Call for Venezuela to respect ‘democracy’

Venezuela’s government came under new pressure as the body that represents 35 nations across the Americas called on Nicolás Maduro’s administration to respect the “functioning of democracy”.

Members of the Organisation of American States, the Washington-based regional body, met on Tuesday to demand dialogue between Mr Maduro’s government and the opposition, as Venezuela endures its worst economic and political crisis in living memory.

“There is a continental clamour that goes from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego,” Luis Almagro, OAS secretary-general, told the Financial Times. “The continent is telling the [Maduro] regime to release political prisoners, it is saying it wants democracy for the country, that is essential, it is fundamental.”

Last week, 14 countries urged the Venezuelan government to release “political prisoners”, hold elections and respect the decisions of the opposition-led legislature.

During Tuesday’s extraordinary meeting, 20 OAS nations, including the US, Mexico and Brazil, called for “concrete proposals” to deliver a diplomatic solution in Venezuela.

Without mentioning elections or jailed dissidents this time, OAS vowed to act “within the institutional framework”, which includes its democratic charter. This committed members to declare that any country where the democratic order is interrupted or altered could be suspended. 

The charter was put in place in 2001 following the autocratic period of Alberto Fujimori’s rule in Peru in the 1990s. It was also aimed at preventing a comeback of Latin America’s military dictatorships.

Tuesday’s session at the OAS coincided with a US Congress hearing on Venezuela and fresh democratic calls from Federica Mogherini, the EU’s foreign policy chief.

Venezuelans are suffering a double-digit recession, triple-digit inflation and chronic shortages of basic goods. Last year the government quashed a referendum initiative to remove Mr Maduro from office and postponed regional elections to 2017. 

Vatican-sponsored talks between officials and the opposition have failed to make meaningful gains and many Venezuelans fear next year’s presidential elections will be cancelled.

As Venezuela’s top court, which critics say is servile to Mr Maduro’s regime, moved towards limiting lawmakers’ immunity, Mr Almagro said the country had “entered into an authoritarian and dictatorial dynamic”.

Mr Almagro, a leftwing former foreign minister of Uruguay, has sought to galvanise the strongest members of the American community to pressure Mr Maduro. The more drastic action could mean Venezuela’s suspension from the organisation. 

“When the country has laughed at everyone, when it has systematically violated all judicial elements of the Inter-American system, when it has given no answers to what was asked in order to re-establish the democratic order and to solve the alteration of the constitutional order, then the last step is suspending it,” he said.

To suspend Venezuela, two-thirds of the 34 active member states of OAS would have to agree in a vote set for June. Venezuela can count on the support of a handful of leftwing governments, such as Bolivia, and small Caribbean states to which it has provided subsidised oil over the years.

“Sanctions against a country should be the last resort, after there has been no answer,” from the government, said Mr Almagro. The US has targeted sanctions against senior Venezuelan officials, including vice-president Tareck El Aissami, for alleged links to drug trafficking, and others on human rights abuses. A suspension from OAS could also threaten disbursements from multilateral lenders.

However, analysts at Eurasia Group said the move by OAS would “have little impact” in Venezuela. “The government will continue to do everything in its power to avoid regime change and can depict the OAS actions as part of a broader imperialist attack on Venezuela,” the consultancy said.

Venezuela has been the stone in the shoe of Mr Almagro since he took over the reins of OAS almost two years ago. This week Delcy Rodríguez, the Opec-nation’s foreign minister, called the OAS secretary-general a “dark character” whose mandate was to “obsessively attack” Venezuela.

“Insults do not affect me,” Mr Almagro said, “they actually portray those who utter them.”