Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
U.S. fails to get regional rebuke of Venezuela
CANCUN, Mexico — The United States has failed to muster regional support for condemnation of Venezuela despite basic agreements that the government of President Nicolas Maduro has overstepped democratic bounds.
In a conference in the Mexican resort city of Cancun, the 34-nation Organization of American States argued over how to address ongoing violence in Venezuela as massive demonstrations challenge the socialist government.
Venezuela walked out of the meetings and said it will become the first nation to withdraw from the OAS.
Delcy Rodriguez, foreign minister of Venezuela, said Tuesday that the OAS agenda had been hijacked by the United States in an “immoral” gesture.
“This is an agenda of attack against Venezuela,” she said. “We are looking for a constructive agenda.”
She came into the meeting briefly, then turned around and marched out. She also had walked out Monday as the member states of the region’s most important multilateral body debated a resolution condemning Venezuela, a measure that failed. She later returned to the cavernous hall where the conference was taking place.
Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan said the United States has “joined with a growing number of democracies” to urge Venezuela to release political prisoners and respect elections. He called the resolution a “modest step,” not an intervention.
“We can no longer stand by and watch this suffering,” he said, adding that the “principle of non-intervention cannot be used to justify inaction.”
Rodriguez responded with a diatribe against U.S. “imperialism,” and repeated Venezuela’s vow not to recognize any OAS resolution against it.
She added that no one could tell Venezuela what to do, least of all “the lapdogs of imperialism.”
President Donald Trump has held up Venezuela as a major concern in Latin America and imposed economic sanctions against the Venezuelan vice president and most of its Supreme Court, for their failure to uphold democratic principles. The United States also accused Vice President Tareck El Aissami of being a major drug trafficker.
The United States gained great goodwill in Latin America — and was able to galvanize the region over Venezuela — after former President Barack Obama finally ended decades of estrangement with Cuba in 2015 and renewed diplomatic ties. That put the United States on par with the rest of the region.
But Trump announced plans to reverse parts of that opening in a speech last week in Miami. That, say many diplomats, has weakened Washington’s hand in the region.
Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray said in an interview that time would tell how much damage the Trump reversal would have on the ability of the United States to rally support against Venezuela.
“We will continue to work very closely with the United States and very closely with Cuba,” he said. “It’s really a country-bycountry thing.”
Mexico had joined the United States in leading the way on condemning the Venezuelan government.
Working behind the scenes, the two countries had chalked up what they thought was a majority of member states to approve a resolution calling on Maduro to reconsider an attempt to rewrite the constitution, a move that would allow him to remain in power probably indefinitely.
But at the last minute Monday, several Caribbean countries decided to abstain. The United States thought the countries were on board with the resolution, but with their absence, the two-thirds majority required under OAS rules fell short.