A Coup for Lobbyists at the White House

Honduran President Manuel Zelaya, ousted
in the middle of the night just over a month ago, enjoys global support
for his return, with the exception of the Obama White House. Though
Barack Obama first called the Honduran military's removal of Zelaya a
coup, his administration has backpedaled. Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton called Zelaya's attempt to cross the Nicaraguan border into
Honduras "reckless." Could well-placed lobbyists in Washington be
forging U.S. foreign policy?

Lanny Davis was special counsel to
President Bill Clinton from 1996 to 1998, functioning as lawyer, crisis
manager and spokesman through Clinton's various scandals. Davis has
developed a lucrative specialty as a partner at Orrick, Herrington
& Sutcliffe, offering a "unique 'Legal Crisis Communications'
practice," helping people embroiled in investigations or scandal.
According to recent congressional filings, Davis is lobbying for the
Honduran chapter of the Latin American Business Council. Zelaya had
recently increased the Honduran minimum wage.

Davis testified before Congress on July
10, saying his clients "believe the best chance for a solution is the
dialogue between Mr. Zelaya and President [Roberto] Micheletti,
mediated by President [Oscar] Arias, that is now ongoing in Costa
Rica." That is, until the Arias sessions resulted in a call for the
return of Zelaya. Coup spokesman Cesar Caceres said, "The mediation has
been declared a failure."

Davis continued before Congress, "No
one wants bloodshed, and nobody should be inciting violence." Yet a
number of Zelaya supporters have been killed, and there has been a
crackdown on independent media, making information hard to obtain.

I reached Zelaya by phone in Nicaragua, near the Honduran border, and asked about Obama's reluctance to use the word coup.
He told me, "Everyone in the world-governments, international
organizations, all the lawyers and judges in the world-have called the
fact of capturing a president at 5 a.m. without trying him, shooting
arms, that's a coup d'etat. No one doubts that that's a coup d'etat."

Bennett Ratcliff, another Clinton White
House connection, was a key adviser to the coup leader, Micheletti,
during the Costa Rica negotiations. According to Ratcliff's firm's bio,
he "created TV and radio advertisements for President Bill Clinton's
1992 and 1996 Presidential campaigns." Firm partner Melissa Ratcliff
"worked as communications strategist for The White House during the
Clinton Administration." Their firm promises "access to key decision
makers and influencers."

With similar anti-Zelaya goals comes
lobbyist Roger Noriega, George W. Bush's assistant secretary of state
for Western Hemisphere affairs and former staff member of Sen. Jesse
Helms. Noriega is lobbying on behalf of the Honduran Association of
Maquiladoras, owners of low-wage factories that export goods,
principally to the U.S.

Both Noriega and Davis represent
business interests that benefit from "free trade" with the U.S. Zelaya,
elected originally with the support of the Honduran business community,
has shifted to more populist policies. He recently joined the emerging
Latin American trade bloc ALBA, organized by countries like Venezuela
and Bolivia to counter the economic dominance of the United States.

During Hillary Clinton's presidential
campaign, Davis repeated the charge that Obama would not be capable of
handling a crisis "call at 3 a.m."

In his recent visit to Africa, Obama
declared the importance of democracy. Yet here in his own backyard is a
genuine coup d'etat that his administration has done little to reverse.
Obama will be in Mexico to meet President Felipe Calderon and Prime
Minister Stephen Harper of Canada on Aug. 9. Honduras is expected to be
on the agenda. The 3 a.m. call has come--who will have Obama's ear?
Democracy, or the special interests' hired guns, against whom Obama
promised change?

Denis Moynihan contributed research to this column.