OAS leader charts an independent course

Posted on Fri, Jun. 09, 2006

ORGANIZATION OF AMERICAN STATES
OAS leader charts an independent course
OAS Secretary General José Miguel Insulza is distancing himself from the
United States on issues that range from Cuba to free trade. But
Washington is not complaining.
BY PABLO BACHELET
pbachelet@MiamiHerald.com

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic - José Miguel Insulza's job is to keep
a watchful eye on Latin America's fickle politics.

That has put the Secretary General of the Organization of American
States squarely in the midst of conflagrations in Nicaragua, Haiti,
Bolivia, Ecuador and, increasingly, the tense Venezuela-United States
standoff -- possibly the biggest challenge to U.S. policy in the
hemisphere since the Cuban Revolution.

Generally, Insulza has gone eye-to-eye with the Bush administration,
often advocating that leaders who are elected democratically must also
rule democratically, a phrase the Bush administration uses to describe
Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez's heavy-handed populist rule.

But Insulza, nicknamed the Panzer in his native Chile for his ability to
take political heat with little apparent damage, is now speaking out
against U.S. policies in the region.

''I try to state things as fairly as possible,'' he told The Miami
Herald as an OAS General Assembly was winding down this week. ``But when
things are controversial, you have to rely on your principles.''

Though the OAS often appears to get bogged down in seemingly long-winded
rituals of speeches, resolutions and debates, its response is crucial --
and the voice of its secretary general the weightiest -- when elected
governments in the region are threatened, which occurred last year in
Bolivia and Ecuador.

Insulza's principled talk has included chastising the Bush
administration for its Cuba policy, criticizing Washington's push for a
hemispheric free trade agreement and suggesting that the United States
was overreacting to Chávez.

WIDELY RESPECTED

Analysts say those criticisms have differentiated Insulza, widely
respected for his shrewd political instincts and cool head in a crisis,
from his predecessor César Gaviria, a former Colombian president who
rarely challenged the Organization of American States' top financial
contributor.

''He has definitely drawn a line in the sand between himself and the
United States more than Gaviria ever did,'' said Peter Quilter, a former
advisor to Gaviria. ``He's trying to make sure that nobody accuses him
of being too close to the United States. He's very conscious of that.''

Last month, Insulza told The Miami Herald that the United States was
wrong to insist that a statement supporting the long-stalled Free Trade
Area of the Americas be included in the final Declaration of Santo
Domingo, approved at the OAS General Assembly. The trade mention was
eventually dropped.

''Whether or not we put the FTAA in a piece of paper will not solve the
issue,'' Insulza said. Though most of the OAS' 34 members back the FTAA,
the initiative is being resisted by Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela and
others that believe it presents a raw deal unless U.S. agricultural
barriers are removed -- something Washington is reluctant to do.

On Cuba, Insulza has criticized the apparent U.S. reluctance to
extradite to Venezuela the Cuban anti-Castro activist Luis Posada
Carriles, accused of masterminding a 1976 bombing of a Cuban airliner.
On the establishment of a post-Castro transition coordinator in the
State Department, he said, ``There's no transition and it's not your
country.''

He has also suggested the OAS establish more contacts with Cuba's
communist regime, arguing that the European Union and the United Nations
could sideline the hemisphere's prime political entity in a future
democratic transition in Cuba. Cuba was suspended from the OAS in 1962.

After Washington suspended free trade talks with Ecuador, following
Quito's seizure of assets of California-based Occidental Petroleum,
Insulza declared that the decision was ''too hasty'' and had caused
''resentment'' in Ecuador.

Insulza also has appeared to play down the threat posed by Chávez to
Latin America's stability, telling a Chilean newspaper that the
Venezuelan president was not a ''danger'' to the region -- contradicting
U.S. assertions.

So far, U.S. officials have chosen to overlook Insulza's criticisms.

PRAISE FROM RICE

In February, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice praised Insulza as an
''active'' secretary general after the former Chilean interior minister
helped broker deals that eased tensions in Haiti and Nicaragua.

Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick, who attended the OAS meeting
this week, issued some unprompted praise for Insulza at a press
conference, saying the hemisphere was ''very fortunate'' to have Insulza
as a leader.

U.S. officials say they are aware that Latin America can be a political
minefield and that Insulza must maneuver carefully if he hopes to be
reelected to another five-year term. Insulza himself points out that
Latin America is experiencing a tough political environment, with 13
elections in 12 months.

Officials say they are taking more note of Insulza's actions rather than
his words. He is strengthening an internal OAS office that monitors
political developments, which will begin drafting reports on issues
ranging from the region's deficient justice systems to political parties.

This is in line with U.S. desires to shine a stronger beacon on Latin
America's institutional weaknesses but falls short of the Bush
administration's hopes that the OAS set up ways to automatically
intervene when democracies stumble. Insulza says OAS intervention can
only come when countries ask for it.

''The OAS can be an honest broker in the hemisphere,'' he said, ``but
never an intervention force.''

The portly 63-year-old Insulza has always possessed an independent streak.

After Gen. Augusto Pinochet's coup in 1973, he spent the next 15 years
in exile in Mexico. He was a mostly forgotten figure when he returned in
1988, but went on to hold key cabinet posts for nearly 11 straight
years, a record for Chile.

When Pinochet was detained in London in 1998 after Spain sought his
extradition, Insulza defied his own Socialist Party by forcefully
arguing that Pinochet should be tried in Chile, not in Europe.

''It was clear to me that I was not defending Pinochet, I was defending
a principle,'' he said.

Recent polls show Insulza is one of the most respected and popular
figures in his country.

The White House initially balked at Insulza's candidacy when the OAS
post became open last year and supported a former conservative
Salvadoran President, Francisco Flores. When Flores backed out, the
State Department supported Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Ernesto Derbez.
Rice eventually helped break a deadlock by agreeing to back Insulza.

Most observers say Insulza has done a good job given the circumstances.

''He's got a hemisphere with an awful lot of controversy going on,''
said Harriet Babbitt, a former top official at the U.S. Agency for
International Development and a member of an Inter-American Dialogue
task force that recently issued an in-depth report on the OAS.

``There's no way to do that job and maintain perfect harmony with 34
member states.''

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