The UNITED STATES does not have a moral right to deny asylum to those seeking refuge from violence and social chaos that WE CAUSED.
It is absurd that the United States turns away those seeking asylum as refugees from Central America following the long history of ACTIONS BY THE UNITED STATES that DESTABILIZED the region and CAUSED THE TURMOIL that the refugees are now fleeing from.
Ronald Reagan was the leading cause of the turmoil now seen in Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Honduras.
Nicaragua and Honduras — Reagan destabilized the elected Sandinistas in Nicaragua to support the right wing Contras (including selling arms to Ayatollah Khomeini to finance the illegal acts for which many (including Oliver North) were convicted (but later pardoned by Bush Sr).
Guatemala and El Salvador — CIA long history of destabilization especially during the Reagan Administration. Reagan supported the military government and right wing extremists in El Salvador against the FMLN (Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front, a coalition of five left wing organizations). In Guatemala, Reagan provided arms to right-wing strongman José Efraín Ríos Montt, despite CIA warnings of Montt’s record of genocidal massacres against indigenous Mayans (for which he was later convicted of genocide).
Many of the refugees coming now are from those many persecuted Mayan villages, and many do not even speak Spanish, much less English.
These actions destabilized the region, toppled democratically elected liberal heads of state, replaced them with military dictatorships that transformed peaceful nations into violent, gang-ridden anarchies with stratospheric rates of murder and rape.
WE BROKE IT. We have no moral right to deny asylum to those fleeing that violence that WE CAUSED.
Let’s be honest. The reason so much of Latin America is in turmoil is because of the USA’s insane and counterproductive War on Drug-Using Americans. There’s obviously a huge market for illicit drugs, and our national policy has driven all those billions of dollars squarely into the gladly open hands of the criminal underworld that controls the coca and marijuana fields. Whenever you hear the words “drug money”, remember where it’s coming from.
It’s even worse in Afghanistan, home to 90% of the world’s opium poppies, where Americans are financing both sides of our longest-running war.
Why don’t we take a lesson from Prohibition? After it was repealed, entrepreneurs opened taverns all across America and are now a source not of crime, destruction, and death but of conviviality, employment, taxes, civic engagement, and responsible behavior in cutting off people who’ve had too much.
Poor Latinos, JQ Adams was right Latin America was no where near sophisticated enough to manage a republican-democracy. Forcing them to imitate sophisticated democratic institutions has actually retarded their progress and put them behind where China is now.
I very much appreciate your informed perspective. It is all too easy for many of us to forget the past actions of our government that bring consequences so far down the road.
Templo S.U.D. over 5 years ago
Buena suerte… vosotros vais a necesitarla.
DD Wiz Premium Member over 5 years ago
The UNITED STATES does not have a moral right to deny asylum to those seeking refuge from violence and social chaos that WE CAUSED.
It is absurd that the United States turns away those seeking asylum as refugees from Central America following the long history of ACTIONS BY THE UNITED STATES that DESTABILIZED the region and CAUSED THE TURMOIL that the refugees are now fleeing from.
Ronald Reagan was the leading cause of the turmoil now seen in Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Honduras.
Nicaragua and Honduras — Reagan destabilized the elected Sandinistas in Nicaragua to support the right wing Contras (including selling arms to Ayatollah Khomeini to finance the illegal acts for which many (including Oliver North) were convicted (but later pardoned by Bush Sr).
Guatemala and El Salvador — CIA long history of destabilization especially during the Reagan Administration. Reagan supported the military government and right wing extremists in El Salvador against the FMLN (Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front, a coalition of five left wing organizations). In Guatemala, Reagan provided arms to right-wing strongman José Efraín Ríos Montt, despite CIA warnings of Montt’s record of genocidal massacres against indigenous Mayans (for which he was later convicted of genocide).
Many of the refugees coming now are from those many persecuted Mayan villages, and many do not even speak Spanish, much less English.
These actions destabilized the region, toppled democratically elected liberal heads of state, replaced them with military dictatorships that transformed peaceful nations into violent, gang-ridden anarchies with stratospheric rates of murder and rape.
WE BROKE IT. We have no moral right to deny asylum to those fleeing that violence that WE CAUSED.
Richard S Russell Premium Member over 5 years ago
Let’s be honest. The reason so much of Latin America is in turmoil is because of the USA’s insane and counterproductive War on Drug-Using Americans. There’s obviously a huge market for illicit drugs, and our national policy has driven all those billions of dollars squarely into the gladly open hands of the criminal underworld that controls the coca and marijuana fields. Whenever you hear the words “drug money”, remember where it’s coming from.
It’s even worse in Afghanistan, home to 90% of the world’s opium poppies, where Americans are financing both sides of our longest-running war.
Why don’t we take a lesson from Prohibition? After it was repealed, entrepreneurs opened taverns all across America and are now a source not of crime, destruction, and death but of conviviality, employment, taxes, civic engagement, and responsible behavior in cutting off people who’ve had too much.
DuhWeldr over 5 years ago
Poor Latinos, JQ Adams was right Latin America was no where near sophisticated enough to manage a republican-democracy. Forcing them to imitate sophisticated democratic institutions has actually retarded their progress and put them behind where China is now.
TIMH over 5 years ago
I very much appreciate your informed perspective. It is all too easy for many of us to forget the past actions of our government that bring consequences so far down the road.