Venezuela to pull out of OAS
Region snubbed as violent protests rage
CARACAS: Venezuela says it is quitting the Organisation of American States (OAS) in anger at pressure from the bloc over the government’s handling of a deadly political crisis.
The announcement late on Wednesday raised international tension over Venezuela, where unrest has left 28 people dead this month.
Echoed by the US and EU, the OAS has led an international chorus of concern over the economic and political chaos in the major oil-exporting country.
Bristling at the pressure, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Delcy Rodriguez said late on Wednesday the government would launch a two-year process to pull out of the Washington-based regional diplomatic grouping.
Yesterday, they were to “present a letter of complaint to the OAS and we will begin a process that will take 24 months”, she said in a televised address. She branded the OAS an “interventionist coalition” led by Washington.
A defiant President Nicolas Maduro tweeted: “I’m calling for the people’s civic-military unity in this battle for independence and peace for our country.”
OAS Secretary-General Luis Almagro has dubbed Mr Maduro a “dictator” for stifling the opposition.
On Wednesday, the permanent council of the 35-nation OAS agreed to hold a meeting of their foreign ministers to discuss the crisis — a decision Venezuela had forewarned would prompt it to exit. The OAS has voiced concern about the state of democracy in Venezuela, where Mr Maduro is resisting opposition pressure to remove him from office.
So far this month, 28 people have been killed in anti-government protests that have erupted into clashes with riot police, the attorney general’s department says.
Venezuela has suffered an economic collapse fuelled by a plunge in international prices for its crucial oil exports. Mr Maduro says the shortages and the protests are part of a US-backed plot to topple him.
Opposition parliamentary leader Julio Borges told a news conference further street protests were planned for yesterday. He said lawmakers would hold a session on proposals to “rescue democracy” and then march to where one of the latest casualties died in eastern Caracas.
That fatality occurred on Wednesday, as security forces elsewhere fired tear gas, water cannon and plastic bullets to stop protesters advancing into central Caracas. Protesters threw stones and petrol bombs.
Interior Minister Nestor Reverol tweeted that two soldiers were wounded in Caracas by armed men on motorbikes who he said were “contracted by the terrorist rightwing”.
Maduro supporters also staged a counter-rally.