OAS needs to put house in order

Stein: OAS needs to put house in order
BY ANDRES OPPENHEIMER AOPPENHEIMER@MIAMIHERALD.COM
11/08/2014 7:00 AM 11/08/2014 8:53 PM

Uruguay and Guatemala have nominated candidates to replace Jose Miguel
Insulza, secretary general of the 34-country Organization of American
States. In the second part of an occasional series leading up to
January's vote, columnist Andres Oppenheimer asks former Guatemalan Vice
President Eduardo Stein five questions about his plans for the OAS.
Excerpts:

Which specific changes would you make at the OAS if elected Secretary
General?

▪ The next Secretary General must take a proactive role in shaping a
regional consensus on the organization's essential mission of promoting
and defending representative democracy and human rights. And also the
diversity and wealth of democratic quests in the hemisphere, as long as
they favor the well-being of all the population.

▪ The OAS needs an adequate political and administrative management
that should begin by putting the house in order, a thorough review of
its resources and begin to solve its financial deficit, which implies
the review the actual system of annual funding by member states. Also,
we should better prioritize the (OAS) agenda and establish efficient
internal mechanisms to allow the organization to better react to the
changes and political dynamics with emphasis in prevention, negotiation
and conflict resolution, that tend to weaken the member states´
democratic systems.

Panamá has invited Cuba to the Summit of the Americas to be held in that
country in 2015. The United States opposes Cuba's participation, saying
that under Summit of the Americas and OAS rules, only democratic
countries can participate in these summits. Venezuela and its allies, on
the other hand, say that if Cuba is not invited, they will not attend.
Who is right?

▪ The invitation per se has already become a non-issue. I believe there
is an emerging consensus in the region that Cuba should be represented
at the Summit of the Americas, and my impression is that the Cuban
leader is eager to participate.

▪ The Summit should be an opportunity for our leaders to get together
to discuss the pressing issues that impact the well-being of all of our
people. And also an opportunity for both the Cuban and the U.S.
presidents to draft constructive pathways for future better
understanding and overcome the anachronistic and detrimental
straightjacket of the blockade.

▪ We should all be more concerned about the agenda than about the
invitations. We should spend our time preparing for a meeting that will
address critical issues like access to quality education and health, the
eradication of hunger and illiteracy, citizen security, economic
opportunity and global competitiveness, and, of course, the state of
democracy and human rights.

Considering that many of us regard the OAS Human Rights Commission and
the OAS Office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression as
the OAS' most valuable agencies, what is your opinion of the efforts of
Ecuador, Venezuela and their allies to make changes in both of those
agencies?

▪ Every member state has the right to be heard on these issues, and my
impression is that the proposals made by a number of governments were
thoroughly and vigorously debated.

▪ Some governments have expressed specific concerns about the
Commission. And a good number of member states have made very clear that
they consider the Commission's work one of the most important
contributions of the Inter-American system. I come from a country where
the timely and expedient work of the Human Rights Commission saved the
lives of individuals, of familiaes, and even entire communities.

▪ I believe that the Commission has a very important job to do. It is
certainly not the role of the Secretary General to interfere with how
they carry out their mission. My role as Secretary General would be to
defend the importance of these entities and of the binding human rights
treaties they represent.

Do you think last year's elections in Venezuela were free and fair?
Should the OAS take steps that it hasn't taken in recent to insure that
its member countries not only hold free elections, but also have fair
and balanced electoral processes?

▪ The way in which the question is asked facilitates the answer: it
implies that it is not only the day of the voting that is important. But
the entire electoral process. Which starts with the conditions for true
and unfettered citizen participation, unrestricted political rights to
create and nurture parties, free access to media, etc.

▪ An essential ingredient is that the OAS must be invited by a member
state before it can observe elections.

▪ And when the OAS deploys a mission, it is always more effective and
useful if it has had sufficient time to examine the political context,
the conditions to participate and the campaign environment and evaluate
the technical preparations. Rather than arrive a couple of days before
the voting starts.

▪ The Inter-American Democratic Charter makes very clear that
representative democracy is about more than elections. To the extent
that our governments adhere to these principles of the rule of law,
respect for democracy and human rights, their people are better served.
I would hope that every member state will be open to that inter-American
solidarity, which contributes to stability and prosperity in the region
as a whole.

Your critics say that, despite a generally good record on human rights,
you have made a major mistake in trying to protect former dictator
Efrain Rios Montt from genocide charges in Guatemala. What is your response?

▪ I never did such a thing. A group of 12 citizens from different
backgrounds, with direct involvement in Guatemala´s public affairs and
the peace process, expressed — over a year ago in two public texts — our
concern about the need all of our society had for a rigorous due process
in an emblematic trial that seemed solely concentrated on genocide
charges that is extremely difficult to prove and seemed to obviate other
crimes against humanity.

▪ We insisted that all atrocities and crimes against humanity should be
examined and brought to justice: the forced displacement of families and
entire communities, the tortures, the forced disappearances, the massacres.

▪ We never pretended to "protect" anybody. Our main concern, in any
case, was to contribute to the future of peace, justice and
reconciliation in our country.

Source: Stein: OAS needs to put house in order | The Miami Herald -
http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/issues-ideas/article3669707.html