2005: The OAS Rejected a US Proposal to” Monitor Democracy” as an Attack on Venezuela

In 2005, the OAS had 34 country members- all of the countries in the Western Hemisphere except Cuba. From June 5 to 7, 2005, the OAS convened its 35th General Assembly (GA) in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. All 34 countries attended and all were considered to be democracies. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice served as chair of the Meeting. In her opening speech Rice stated that the United States had a “renewed interest” in the OAS as a way to promote its global democracy agenda [1] Rice described a draft US proposal for setting up an OAS committee to” monitor” democracy in individual countries. The Committee would take testimony from civil society organizations (labor unions, lawyers, human rights groups and other NGO) that have concerns about their government. The Committee could recommend that the OAS take action against Governments “that are elected democratically, but do not govern democratically.”

Hugo Chavez had been elected President of Venezuela by wide margins in internationally observed democratic elections in 1998 and 2000 and his mandate was confirmed in a referendum in 2004 in which Chavez received 60% of the vote. However, the Bush administration had been making accusations against Chavez for using his country’s democratic institutions to impose authoritarian rule. [1] In her confirmation hearings, Rice referred to Chavez as a “democratically elected leader who governs in an illiberal way”.

The US proposal faced a hostile reception from many countries in part because it was viewed as a thinly veiled attempt to attack Venezuela and support Venezuelan opposition groups [3][4] Most Latin American leaders said that they did not share Washington’s concern about Chavez. ”I don’t think any country wants to take action against Venezuela, “said Aristides Royo, the Ambassador from Panama.[4]

Delegates were skeptical of U S motives, interpreting the proposal as a move to legitimize unilateralism with the cloak of OAS multilateral support [3] Many delegates feared it would be a carte blanche for the OAS to intervene politically in a country that has been declared undemocratic. A major complaint was that the OAS must not be allowed to become a Security Council for the Americas that could unilaterally intervene in the affairs of its member states.

The OAS rejected the US proposal to monitor democracy. The final document agreed by the 34 members was considerably vaguer, simply reaffirming the commitment to democracy. The rejection of the US proposal was seen as a “sharp setback for the Bush Administration’s Latin America policy” [2]. Some analysts saw the Meeting illustrated how “out of step” the US had become from the region [3]



 

1.     CNN, OAS members balk at US intervention plan, June 6, 2005.

2.     New York Times, Latin States Shun US Plan to Watch Over Democracy, June 9, 2005.

3.     Abelson, Adam, OAS 2005: The Democracy Debate, FLACSO, Observatorio No 12, diciembre, 2005

4.    New York Times, US Proposal in the OAS Draws Fire as an Attack on Venezuela, May,22,2005

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