RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), Luis Almagro, spoke about the migratory crisis caused by the Nicolas Maduro regime in the region and the challenges that the countries will face as a result of the crisis triggered by the coronavirus.
In his opening speech to the General Assembly, Almagro stressed: “The OAS member states are still facing one of the most severe migratory crises in the world, caused by the Venezuelan dictatorship.”
“Migrants are often the first to lose their jobs. Most do not have access to health services and tend to live in overcrowded conditions, where social distancing is difficult,” he said.
Then he said that “the coronavirus exposed the fragility of the political and economic systems in which we live. We must unite to move forward,” he urged.
“Our hemisphere became the epicenter of the pandemic. There is no safe haven from this invisible enemy. Like no other crisis in recent times, Covid-19 reminds us that we are all connected and that individual decisions have immediate consequences at the local, national and global levels,” he emphasized.
The OAS began a two-day General Assembly on Tuesday in which the situation in Nicaragua and Venezuela will be the main topic of a meeting that was deferred by the pandemic, which has severely impacted the region.
The petition by six countries for the deployment of an electoral mission in Nicaragua for the 2021 elections is one of the main topics of the meeting of foreign ministers and ambassadors.
Nicaragua plans to hold elections in November 2021, in which Daniel Ortega, in government since 2007, will likely seek to run again.
Canada, Chile, Colombia, Paraguay, the United States and Venezuela – whose delegate represents the country’s Parliament and not the Maduro government – introduced a draft resolution for Nicaragua to accept the deployment of an electoral mission that includes independent observers.
These will be the first elections since the wave of protests that shook the country in 2018, a mobilization that began with demonstrations against a social security reform and that led to a demonstration of rejection of the government and the repression of which left at least 328 dead.
Venezuela – which has legislative elections scheduled for December 6th this year – is also at the top of the agenda.
Colombia, supported by Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Paraguay, Peru, the United States, Uruguay and Venezuela’s Parliament, submitted a draft resolution entitled “The lack of minimal democratic conditions to ensure free, fair and transparent elections” in Venezuela.
The countries expressed their “concern” that actions conducted by the Maduro regime – which is not recognized as legitimate by over 50 countries – will undermine the electoral process.
The Maduro regime withdrew from the regional forum in April 2019 and now the country’s seat is held by Gustavo Tarre, who was appointed by the National Assembly.
The OAS meeting was to be held in June in the Bahamas, but was deferred because of the pandemic.
Source: infobae