The 52nd OAS General Assembly took place in Lima, Peru, between the attempts of the United States to impose its vision on Venezuela, Nicaragua, Cuba and the war in Ukraine, and the scandal over what a journalistic investigation describes as Luis Almagro's ethical misconduct.
By Roberto Morejón
The 52nd OAS General Assembly took place in Lima, Peru, between the attempts of the United States to impose its vision on Venezuela, Nicaragua, Cuba and the war in Ukraine, and the scandal over what a journalistic investigation describes as Luis Almagro's ethical misconduct.
The U.S. Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, made a pronouncement on the conflict in Eastern Europe, permeated by the Western vision, without the White House envoy paying attention to the essential topic of the meeting.
Indeed, the central theme of the Assembly of the illustrious OAS was "Together Against Inequality and Discrimination".
For the United States, a country that contributes more than half of the OAS budget, the issue was not crucial, and the Lima conclave passed over the issue of Nicaragua and Venezuela.
The head of U.S. diplomacy resorted to the tired argument that the Hemisphere should demand that Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba respect human rights, without the speaker examining the outrages in his nation against racial minorities.
While Blinken succeeded in getting the OAS to continue recognizing the representative of Venezuelan opponent Juan Guaidó, the maneuver was jeopardized when 19 members of the body advocated excluding the envoy of the phantom president.
It is true that the General Assembly had moments of lucidity when it approved a resolution in defense of Argentina's rights over the Falkland Islands and a Declaration of solidarity in the face of the assassination attempt against Vice-President Cristina Fernández.
But the scheme was shipwrecked in the hands of Secretary General Luis Almagro when a journalistic investigation published in the Los Angeles Times was revealed.
The controversial Almagro, accused of acting as an employee of the U.S. State Department, faces an investigation into allegations of having a consensual relationship with an assistant.
Beyond the affair of skirts, the accusation, if true, harms Almagro because the code of ethics of the OAS prohibits intimacy between bosses and subordinates.
Almagro's case against him grows daily, after standing out for his role in the coup d'état against Bolivian President Evo Morales and unilaterally managing the reins of the Washington-based organization.
Almagro's alleged misstep saved the General Assembly from yawning.
