US failure in
the OAS
FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida, June 7 – In an apparent
failure for US policy toward Latin America, AP
reported that the final document of the Organization
of American States (OAS) General Assembly does not
mention the proposal made by US Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice to "monitor democracies" on the
continent.
The proposal intended to convert the OAS into a
US vigilante over countries south of the Rio Grande
to preserve "democracy" as Washington understands it
ended up in the evening of Tuesday, June 7, in a
confusing text that raises the need for anticipating
crisis situations.
After countless hours of discussion and pressure
by US officials, the original Yankee proposal was
cast aside and the document only recognizes that OAS
Secretary General José Manuel Insulza should carry
out "previous consultations" with the Permanent
Council of Ambassadors to "devise proposals for
timely … initiatives for cooperation" in face of
crisis situations.
One of the document’s articles, read out on
Venezuelan Television by Venezuelan Foreign Minister
Alí Rodríguez, dealt Washington a harsh blow, by
reiterating full respect for the juridical equality
of states, sovereignty, political independence,
territorial integrity and non-intervention as
principles of international law that guarantee the
regional peace constituted in the organization’s
principles.
VENEZUELAN ANTI-TERRORISM RESOLUTION PASSED
The General Assembly of that regional forum
passed a resolution presented by Venezuela that
calls on the 34 member countries to extradite those
persons who "participate in the planning,
preparation, commission or financing of acts of
terrorism."
It also asks that asylum or the condition of
refugee should not be granted to persons when there
is clear evidence that they have committed terrorist
crimes.
