La Paz, Aug 16 (EFE).- The Government of Bolivia reported this Friday that it decided not to participate in the session convened by the Organization of American States (OAS) on the situation in Venezuela after the elections last July, considering that The body has no “competence” to rule on a country that is no longer part of it.
The Bolivian Foreign Ministry explained in a statement that it made its position known in this regard through a note sent by its ambassador to the OAS, Héctor Arce Zaconeta, to the president of the Permanent Council of the entity.
In the note, sent on Tuesday, the ambassador noted that Bolivia “will not participate in any session that is called to address the recent presidential elections” in Venezuelaaccording to the ministry.
The permanent mission of Bolivia to the organization argued that «Venezuela ceased to be a member of the OAS more than five years ago»so the entity “It no longer has the authority to rule on matters related to this country”as indicated in the organization’s Charter.
“In compliance with international law, there was and is no reason for the previous and this Permanent Council and this Organization as a whole to deal with or pronounce on the affairs of a State that ceased to be a member of this organization.”the letter states, according to the Foreign Ministry.
The ministry argued that the position of the Bolivian government “is framed within the principles of international law” and that, “in this line, rejects any form of interference in the sovereign affairs of other countries.”
He also recalled that a similar draft resolution was rejected on July 31, “due to not obtaining a sufficient number of favorable votes among the 34 member countries of the Organization.”
Meeting on Friday in Washington, the Permanent Council of the OAS approved by consensus a resolution demanding that Venezuelan authorities publish “expeditiously” the minutes of the July 28 elections in that country.
The non-binding text was presented on behalf of United States and Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Canada, Chile, Ecuador, Guatemala, Paraguay, Dominican Republic, Suriname and Uruguay as co-sponsors.
The call joins the one also made this Friday in the Dominican Republic by a group of nations of the European Union (EU), including Spain, in favor of “immediate publication of all the original minutes” of the elections and the “impartial” and “independent” verification of the results of those elections.
Nicolás Maduro, in power since 2013, was announced as re-elected president by the Venezuelan National Electoral Council (CNE) with 51.2% of the votes, while the candidate of the majority opposition, Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutiaobtained 44.2% of the votes, according to CNE.
The president of Bolivia, Luis Arce, who is Maduro’s political allywas one of the first and few leaders in the region to congratulate the Venezuelan for his announced victory, which earned him criticism from the main leaders of the Bolivian opposition. EFE
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