In the recent OAS General Assembly held in Washington DC., the member states expressed their “sincere gratitude and deep appreciation” to former OAS Secretary General (1984-1994), Brazilian diplomat Joao Clemente Baena Soares (died June 7), for his contribution to peace, human rights human rights and democracy in the Americas. Prior to the OAS, Baena was the general secretary of Itamaraty. During his term, member states modified the purposes and scope of the Organization. After the return of democracy in important countries of the Americas, in 1985 its members amended the Constitutive Charter to include the promotion and consolidation of representative democracy as one of its main purposes. In 1992 they adopted art. 9 which provides for the suspension from the Organization of any government of a member that has not resulted from a democratic process. Thus, the OAS went from dedicating itself to promoting peace, security, and good relations among the member states, to dealing with their internal issues, when it was a threat or breach of the democratic order.
With his negotiating and persuasive skills, Baena Soares managed to that the member states cede absolute sovereignty and confer new “powers” or political faculties on the Secretary General –something unlikely in an intergovernmental body– authorizing him to bring to the attention of the OAS Permanent Council or General Assembly “any matter that, in their opinion, could threaten the peace and security of the hemisphere” (art. 110). Then, at the 1989 General Assembly, member states entrusted the Secretary General with organizing and sending electoral observation missions (EOMs) at the request of a member. This resulted from arduous negotiations between members who perceived the EOMs as “interventionist” and those who saw them as an instrument to promote democracy and peace in Central America. The event marked a turning point in favor of international electoral monitoring. MOEs are today widely recognized and sought after.
In 1990 the members authorized the general secretary to establish the Unit for the Promotion of Democracy (UPD), in order to offer States that request it “a program of support and… advice or assistance to preserve or strengthen their political institutions and democratic procedures,” and to “advise the Secretary General on matters related to with the work of the Unit.” (The author was part of the group of advisers in charge of such functions). These paradigmatic changes opened the way for the OAS and its Secretary General to contribute to the peace and democratization process in Central America. The militarized governments of El Salvador and Guatemala were fighting the Castro-communist guerrillas, and the Sandinista government in Nicaragua was facing the US-backed Nicaraguan Resistance (“Contras”). In November 1986, Baena Soares and the Peruvian Pérez de Cuéllar, Secretary General of the UN, in an unprecedented cooperative effort, agreed to facilitate the negotiation process initiated by the Rio Group and to monitor compliance with the “peace agreements”. and democracy.”
Baena Soares participated as an observer and on some occasions as a facilitator. of the negotiations between the Sandinista government and the “Contras”, which culminated in the Sapoa Agreement of 1988. This included the cessation of military operations, a general amnesty, free elections and the establishment of a Verification Commission for Nicaragua, composed of by Cardinal Miguel Obando y Baena. At the meeting in Tela, Honduras (1989), the Central American presidents created the International Support and Verification Commission (CIAV-OAS) to proceed with the disarmament, demobilization, repatriation and relocation of former “Contras” and their families. The OAS took care of that in Nicaragua and the UN of the “Contras” in Honduras. In addition, President Daniel Ortega asked Baena to send an EOM for the February 1990 elections, which became the first comprehensive electoral observation of the Organization’s new era. The EOM not only observed the process in its entirety, but its “quick count” was crucial for Baena, along with Pérez de Cuéllar and Jimmy Carter, to be able to convince Ortega of his defeat.
In the General Assembly of 1991, after arduous negotiations in which Baena participated, the member states adopted Resolution 1080, establishing the collective commitment to take immediate measures to protect or restore democracy. It authorizes the Secretary General to convene a meeting of the Permanent Council in the event of “a sudden or irregular interruption of the democratic institutional process or the legitimate exercise of power by a democratically elected government.” When the democratic order was interrupted in Haiti (1991), Peru (1992) and Guatemala (1993), Baena immediately convened the Council, and it entrusted him with initiating good offices missions, which eventually contributed to redirecting the democratic process in those countries. .
The admirable work of Baena Soares as Secretary General of the OAS shows that it is not necessary to be a former chancellor or a former president to hold such a position. It does require a leader with the ability to negotiate and build consensus among the members around a comprehensive vision of the Organization, as the main political/diplomatic forum in the hemisphere and anchored in its principles and purposes of defense and promotion of democracy.
Former OAS official
