Cuba and Venezuela Move Forward on Integration
Posted on 04/29/2005 12:08:07 PM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
SANTIAGO, Chile - The Chilean candidate to head the Organization of American States won the race Friday after his U.S.-backed rival withdrew in a deal that included a Chilean vow to bolster democracy in Latin America, including Cuba.
The agreement made Chile's Interior Minister José Miguel Insulza certain to win the post of secretary general when the OAS meets Monday in Washington, because of the withdrawal of Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Ernesto Derbez.
The agreement, brokered on the side of a democracy conference taking place in Santiago, ended a stalemate that had threatened to divide the 34-member bloc along regional and ideological lines. On April 11, Insulza and Derbez tied 17-17 through five rounds of OAS voting.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, along with Derbez, Insulza, and the foreign ministers of Chile, Canada, Paraguay, Colombia and El Salvador appeared to have formed the core that negotiated the deal.
Insulza has been supported by most South American nations, including Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, a firm opponent of the Bush administration. Derbez enjoyed the support of the United States, Canada and Central America.
The announcement appeared to be a political victory for Rice. U.S. officials said she worked hard to bring the two sides together and delayed her departure Friday from Santiago to El Salvador -- the next stop in her four-country. five day Latin American swing -- by several hours to seal the deaal.
Insulza later read a statement, worked out with Derbez and other top diplomats, which included key concepts urged by the Bush administration.
''It is indispensable to underscore also that I believe essential that governments that are elected democratically, govern in a democratic way,'' Insulza said. U.S. officials said this statement was included at Rice's insistence and referred to Chavez.
Rice has repeatedly stated her concerns over Chavez' increasingly undemocratic way, and has called for the OAS to be more forceful in watching out for democratic regimes.
Cuba and Venezuela Move Forward on Integration
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