http://www.socialis tproject. ca/bullet/ bullet231. html

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A Socialist Project e-bulletin .... No. 231 .... June 30, 2009
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Acceptable Versus Unacceptable Repression:
A Lesson in Canadian Imperial Hypocrisy

Todd Gordon

June has been a difficult month for progressive activists around the world.
Mass protests in Iran and indigenous blockades in Peru were met with heavy
repression, while a left-of-centre President in Honduras was ousted in a
military coup. What these tragic events do offer us, however, is a very
clear perspective on Canadian foreign policy.

Consider the Canadian response to the events in Iran. Canada issued three
press releases on the events in Iran, all by Foreign Affairs Minister,
Lawrence Cannon. The first was on June 15 after the repression against the
protests challenging electoral fraud began. It called for an investigation
into the allegations of fraud by the Iranian government and condemned the
government's move to ban protests.

On June 21, after perhaps the worst day of violent repression of protesters
in Iran up to that point by government security forces and the
government-aligned militia, in which more than a dozen people were killed,
Canada issued a sharp condemnation of the Iranian government. In the press
release, Cannon stated that:

"Canada condemns the decision of the Iranian authorities to use violence
and force against their own people ... The Iranian people deserve to have
their voices heard, without fear of intimidation and violence. Canada
condemns the use of force to stifle dissent, and we continue to call on
Iran to fully respect all of its human rights obligations, both in law and
in practice, and to conduct a thorough and transparent investigation into
the fraud allegations. "

A third statement was released on June 25 calling for the release of
political prisoners and personally criticizing the Iranian official put in
charge of the investigation of the detained reformist leaders.

But what did the Canadian government say following the first rumblings of a
potential military coup against the moderately left wing Honduran
president, Jose Manuel Zelaya, on June 25? Nothing. As of the evening of
June 29, it had issued one rather tepid press release late on June 28, more
than 12 hours after the coup became known outside Honduras.

And what did the Canadian government say when over 50 indigenous activists
in Peru were gunned down on June 5th by military and police forces for
protesting their government's free trade policies? Nothing. The massacre of
indigenous protesters in Peru, many of whose bodies were then dumped by
police in a river, didn't rate any mention at all.

So why does Iran rate a sharp rebuke, but a military coup in Honduras and
brutal repression in Peru inspire cautious condemnation and silence
respectively?

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