Conspicuous Silence of Westerwelle about Human Rights Issues in South America
The vice-chairman of DIE LINKE, Klaus Ernst, accuses Guido Westerwelle of pursuing a "one-sided fixation of foreign policy on business interests”. According to Ernst, the fact that Westerwelle did not make any statements about issues of democracy or human rights while on his South America tour is significant. He pointed out that there were striking parallels between the "eloquent silence of Westerwelle regarding the putsch in Honduras” and the activism of the FDP-leaning Friedrich Naumann Foundation for political forces which supported the coup in Honduras. Ernst states:
The program of Westerwelle's South America tour reads as though it were written in the headquarters of the business lobbyists. Democracy and human rights did not play an important role. This is a missed opportunity, because Westerwelle exclusively visited countries in which previously brutal military dictatorships reigned. A German foreign minister should have publically paid tribute to the victims of these dictatorships, instead of only meeting with local business leaders. Westerwelle pursues a one-sided fixation of foreign policy on business interests. He is gambling away the heritage of Genscher*. It is particularly conspicuous that Westerwelle did not use this opportunity to condemn the coup d'état in Honduras and plead for the observance of human rights. During the Westerwelle's trip the Honduran journalist David Meza was murdered, an event about which the German foreign minister did not loose a single word. There are striking parallels between the eloquent silence of Westerwelle and the activities of the FDP-leaning Friedrich Naumann Foundation in South America. Not only did the foundation's regional branch publically defend the coup, it also supported the putschists inside the Liberal Party for years. Apparently Westerwelle cannot even separate his duties as a foreign minister and as the FDP leader during official state visits.
(* A much respected FDP foreign minister in the 70s, 80s and early 90s.)