THOMSON: With the OAS in Medellin

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By John R. Thomson

An air of nonexpectation permeated the recent 38th Annual General Assembly of the Organization of American States in Medellin, Colombia. A veteran attendee said, "The location changes yearly, the players less frequently. There is a sameness to the proceedingsthe results are always hard to define."

Every member of the 34- state OAS holds veto power. Thus, St. Kitts and Nevis, with fewer than 40,000 citizens, has an equal voice with other nations. This assures tepid resolutions, resulting in an essentially passive organization.

In a forum including three former OAS secretaries-general, Cesar Gaviria, secretary general in 1994-2004 and former president of Colombia, called the OAS "not an authoritarian group but a collective organization." He related that during his service, Guatemala stopped undermining the national judiciary and Peru's deposed President Alberto Fujimori was succeeded by the elected vice president, "not by military junta."

Mr. Gaviria noted two important considerations in forming the organization: "how to control the United States" and yet "how to include the U.S." in issues confronting the hemisphere.

None of the three confronted terrorism in general, nor the Colombian-based narco-trafficking, self-styled army, FARC. In seeming frustration, Colombia's Foreign Affairs Minister Fernando Araujo concluded proceedings: "Just as Europe and the United States have condemned terrorism, it is incumbent on the OAS to do so." In a clear reference to Colombia's guided missile strike that killed FARC leader Raul Reyes in Ecuador, he noted "the principle of territorial integrity is important, but that of the sovereignty of the citizenry is more so." Alas, he was one of only three leaders who faced the central issue of public security, later joined by Colombian President Alvaro Uribe and the U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte.

There were strong, though guarded, differences, particularly among South American member states. Ecuador called for OAS review of Interpol's affirmation that Raul Reyes' captured laptop computers were not altered by Colombian authorities. Venezuela insisted the evidence was fabricated and called for members to respect their neighbors' borders.

President Uribe defended Colombia's attack inside Ecuador. "Marxist ideology and narco-trafficking must be combated. The OAS should remain the guarantor of national and individual sovereignty. We are not interested in invading our neighbors, but we must defend our citizens against terrorism." He implored members to support Colombia's struggle to "live in peace."

The U.S. delegation's leader, Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte, used the general assembly's theme, "Youth and Democratic Values," to drive home President Uribe's point: "We cannot realize the economic and human promise of our hemisphere's youth when transnational crime, corruption and narco-trafficking threaten their freedom, safety and economic well-being." Mr. Negroponte, among others, observed that 15 years ago it would have been impossible to hold this meeting in Medellin but that today "it is a different city."

He emphasized that hemispheric security is a joint responsibility. "In Colombia, the government and military are courageously taking their country back from narco-terrorists. In Mexico and Central America, brave leaders are confronting gangs, organized crime and drug lords who are destroying life and public order. So, when regional leaders proposed a broad agenda for cooperation against criminals and drug traffickers in Central America and Mexico, the United States readily endorsed it."

Later, Mr. Negroponte said countries, specifically Venezuela, "must not give refuge to the FARC," which sent Caracas' Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro into a fury reminiscent of Hugo Chavez's 2006 behavior at the United Nations. Venezuela's 40-member delegation, twice the size of any other visiting country (the United States had 20 representatives, Mexico 19, Brazil 10), reminded one attendee of Soviet behavior at conferences during the Cold War: "They were everywhere, talking to hardly anyone in other delegations, watching, listening, whispering, exchanging note... and thoroughly unpleasant."

OAS Secretary General Jose Miguel Insulza described advances throughout the region, from education and health to economic growth. He noted the hemisphere was perhaps the world's least affected area in terms of food shortages, and lauded his own "youth and of democratic values" assembly theme. Mr. Insulza also focused on the Colombia-Ecuador crisis, and the internal Bolivian dispute, carefully not mentioning Venezuela in these contexts.

He said in what some considered purposely convoluted fashion, "When a member state of the OAS confronts the action of an armed group, as is the case of the FARC in Colombia, having committed terrorist acts typified in our Inter-American Convention Against Terrorism, it has the right to solicit support of the other member states to combat such aggression."

Peruvian Foreign Minister Jose Antonio Garcia Belaunde praised Peru's economic and social achievements, as well as its troop participation in OAS's effort to stabilize Haiti. Noting attempts to remove land mines from the Peru-Ecuador border and Peru's presiding over the Inter-American Committee Against Terrorism this year, he furthered the impression that President Alan Garcia's regime is one of the more mature governments in the region.

St. Vincent and the Grenadines' Foreign Minister Louis Straker detailed the issues facing youth and the need to strengthen democracy throughout the region, in what should have been the assembly's keynote address. Lengthy comments by most of the rest of his colleagues were pointless or platitudinous, or both.

Tellingly, dynamic dissident students from Venezuela's Fuerza Solidaria were not allowed to speak about "civil liberties" under Mr. Chavez. Still, 16 different individuals and organizations, ranging from a Paraguayan lesbian to a number of racially concerned groups, stated their cases.

Former Colombian President Alberto Lleras Camargo, the first OAS secretary general (1948-1954), received frequent respectful mention, although his premature resignation, in frustration at the organization's fractious, loquacious and inefficient ungovernability was not noted.

Some argue that these gatherings give diplomats a chance to exchange views. Moreover, substantial time is devoted to bilateral meetings where subjects of substance are sometimes discussed and - hopefully - occasionally resolved.

Venezuelan Ambassador Hidalgo Valero will not be present next year. He will soon be Hugo Chavez's representative at that other, world-class, multilateral organization where much is discussed but little accomplished: the United Nations.

John R. Thomson writes frequently on geopolitical matters, focused on developing countries where he has devoted 40 years to marketing and business development and served as a senior commercial diplomat during the Reagan administration.