Following through on its threat, Venezuela's government announced on Wednesday it is quitting the Organization of American States, accusing the regional body of meddling in its internal affairs over weeks of political unrest. The step was taken just hours after violent clashes in Caracas between security forces and protesters during yet another march against the socialist government of President Nicolas Maduro.
The Organization of American States Secretary-General Luis Almagro said Wednesday that the Cuban government denied him permission to enter the island to receive a human rights prize created to honor late dissident Oswaldo Paya. Mexican ex-President Felipe Calderon and former Chilean Education Minister Maria Aylwin were denied entry to the island the day before.
Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro admitted he was mad as a hatter, but mad with love for Venezuela, the Bolivarian revolution and for the deceased leader Hugo Chavez, in a clear reference to previous statements, without mentioning him, of Uruguayan ex president Jose Mujica.
Uruguayan ex president Jose Mujica said on Wednesday that in Venezuela “everybody has gone nuts” and president Nicolas Maduro is “mad as a hatter”. The former leader was reacting to the controversy between his former foreign minister and now OAS secretary general, Luis Almagro and Maduro.
Tensions over a disputed border between Guatemala and Belize again erupted over the weekend with a new shooting incident less than a month after Belizean soldiers killed a teen. Belize said one of its patrols had to shoot and wound a Guatemalan man who threatened them with a machete after he was found on the Belize side of the border with companions illegally prospecting for gold.
Venezuela's foreign minister accused the United States of conspiring to topple President Nicolás Maduro's government in conjunction with Venezuela's opposition. Minister Delcy Rodríguez says the plot includes attempting to remove Maduro's government from the Organization of American States in conjunction with the organization's secretary-general, Luis Almagro.
The Organization of American States (OAS) will conduct, at the request of the governments of Belize and Guatemala, an independent investigation of the April 20 border incident that led to the death of the Guatemalan minor Julio Rene Alvarado Ruano and in which his father and brother were wounded.
The Organization of American States, OAS, has called on the governments of Belize and Guatemala to avoid an escalation of tensions, and renew efforts to establish a lasting peace. The OAS statement follows a previous repudiating “the death of a Guatemalan minor [Julio Alvarado, 13] at the hands of a Belizean patrol”.
Brazilian president President Dilma Rousseff received on Friday in Brasilia the Organization of American States, (OAS), Secretary General Luis Almagro to discuss on the current situation in the country, some regional issues and the role played by OAS.
The OAS Electoral Observation Mission (EOM/OAS) to the general elections in Peru presented on Monday its preliminary technical report on Sunday’s general election, in which it recommends a deep electoral reform, including the system of disqualification of candidates.