Wrong Man for the U.N.

While most of America’s attention was diverted to its national tragedy, the Senate managed to find the time to approve the controversial nomination of John D. Negroponte as the man Washington would send to the United Nations as ambassador. There can be no argument that the United States needs an active and highly visible presence at the United Nations at a time of international crisis. But serious questions can be raised as to whether Negroponte is that man.

His appointment could be the wrong message to send to the U.N., a world body whose support this country needs to help rally international opinion against terrorism. Negroponte, 61, has had a long and at times distinguished foreign service career, including stints as U.S. ambassador in key embassies in Latin America and Asia. But his tenure as ambassador to Honduras from 1981 to 1985--the height of the Reagan administration’s covert war against Nicaragua--was marred by deeply troubling allegations.

At best, Negroponte did not tell Congress everything he knew about human rights violations by the Honduran government, as he was required by law to do. At worst, some investigations have suggested that Negroponte and other U.S. officials may have been complicit in human rights violations, which included the murders and kidnappings of political activists.

Negroponte has never really answered the tough questions he could be asked about his tenure in Honduras.

The pro forma hearing the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee held on his nomination last week was little more than a sham. There were no opposition witnesses, and the panel approved the nomination 14 to 3. To her credit, California Sen. Barbara Boxer joined two other Democrats on the panel, Paul Wellstone of Minnesota and Russell D. Feingold of Wisconsin, in opposing Negroponte.

After the terrible events of the past week, the Bush administration should know that now is not the time to remind the United Nations of this nation’s often sad history of intervention in Latin America, or of the sometimes ugly tactics Washington used to wage the Cold War in many Third World nations. The dirty little Contra war that Negroponte oversaw from the embassy in Honduras was one of the most egregious examples of both.

It is hard to resist the feeling that Negroponte cannot be an effective leader for human rights in the United Nations until it is clear that his own hands are clean.