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The secretary general of the Organization of American States, Luis Almagro, defended his management on Wednesday in front of María Fernanda Espinosa and Hugo de Zela, the two candidates who challenge their aspiration to be re-elected on March 20 and criticize the “polarization” and the position of the current administration in the face of the Venezuelan crisis.
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A few weeks after the elections scheduled for March 20, Almagro, former Foreign Minister of Uruguay, It seeks to compromise the 18 votes it needs to be confirmed in the position at the head of the organization with 34 active members.
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The diplomat said in a presentation to the Permanent Council in Washington that the first challenge he faced in 2015 was to recover the “relevance of the OAS” and that his leadership returned to the institution “its central place as a hemispheric political forum.”
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“We have given the OAS the political relevance it deserved, the role of being the main political forum of the hemisphere, we have given the OAS validity,” said the current secretary general.
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But Almagro has two competing rivals: former Ecuadorian Foreign Minister María Fernanda Espinosa, who was president of the UN General Assembly, and Peruvian Hugo de Zela, a seasoned diplomat.
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In an exchange before the council, both applicants highlighted the criticisms of polarization in the organization during their term and stressed that neither of them will present themselves for re-election as general secretary if they are elected.
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Almagro – who has the support of the United States – defends a direct style and qualifies Nicolás Maduro as a “dictator with all of the law”, while defending tools against the Chavista regime as economic sanctions
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Currently, in the OAS, the banking of Venezuela is occupied by Gustavo Tarre, representative of the interim president Juan Guaidó, recognized by more than 50 countries.
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Espinosa, 55, said in an interview with the AFP agency that his mandate at the head of the OAS would “heal” the polarization and that it would promote a dialogue with a “road map” to end the crisis in Venezuela. Upon taking the floor before the Permanent Council, he promised to “remove the dust and smell of mothballs from the OAS.”
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For the Ecuadorian diplomat it is necessary to “communicate more and better, eliminating personal positions”.
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“When it is said that with having 18 votes we are effective, I have my doubts, they are Pyrrhic majorities that allow us to make a temporary decision”, said in relation to the minimum number of votes necessary to carry out a resolution in the body.
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The candidacy of the former Ecuadorian foreign minister was not presented by his country – which supports Almagro- but for Antigua and Barbuda and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
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De Zela, meanwhile, warned that if Almagro or Espinosa win, OAS countries will remain polarized and there will be no progress in the Venezuelan crisis.
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The Peruvian diplomat said in his presentation that the General Secretariat “It has to be part of the solution, its role cannot be to exacerbate the crisis.”
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“In the face of the polarization that exists in the region, what Peru offers with my candidacy is a consensus balance candidacy, so that the OAS will once again be the meeting forum,” said De Zela, ambassador of his country in States United.
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The Peruvian diplomat said that the role of the head of the OAS is “to maintain a functional relationship with the member states” and that his role “does not reside in the leading role in social networks.”
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