OAS Rejects "Group of Friends" Plan from Langley


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OAS Rejects "Group of Friends"

(c) 1999 Reuters Limited
Wednesday June 9 12:14 AM ET 


U.S. Defense Plan Meets OAS Opposition, Is Shelved
By Ibon Villelabeitia

GUATEMALA CITY (Reuters) - A U.S. proposal to defend democracy throughout
the Western Hemisphere was shelved Tuesday after Mexico and other nations in
the Organization of American States (OAS) said it smacked of
interventionism.

The measure, which had been set to be adopted at the OAS's annual general
assembly meeting in Guatemala, would have allowed OAS members to turn to a
`Group of Friends'' to help prevent political crises such as a coup.

Under the draft's language, the `Group of Friends'' could have been called
by the OAS secretary general, any one of the 35 member states or the
permanent council.

Countries such as Chile, Peru and Mexico objected to that language, saying
it would interfere in domestic affairs. Mexico's ambassador to the OAS,
Claude Heller, said democracy could not be imposed by decree.

`We can't force solutions, means and ways when there is no basic
consensus,'' Heller said.

OAS delegates late Tuesday also re-elected former Colombian president Cesar
Gaviria, who was unopposed, to another 5-year term as the OAS's secretary
general.

That came at the conclusion of the three-day meeting to discuss issues
including international financial crises, the war on drugs and corruption,
human rights, a hemispheric free-trade zone and freedom of the press.

But the final day's most contentious issue was the U.S. proposal.

`Every action by the OAS has to be based on the principle that each country
needs to find its own solution for its problems,'' Peru's Foreign Minister
Fernando de Trazegnies told delegates.

`When somebody suddenly storms my house and comes in, I don't consider him a
friend,'' de Trazegnies said.

Peter Romero, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemispheric
Affairs, told delegates the measure was aimed at consolidating democracy by
preventing constitutional impasses and instability.

`Democratic institutions require special care and vigilance, especially in
times of economic and social turmoil,'' Romero told delegates.

The U.S. mission said it will send the draft to the OAS's permanent council
for further discussion.

`It is not uncommon in these meetings to float an idea around to see if
there is consensus, but some countries have expressed concerns over the
measure so now we have to try to work it out,'' Victor Marrero, the U.S.
ambassador to the OAS, told Reuters.


Comment:

If Reuters applied quotation marks around US Government rhetoric as
they do Cuban Govt rhetoric, this text would be sprinkled with arch
"quote-unquote"s.

Reuters' own headline:
     U.S. *Defense* Plan  

     U.S. proposal to *defend democracy* throughout the Western
     Hemisphere...

Excuse me? DEFEND WHAT?!? Against WHAT THREAT, exactly, must the US "defend"
democracy? Where are Reuters' quotation marks? Or do they only apply to
historical facts, long documented and well established, like assassination
plots by the CIA against their perceived "enemies"  ???

Someone rode a time machine to get this story, or else it's 1953 all over
again. They'll use a plan like this one against Venezuela.....NY Transfer
 
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