Alvaro Uribe to overturn that country’s constitution to permit himself a second term. “The U.S. Constitution permits presidential re-elections,” Wood argued, “that’s why we don’t see this proposal as anti-democratic.”

Wood’s remark harks back to the dark old days when the U.S. routinely intervened in Latin America, overthrowing governments and constitutions from Guatemala to Brazil.