Press. voanews.com
Top diplomats from across the Western Hemisphere held an urgent meeting
Wednesday aimed at ending Venezuela's worsening democratic crisis, but
struggled to reach consensus about whether foreign nations had any right to
intervene in Venezuela's internal affairs.
At an emotional gathering of the Organization of American States,
foreign ministers broadly shared one hope: that Venezuela, which has vowed to
leave the regional group in protest of its potential intervention, would
reconsider. Beyond that, there were few points of agreement.
"We're talking about people dying, dying,'' said Brazil's Foreign
Minister Aloysio Nunes. He argued that democracy was "not a luxury'' and
asked plaintively: "What can we do collectively to make a difference, to
reach out to the Venezuelan citizens, to rescue their fundamental freedoms?''
But left-leaning nations that have been sympathetic to Venezuelan
President Nicolas Maduro insisted the OAS had no business interfering in the
crisis, in which protests against Maduro's government have left at least 60
people dead. Nicaraguan diplomat Luis Alvarado said his country condemned and
rejected the attempt to "subvert the rights'' of a sovereign country.
"We demand the end of the political lynching,'' Alvarado said
through a translator. "Nothing can be imposed on the great and sovereign
nation of Venezuela. It is absolutely essential that these actions cease.''
His comments were echoed by Bolivia's Foreign Minister Fernando
Huanacuni Mamani, who accused the OAS of choosing "aggression'' and
"confrontation.''
Protesters have flooded the streets of Venezuela for months — including
on Wednesday — demanding new elections and faulting Maduro's leadership for the
country's triple-digit inflation, surging crime rates, and dire shortages of
food and medicine. The opposition accuses Maduro of putting Venezuela on a path
toward full-on authoritarianism.
Maduro has vowed to resolve the crisis by forming a special assembly to
rewrite the constitution, a proposal protesters have rejected as yet another
attempt by Maduro to consolidate power. Maduro's opposition says the process
outlined by Maduro for selecting the assembly is designed to skew it in his
favor by stacking the assembly with his supporters.
At Wednesday's meeting in Washington, foreign ministers were considering
two draft resolutions. Both drafts call for a reduction in violence but differ
in their wording on other demands for Maduro to change course. Given the
concerns voiced by Nicaragua and others, it was unclear whether the group would
manage to find enough common ground to proceed.
place at OAS headquarters just a few blocks from Tillerson's State
Department offices. In his stead, he sent Tom Shannon, the U.S. undersecretary
of state for political affairs, who urged Venezuela to stay in the group and
defended its right to try to resolve the crisis.
"We believe there is an international role in the rebuilding of
trust among the main political actors in Venezuela as well as the reduction of
tensions,'' Shannon said.