Antony Blinken is making a major push for democracy on his first journey to South America as U.S. secretary of state, visiting two stable democracies, Ecuador and Colombia, at a time of rising violence, authoritarianism and populism in the region. VOA Senior Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine reports.
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Disputes over coronavirus vaccination mandates are multiplying in the U.S. and could markedly increase in the coming weeks as new directives take effect.

White House officials are fine-tuning President Joe Biden’s order that about 80 million workers at businesses with 100 or more employees be vaccinated or get tested regularly, and that several million U.S. troops and federal government workers be inoculated by the end of the year.

While the vast majority of U.S. Navy personnel are vaccinated, naval officials have started to discharge sailors who refuse to get inoculated. Meanwhile, some large employers and state agencies with their own mandates are dismissing unvaccinated workers, even as more than 177 million people in the U.S. have been fully vaccinated, including two-thirds of the country’s adult population.

Some members of the U.S. armed forces have started posting videos in which they identify themselves and describe their careers and where they have been stationed. They also say they face expulsion for refusing vaccinations, often claiming that the freedom to control their own health care is being violated.

U.S. service members face varying vaccination deadlines through the end of the year, depending on the military branch. More than 2 million federal civilian workers must be inoculated by November 22.

But 10 government employees, including four Air Force officers and a Secret Service agent, are contesting the orders in a lawsuit filed in Washington, claiming the mandates violate their constitutional guarantee of religious freedom and are prohibited by federal laws.

Justices’ actions

The legality of the vaccination mandates has yet to be considered by the nine-member U.S. Supreme Court as a whole.

But two ideologically disparate justices, conservative Amy Coney Barrett and liberal Stephen Breyer, acting on emergency requests by vaccination opponents to overturn the orders, quickly rejected their pleas and allowed the mandates to take effect. One required that students at Indiana University be vaccinated before they enroll at the school. The other required that health care workers in Maine get shots.

The disputes over mandates have become a daily staple of U.S. news reports.

This week, Nick Rolovich, the head football coach at Washington State University, became perhaps the highest-paid person in the country to lose his job in a vaccination dispute.

He was fired from his $3.2 million-a-year position after refusing to get vaccinated under an edict that all Washington state employees get inoculated. He declined to say why he refused to get vaccinated and now is suing to get his job back on the ground of religious freedom.

In San Francisco, fast-food restaurant In-N-Out Burger was temporarily shut down by the California city’s health department for COVID-19 violations because the company refused to check customers for proof of vaccination.

“Vaccination is particularly important in a public indoor setting where groups of people are gathering and removing their masks, factors that make it easier for the virus to spread,” the health department said. “That is why San Francisco requires proof of vaccination for indoor dining.”

In-N-Out has since reopened, but only for takeout. The restaurant chain acknowledged the health code violation, but one of its executives called the regulation “intrusive, improper and offensive” governmental “overreach.”

‘We will turn the tide’

Biden, in announcing the mandate last month for 80 million workers to get vaccinated, said, “We can and we will turn the tide on COVID-19.”

“These measures will take time,” he said. “But if we implement these measures, I believe that in the months ahead we can reduce the number of unvaccinated [individuals], decrease hospitalizations and deaths, and keep businesses open. We will protect vaccinated workers from unvaccinated co-workers.”

But numerous business group officials and vaccination opponents hoping to shape the rules to their liking are requesting meetings with White House officials.

Conservative Republican state governors have also vowed to sue the Biden administration to block his mandates once the White House issues its definitive rules, even as government health officials continually urge the country’s 65 million unvaccinated people eligible for inoculations to get the shots in their arms.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Texas Governor Greg Abbott, two possible Biden opponents in the 2024 presidential election, remain adamantly opposed to vaccination mandates even as they urge their states’ residents to voluntarily get vaccinated.

DeSantis said recently, “Let’s not have Biden come in and effectively take away — threaten to take away — the jobs of people who have been working hard throughout this entire pandemic. I am offended that a police officer could potentially lose their job.”

DeSantis said that vaccination should be a personal choice and that people who have become naturally immune to COVID-19 should be exempt from the mandate.

Abbott said, “The COVID-19 vaccine is safe, effective and our best defense against the virus, but should remain voluntary and never forced.”

Even so, Texas-based American Airlines, the biggest U.S. airline, told its 100,000 workers October 6 that they would be fired if they were unable to provide proof of full vaccination by November 24.
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This week Americans and others around the world are reflecting on the life and legacy of Colin Powell, the first Black U.S. secretary of state and top military officer, who died Monday at age 84. Powell’s family said he died of complications due to COVID-19. He was fully vaccinated but had been battling multiple myeloma, a cancer of plasma cells that suppresses the immune system.

Those close to Powell say that in addition to his being a statesman, he also was a great friend. VOA Pentagon correspondent Carla Babb spoke to retired Army Colonel Joe Schwar, whose friendship with Powell spanned six decades, about how Schwar would like his friend to be remembered.

Joe Schwar met Colin Powell in early 1959. Both were brand new Army second lieutenants stationed in Germany.

“He was a bachelor. I was married. He knew basically where to get a free meal,” Schwar said with a laugh. “So, the three of us became very good friends during the two years we served together.”

Schwar’s next assignment was at Fort Bragg in North Carolina. Schwar is a white man from the northern state of Pennsylvania. He said Powell was one of the first Black men he ever knew.

Schwar wasn’t too familiar with the racial policies in the era of segregation, which often mandated separate facilities for Blacks and whites until the 1960s. He said he had been on the base in North Carolina about a year when “there was a knock on my door. Open it up and there was Colin Powell. Colin was distraught because he couldn’t find a place that he considered satisfactory for his new bride. I believe it was the Jim Crow [laws] at work there. I guess my wife and I looked at each other and without blinking an eye basically said, ‘Stay with us.’ ”

Powell, his wife Alma, the Schwars and their young kids shared their three-bedroom apartment for six weeks, until Powell finished his training to deploy to Vietnam, and Alma went to live with her family during his deployment.

“And as long as we stayed by on Fort Bragg, we could go anywhere together. We could do anything together,” Schwar said. ” … Once or twice my wife and Alma went down into Fayetteville. Alma was very sensitive about being a Black African American. She educated my wife, basically on what she could and could not do, and my wife had a little rebellious spirit and she could not understand why Alma allowed this to happen.”

Schwar said the prejudice Alma Powell saw growing up in the South perhaps led to her caution years later when her husband was considering a run for president.

“She was concerned about him,” he said. “Not his ability to serve as president, but his physical security serving as president. And I believe she talked him out of it.”

After that fateful deployment to Germany in 1959, Schwar and Powell continued to cross paths. They fought just a few kilometers apart in Vietnam. They also studied at Fort Benning together.

“Fast forward to the mid-1970s,” Schwar said. “I was on my way to the Pentagon for an assignment, Colin had already been in the Pentagon for a year when I got there. And as things happen in the military, you get there, your house isn’t ready for you, your furniture hasn’t arrived yet.

“So, we were having dinner with Alma and Colin, and I mentioned the house isn’t going to be ready for a while, blah blah blah. Colin says, ‘Alma, start doubling up the kids in the rooms; the Schwars are moving in with us.’ ”

And that, Schwar said, was just typical Powell: a regular guy, a regular good guy, someone a young Schwar never suspected would one day rise to be a four-star general and secretary of state.

“One of the most unforgettable people that I ever served with,” he said. “It was just a consistent outstanding record of performance. He was never pretentious. He was a man of his word. What you see is what you get.”

And what the nation got was decade upon decade of steadfast service. Powell will be remembered at the Pentagon as one of the greats, following in the footsteps of George Marshall, a general-turned-secretary of defense and secretary of state, and paving the way for generals like former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and current Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.

But Powell’s kindness and his dedication to country, family and friends are what Schwar wants the world to remember.
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U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken outlined several challenges being faced by democracies in the Western Hemisphere in a speech Wednesday in Ecuador but said he is optimistic they can be overcome, while noting the survival of a democracy driven by ordinary people is vital to the shared future in the region.

Those challenges include corruption, civilian security, and tackling the economic and social issues facing the people. 

“The reality is we’ve often put more energy into strengthening civil and political rights, as vital and important as they are — free and fair elections, the rule of law, freedom of speech and assembly — and less into strengthening people’s economic and social rights, like bolstering labor standards, expanding access to adequate education and health, providing more inclusive opportunities. People across our hemisphere are demanding that we do both,” Blinken said Wednesday in a speech at the Universidad San Francisco de Quito.

The United States has for the first time designated fighting corruption as a core U.S. national security interest, Blinken noted, as Washington cracks down on illicit financing, and seizing and freezing stolen assets. 

Since 2020, more than $10 billion has been invested by the U.S. in Latin America and the Caribbean through the International Development Finance Corporation. In Ecuador, the U.S. is working with the Banco de la Produccion to provide $150 million in loans this year to small businesses, especially those owned by women. 

Blinken said these investments are done in a “transparent” manner and they treat local communities as “partners,” while drawing a stark contrast with the authoritarian governments that mire countries in the region “in a pernicious cycle of debt.” 

Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso declared a surprise state of emergency to combat violence as the chief U.S. diplomat visits the South America country. 

The security forces to carry out these measures must abide by international standards and be held accountable when they are not doing so,” Blinken emphasized during the speech as Lasso said he’s sending troops to the streets to combat drug trafficking. 

In addition to democratic and human rights issues, another major focus of Blinken’s trip is migration, and in Bogota he will co-lead a meeting with foreign ministers from the region about a humane migration policy.  

Speaking Tuesday alongside Ecuador’s foreign minister, Mauricio Montalvo, Blinken said migration is “challenging everyone in the hemisphere,” including in Ecuador, where thousands of Venezuelans have settled in recent years. 

“The foreign minister and I tomorrow will be in Colombia, where we’re together with most of our colleagues in the hemisphere, to talk about what is so necessary right now, and that is a truly regional, coordinated approach of shared responsibility,” Blinken told reporters.  

As Blinken was heading to Ecuador, Lasso declared a 60-day state of emergency to crack down on drug crime.  

The two met Tuesday, and Blinken said Lasso assured him Ecuador’s government would uphold democratic values such as acting in accordance with the country’s constitution.  

“We talked as well about the exceptional measures that have been taken here in Ecuador to deal with the narcotrafficking challenge and the violence and crime that is attendant with that,” Blinken told reporters. ”And we know that in democracies there are times when, with exceptional circumstances, measures are necessary to deal with urgencies and urgent situations like the one Ecuador is experiencing now.”  

Blinken also praised Ecuador for its vaccination campaign against COVID-19.  

VOA’s Chris Hannas contributed to this report. Some information for this report came from the Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.  

 
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U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday hailed Ecuador as a sign of democracy’s success, just as the country’s new leader declared a surprise state of emergency to combat violence.   

Hours after President Guillermo Lasso said he was sending troops to the streets to combat drug trafficking, Blinken saluted him as a Latin American good-news story on a two-nation trip meant to highlight democracy. 

“We appreciate very much that you are demonstrating convincingly that democracy can deliver real results for our people,” Blinken said as he met Lasso at Quito’s Carondelet Palace, where the top U.S. diplomat was welcomed by the trumpets of guards in royal blue uniforms and guitarists strumming behind them. 

Blinken pointed to Ecuador’s vaccination rate of more than 50%, a feat achieved since Lasso, a businessman, had been unexpectedly elected as the country’s first right-leaning leader in more than a decade earlier this year. 

“We applaud the work that you’re doing to combat corruption to pursue reform that benefits people throughout Ecuador in an equitable way, and the work that we’re doing together to combat narcotrafficking and to preserve our environment and climate,” Blinken said. 

Just as Blinken was departing Washington, Lasso said he was sending the armed forces and police to the streets across Ecuador in a 60-day emergency to fight drug trafficking. 

Lasso told Blinken he was looking for broad cooperation with the United States. 

“More than ever, Ecuador today shares the values that have guided the United States to prosperity since its founding,” Lasso said.   

Blinken will deliver a speech on democracy Wednesday from Quito that will likely focus on criticism of leftist leaders in Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua. 

He will then head to Colombia, also led by an assertive right-wing president, Ivan Duque, a close ally of former U.S. President Donald Trump. 

Duque has come under fire from progressives in President Joe Biden’s Democratic Party over a crackdown on protests. Biden has yet to meet Duque, but his administration has largely kept up support, seeing Colombia as another democracy in a region of growing political turbulence. 

New type of relationship 

Blinken will meet with human rights groups in both countries and address two key issues for the Biden administration: climate change and migration. 

“It’s a big democracy trip for Secretary Blinken, but it’s also a realignment of the relationship with democratic Latin America beyond the traditional issues that have dominated the conversation for many years,” said Muni Jensen, a former Colombian diplomat who is now a senior adviser at the Albright Stonebridge Group in Washington.   

Colombia has pleased the Biden administration by adopting some of Latin America’s most ambitious targets on climate change ahead of next month’s high-stakes United Nations summit on climate, while Ecuador is especially sensitive as home of the Galapagos Islands. 

In Bogota, officials said Blinken would meet with ministers from around the region on a humane migration policy amid a spike of desperate Haitians seeking to make the long trek to the United States from Colombia. 

Kevin Whitaker, a former U.S. ambassador to Colombia, said that a strong message from Blinken on democracy — and on issues broader than just security cooperation — could have a significant impact at a time when U.S. competitor China is making inroads in Latin America.   

“Democracy is on somewhat shaky legs in the hemisphere. We’ve seen authoritarian populism rise,” Whitaker said.   

The Trump era and the January 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol by his supporters “served to discredit the model of American democracy for certain elites,” he said.   

Friction with Venezuela 

Biden’s worldwide push toward democracy and away from Trump’s embrace of autocrats has proved subtle in Latin America.   

Seeking progress on climate, the Biden administration has stepped up talks with Latin America’s most populous nation, Brazil, whose far-right president, Jair Bolsonaro, has mused about rejecting next year’s election outcome. 

Biden has also kept up the pressure on autocratic leftist leaders, after Trump’s hard line was seen as paying political dividends in the key state of Florida.   

Blinken’s trip comes days after one of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro’s close aides, Alex Saab, was extradited to the U.S. to face money-laundering charges.   

He is accused of siphoning millions of dollars meant for food aid in the poverty-stricken country. 
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