It didn’t seem like much at first—the vote to approve the agenda at June 23 meeting of the OAS Permanent Council. But behind the scenes, Venezuela had been trying to head off a discussion over the state of its democracy. It lost, and with some interesting defections.
Did I miss something? No collective call for dialogue, not even a meeting wrap up by the Ambassador from Argentina. Just a call for lunch. Does that make the whole endeavor of convening the Permanent Council to discuss Venezuela a bust? Hardly.
Este jueves, a pedido de Almagro, se considerará en la OEA la activación de la Carta Democrática Interamericana contra Venezuela. Si bien es probable que la region no apruebe que hubo una alteración del orden constitucional en este país, el mero acto de debatir la situación aumentará la presión para que Maduro acepte el referéndum revocatorio.
In Managua to conduct research on the planned Nicaraguan pan-isthmian canal, our regular contributor, R. Evan Ellis, was unceremoniously shown the exit after less than 24 hours. A professional, detailed scholar—as well as a great guy—why didn’t the Nicaraguan government want him there?
The international community is trying to encourage the Venezuelan government and the opposition to sit down to a dialogue. But democratic dialogue requires commitment to principles, and the government has never shown—nor is showing now—any willingness to commit to those values.
Según Fundamedios, “en las redacciones de los diarios ya no son los periodistas los que deciden los contenidos, las decisiones las toman los abogados de los diarios.”
Secretary General Luis Almagro has invoked the Democratic Charter of the OAS, calling for a meeting of the body’s Permanent Council to discuss the situation in Venezuela. How the hemispheric body responds will be a test of its role and future in a divided hemisphere.
Fear is growing in the Canadian press that Republican nominee Donald Trump, the real estate mogul and reality TV star with a flair for shouting the unthinkable, may actually become the next president of the United States.
With Haiti stuck in yet another election impasse, it’s time to re-evaluate and re-orient U.S. policy toward the beleaguered island nation. The first step is requiring Haiti’s political class to take more responsibility.
Global Americans/LatinAmericaGoesGlobal.org is 1 year old! To celebrate this admittedly minor milestone, the editors picked over our contributions from the past 12 months and chose our favorites.
