In 2009, John went to Central America for the first time in a long time. John talked to a variety of folks. From businesses to cab drivers. Why did he go there? In 2009, there was a democratically elected president of Honduras overthrown. Manuel Zelaya
What did John learn from the citizens? The majority of people believed the coup happened because President Zelaya had advocated for a 60 percent pay raise for employees of American companies. This was intolerable. You know what comes next. Lies, propaganda, and if needed an accident will be arranged. However, the CIA-backed coup did the job. Torrijos and Roldo should've been so lucky.
How was a President in Central America a threat to America? Hourly rate. President Zelaya was pushing for the minimum wage to go up. This would've set a trend across countries South of the Border. There goes cheap labor. Joel made it clear to John that while memories of Americans may be short, those South of the Border isn't. He reminded John of how Teddy Roosevelt stole land from Central and South America. We've been installing dictators there since the 1950s. The irony here would be laughable if it weren't for the death toll of these dictators we put into place. And when they were no longer of use. We deposed them like it was nothing.
In September 2010 there was an attempt on Correa (Ecuador's President). It was a coup. The military sided with Correa. He reversed his policies against big oil companies. Message sent and received. "Don't screw with the status quo."
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