If the resolution promoted by seven countries prospers, another extraordinary session will be convened where the initiative needs two thirds of the accessions
A commission of the OAS began today to evaluate the technical aspects of the pronouncements on which the General Assembly will vote today, the most important political forum of the organization that brings together the majority of the foreign ministers of the Americas.
The most important thing is the resolution that will be voted on Venezuela because it includes a point for the suspension of the country of the organism.
However, the suspension would not be automatic: it would be necessary to convene an extraordinary General Assembly with the foreign ministers of the Americas and obtain the support of 24 countries, that is, two thirds of the members of the OAS (Cuba belongs to the organization but does not participate in him since 1962).
Two diplomatic sources from two different countries told Efe that the initiators of the initiative have the 18 votes necessary to approve the resolution and start the process to suspend Venezuela, but they have not yet achieved the 24 necessary to finally suspend the Caribbean country.
The resolution was promoted by the United States and the 14 countries of the Lima Group, a block that accounts for more than 90% of the American population: Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guyana, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru and Saint Lucia.
Its approval would serve to establish the criterion of legality and legitimacy of the American continent with respect to the Government of Nicolás Maduro and, depending on its scope, could lead to changes in diplomatic relations, the imposition of sanctions and visa restrictions.
The text of the resolution includes a condemnation of the May 20 elections, in which he was re-elected as President Nicolás Maduro, and a petition to accept humanitarian aid.
Venezuela already asked to leave the OAS in April 2017, although its exit will not be effective until 2019. Although it has asked to leave the OAS, its expulsion would have great symbolic content.
On the other hand, a resolution “in support of the Nicaraguan people” presented by the United States and Nicaragua will be debated today in the General Assembly due to the pressures of civil society for the violent demonstrations that began on April 18 and that have left more than one hundred dead.
The declaration, a formula with little commitment and great tradition in the OAS, demands the “immediate cessation” of violence, at the same time urging the Government of Nicaragua and the rest of the actors to “demonstrate commitment and participate constructively in peaceful negotiations” to solve the crisis.
In addition, today three members of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (CorteIDH) will be elected, based in Costa Rica, and a resolution will be voted to ask Argentina and the United Kingdom to resume negotiations on the sovereignty dispute over the Falkland Islands. .
The General Assembly began on Monday and is held at the organization’s headquarters in Washington.
