The Tribune

With CHARLIE HARPER

WHAT must it be like to be a member of the House of Windsor these days? Americans, freshly acquainted with the British royal family for the past four widely praised seasons of Netflix’s triumphant series “The Crown,” could take more than usual notice of the tribulations of Britain’s highest-ranking family as real-life royal dramas unfolded on several levels in recent days and weeks.

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh and husband to Queen Elizabeth II, has been hospitalized in London and, at age 99, his return to normal health cannot be presumed.

The queen’s younger son, Prince Andrew, has been linked scandalously to the disgraced American financier Jeffrey Epstein, who apparently hanged himself in prison and whose reprehensible sexual habits and behaviour reportedly approach or exceed those of accused local predator Peter Nygard.

And on Sunday, the Queen’s younger grandson Prince Harry and his wife, American actress Meghan Markle gave an instantly famous interview to Oprah Winfrey, who is their neighbour in the exclusive area called Montecito, north of Los Angeles and near Santa Barbara, where Harry and Meghan now live.

The basic sensational elements of the TV conversation are by now well-known. Many would cite two of Meghan’s revelations as the most startling.

She told Winfrey that at times during her marriage she felt so pressured in her new royal life that she entertained thoughts of suicide. Seeking professional assistance through the royal family establishment, Meghan said she was rebuffed.

She also revealed that an as yet unnamed member of the royal family had wondered aloud about what skin colour her first child would have, and apparently expressed concern lest it be too dark. Markle has a black mother and white father.

The interview aired not long after a one-year cooling off period ended with Harry and Meghan’s announcement that they would “step back” from their royal responsibilities.

While the royal family’s initial apparent embrace of Meghan as a divorced, mixed-race woman was widely hailed as evidence of their increasing tolerance of the broadening global acceptance of racial intermarriage, Meghan’s recent revelations expose what seems to be a different reality.

The US has just lived through four years under a President whose apparent embrace of and ardent support from groups widely regarded as racist have highlighted the distance America must still travel to achieve racial balance and harmony.

That President was turned out of office and Republican control of the US Senate was lost due in large measure to the organizing skill and political clout of African Americans. To attribute President Joe Biden’s November success to South Carolina Congressman James Clyburn and Democratic recapture of the Senate to former Georgia legislative leader Stacey Abrams would be no great overstatement.

That Republican-controlled legislatures in many American states are now busily engaged in active and fairly transparent efforts to restrict voting access for black Americans and other racial minorities testifies to GOP belief that its best winning political strategy is to continue to stoke racial fears and divisions in the hope of securing the loyalty of a majority of white American voters.

And the preponderance of early data seems to show the COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately afflicted African Americans and other minorities in the US. While it is far too soon to fairly assess the reality of this situation or its causes, the trends are nevertheless troubling.

It sometimes seems like the central dividing issue between Republicans and Democrats in the US is attitudes toward race. This is concealed by code words and other terms of art, but many feel the reality.

It’s all pretty discouraging. Advocates of greater racial equality and harmony in both the US and Britain can only hope that the present ugliness on both sides of the Atlantic leads to greater understanding and acceptance of the multi-racial realities that define life in both nations.

Playing the game to stay Washington’s friend

Once in a while the curtain is drawn back and some light shines through on the actual day-to-day conduct of international relations. When that revelation involves the US, it behoves us to pay attention.

Last month the Washington Post ran a lengthy account of the efforts of current Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernandez to retain his position and stay in power in Tegucigalpa. Implicated in more than one current drug trafficking case in American courts, Hernandez has been trying to deftly transition from Trump administration priorities to those of the new Biden team in Washington.

Hernandez, 52, has been surrounded by some form of controversy for most of his public political life. He has been President of Honduras for seven years. His second term in office ends in 2023, though his election in 2018 for the current term was officially decided by only one half of one percent of the vote and was criticized as fraudulent by both the United Nations and the Inter-American Council on Human Rights.

Furthermore, in 2017 the American Drug Enforcement Administration charged Hernandez’ brother ‘Tony’ Hernandez with using Honduran military personnel and equipment to smuggle cocaine into the US on behalf of the notorious Mexican Sinaloa drug cartel. Tony Hernandez was convicted in October 2019 in a New York City court and remains in US custody.

One might think that would be bad news for brother Juan Hernandez and would put American support for his administration into serious jeopardy.

Not so fast.

Quickly recognizing that then-President Donald Trump’s only interest in Honduras was to enlist its support for his aggressive campaign against illegal immigration into the US from Central America, Hernandez implemented stringent measures to curb the northward immigration flow.

The 15th of 17 children, he also endeared himself to Trump’s influential evangelical and social conservative supporters by pushing through measures requiring public prayer in many government institutions. He also succeeded in effecting constitutional bans on same-sex marriage and all abortions in Honduras.

After the disputed 2018 Honduran election, the Trump administration quickly recognized Hernandez’ questionable re-election success. The following year, Trump said “President Hernandez is working with the United States very closely. You know what’s going on at our southern border. With his help, we’re winning there after years of losing.”

Trump also ignored persistent complaints about corruption and excessive use of military and police force in neighbouring El Salvador and Guatemala, essentially also in exchange for those nations’ cooperation in stemming the northward flow of refugees.

Fast forward to the November American elections. The Hernandez administration in Honduras seemingly cannot do enough to emphasize its support for policies advocated by the incoming Biden team.

Juan Hernandez is calling Joe Biden an “old friend”. He has warmly accepted the installation of a local UN office that investigates drug trafficking and related criminality. Climate change has suddenly become a priority for the Hernandez government. Trump’s overall approach is now criticized by Honduran government sources as “overly aggressive”.

Vermont Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy, who will be 81 in a couple of weeks, is currently the longest-tenured member of America’s upper chamber. The first Democrat elected to the Senate from Vermont in 118 years, he is also the chairman of the powerful Appropriations Committee and has been a Senator for 47 years.

Leahy said this about President Hernandez: “He, like many foreign leaders, has been very skilful at telling people in Washington what they want to hear. But the reality is that democracy and human rights are under assault in Honduras, and corruption permeates the government there.”

Dismissing Hernandez’ chances of political survival are premature, however. Honduras remains home to the only US military base in Central America. There is a new Nike factory there. President Hernandez got a master’s degree from an American university and is reportedly an avid follower of US political developments.

Nonetheless, the Honduran chief executive has been indicted on drug trafficking and money laundering charges by the powerful US Attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York in Manhattan. That’s the same office that just got American Supreme Court permission to examine Donald Trump’s tax records after years of trying.

If Hernandez were convicted, he would face extradition to the US to join his brother in federal prison when his current term of office ends. Naturally, according to an American official, Hernandez is “asking himself, ‘What can I do today to show the Biden people that I’m a strong partner?’”

That’s life for most regional political leaders.