OAS chief accuses Argentina's Macri of obstructing moves to censure Venezuela.
A row has broken out inside the Organisation of American States (OAS) over efforts to chastise and possibly suspend Venezuela, with Argentina providing ideologically unlikely support for the embattled government of Nicolás Maduro.
In a telephone interview with The Guardian, the OAS secretary general, Luis Almagro, accused Argentina’s ambassador to the OAS of holding up efforts to call a general assembly so members can discuss Venezuela’s humanitarian crisis, human rights violations and detentions of political prisoners.
His complaint comes amid reports that Argentina’s right-wing president, Mauricio Macri, is trying to cut a deal with the left-wing administration in Caracas over the appointment of the next United Nations secretary general. Macri is believed to be seeking support for the candidacy of Argentina’s foreign minister, Susan Malcorra.
If so, this appears to run contrary to Macri’s promise in last November’s presidential election campaign, when he vowed to confront Venezuela over what he described as its democratic failings.
Argentina’s ambassador to the OAS, Juan José Arcuri, has used his position of chairman of the regional body’s permanent council to delay and divert moves to invoke Article 20 of the organisation’s Democratic Charter, which can lead to suspension. To initiate discussions on Article 20 requires a simple majority of the 35 member states. There would still be a long way to go from there to suspension, which would require a two-thirds majority. This is far from certain.
First, the Argentine chairman has to call an assembly, which he has so far declined to do. Instead he organised a more softly worded declaration by the permanent council on the situation in Venezuela that called for talks.
Almagro accused the chairman of failing to respect “the right order.” Although he welcomed the first council discussion on Venezuela since 2014, he said the declaration omitted his key recommendations, including the release of political prisoners, allowing international organisations help to alleviate the humanitarian crisis, measures to improve public security and acceptance of a recall referendum this year.
Noting the considerable differences that remain, he called on the Argentine president to intervene. “At the end of the day, we expect Macri to fulfill what he promised during his campaign,” said the secretary general.
At: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jun/04/oas-accuses-argentina-venezuela-luis-almagro
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Being a two-timer didn't help Macri in his two previous marriages, and it's certainly not going to help him in the shark tank of international diplomacy.
