OAS won't discuss applying democratic charter to Venezuela

The Organization of American States (OAS) will not discuss applying its democratic charter to Venezuela during its 46th General Assembly, the chief of the bloc has said.

OAS Secretary General Luis Almagro made the remarks at a press conference on Sunday, referring to the controversial call for applying the Inter-American Democratic Charter (IDC) against Venezuela, which had condemned the initiative as an imperialist intervention.

The bloc was working on "an intense agenda which will discuss themes such as democracy and human rights. However, Venezuela is definitely not on the agenda," Almagro said.

It has been expected that the summit, held in the Dominican Republic, will discuss the situation in Venezuela and the OAS' efforts to broker a dialogue between the government of President Nicolas Maduro and the opposition Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD).

Earlier this month, the OAS threw its support behind an initiative for dialogue for Venezuela, instead of applying the IDC. The dialogue, however, saw a setback when an initial meeting earlier this month was boycotted by the MUD.

In late May, Almagro called on the OAS to consider activating the IDC against Venezuela to respond to the country's worsening economic crisis and escalating clashes between loyalist and opposition forces.

• Created in 2001 with the aim of upholding democratic institutions among OAS members, the IDC allows actions to restore democracy if a member government impairs human rights. The IDC has only been activated twice before -- in 2002 for an attempted coup against late Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and in 2009 for a coup in Honduras.

• President Maduro has responded angrily to the call, saying Almagro had "usurped his function and sought to turn the OAS into a supranational power beyond its constitution" while calling on his country to guard against imperialist intervention.

With both Almagro and Maduro in Santo Domingo for the OAS summit, any discussions on the matter are likely to reignite the controversy.

The 46th General Assembly will be presided over by Dominican President Danilo Medina and will be attended by US Secretary of State John Kerry.
 [Xinhua -china.org.cn]
 14/6/16
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