A hypocrite is a person who puts on an appearance of virtue while acting in a way that contradicts one’s stated beliefs. Our Federal Government’s foreign policy is a good example of hypocrisy. As a Nation, we profess a belief in democracy, human rights, and “the rule of law.” In it’s practices, our Government has shown contempt for those professed values. Perhaps a few examples will illustrate this point.
Take our approach to Venezuela; President Donald Trump wants to “restore” democracy there. He labels President Nicolás Maduro a dictator. He slams Maduro’s 2018 election win a sham. It was probably less a sham, than Trump’s 2016, win where he lost the popular vote by almost three million votes. Trump was not the people’s choice. Candidate Maduro won the popular vote, because the opposition boycotted the election, which they rightfully perceived they would lose. Maybe the Venezuelans don’t like President Maduro anymore. Does that mean our Government should oust him?
Given that logic, the Venezuelan Government should do us a favor and oust Donald J. Trump.
Another example of a sorry story of our love for democracy is the 2018 race for Governor of Georgia. Secretary of State Brian Kemp purged the voter rolls; rearranged polling sites; oversaw the election in which he was the G. O. P. candidate running against Democrat Stacy Abrams. Unfortunately, Georgia elections are held without any paper trail, so there is no recount.
Compared to Georgia, Venezuela’s election seemed honest.
It does not seem like an honest election if a foreign Government is interfering in it. Russian interference to help Donald J. Trump get elected President did not sit well with the vast majority of U. S. voters. However, our Country has a long history of interfering in other countries’ elections. For anyone who doubts our Government would ever be so nefarious, I suggest you read KILLING HOPE: U. S. Military and CIA Interventions Since World War II by William Blum. It was last revised in 1986, so our interference in Russia–on behalf of Boris Yeltsin (a drunk and a clown)–is missing. Blum left the State Department in 1967, abandoning his aspiration of becoming a Foreign Service Officer, because of his opposition to what the United States was doing in Vietnam. He then became one of the Founders and Editors of the Washington Free Press, the first “alternative” newspaper in the Capital. Perhaps the people running our foreign policy do not really believe in democracy, but when it comes to using our military, they are “fighting to protect democracy.”
Our second value is human rights. It is evident in our Constitution and Bill of Rights. At the time these were adopted, these rights were not broadly understood. “All men are created equal” literally was applied to men, but not women and slaves. It took a civil war and a civil rights movement to end slavery and “Jim Crow” laws. It wasn’t until the 19th Amendment was ratified on August 18, 1920, that women were given the right to vote. Since 1791, human rights have been expanded and protected in our own Country. It is a record for which we can be justly proud.
Internationally, the United States had been a leader in proclaiming and upholding human rights. Former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt (1933-1945) was appointed to be our Delegate to the United Nations by President Harry S. Truman. She was instrumental in the development and adoption of the U. N. Charter on Human Rights. She served as the first chairperson of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights. We can be justly proud of our world leadership in advancing human rights. Likewise, we should be sad that President Trump has withdrawn our membership in this Commission.
The question is, has our Government’s foreign policy lived up to our human rights values?
Unfortunately, our history points otherwise. During the Reagan years, our tax dollars supported death squads in El Salvador and Contras in Nicaragua. Our Government supported dictators with no regard for human rights in Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Columbia. Some of the death squad soldiers were even trained by our military, here in the United States. School of the Americas Watch is an organization that has been working to end this practice. it was founded by former Maryknoll Father Roy Bourgeois and a small group of supporters in 1990, to protest the training of mainly Latin American military officers, by the United States Department of Defense, at the School of the Americas.
This certainly fits the definition of “hypocrisy.”
Finally, let us consider “the Rule of Law.” More than once U. S. officials have touted “the Rule of Law.” It is assumed that they are referring International Law, which relates to adopted United Nations treaties and conventions, as well as rules of the World Trade Organization. Most recently, our Government armed opposition forces in Syria, which, unfortunately, we took as normal. It was a violation of International Law! We mined Nicaraguan harbors from a base in Honduras. This was not only a violation of International Law, but an act of war! Later, when the International Criminal Court found the U. S. guilty of this and ordered the U.S. to pay Nicaragua $1,000,000,000 in damages, the U. S. refused to pay! Other violations are just marked “Top Secret.”
This leads to one last question: What is motivating this bad behavior and hypocrisy?
Koch Industries has mining and mineral extraction in many areas around the world. They once operated in Venezuela–until they were thrown out. They have a great deal of influence with President Trump. A friendly Venezuelan Government would potentially be very profitable for them. Money is a great motivator.
In fact, greed may just explain a lot of the hypocrisy in our foreign policy over the decades.