In September 2006, U.S. President Bush met with Manuel Zelaya. He wanted Bush to help “lower energy costs to Honduras, one of the Western Hemisphere nations most dependent on imported oil, including to generate electricity. Bush’s response stressed the importance of relying on market mechanisms and of limits on government interference.” (Znet, 7/30/2007) Bush refused this deal to Zelaya.

In  January 2007, Zelaya’s government took temporary control of Chevron’s and Exxon’s terminals. In March, the Honduran government established diplomatic relations with Cuba. In July, Zelaya went to Nicaragua to celebrate the overthrow of dictator Somoza, sharing the platform with Daniel Ortega and Hugo Chavez, angering Washington.  

In January 2008, Zelaya announced that Honduras would join the Venezuela-led Petrocaribe initiative, a regional energy security alliance, through which Venezuela sells oil with flexible credit terms and preferential prices to Caribbean nations. U.S.  diplomats worried that others would follow. In August 2008, the Honduran government joined ALBA (Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas), signing further trade and especially energy agreements with Chavez.

Chavez enjoys oil deals with China, Russia and others. His ALBA initiative directly challenges the U.S. Free Trade Pact with Central America. Despite Obama’s “condemnation” of the coup ousting Zelaya, U.S. imperialists wanted to eliminate him and his growing ties to Chavez and rival imperialists. It’s up to communists to turn these attacks into a movement to destroy all bosses with communist revolution.