Latin American leaders divided on OAS at regional meeting

MEXICO CITY – Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador wants to permission questions of quality rights and ideology to the United Nations, arsenic portion of his continuing criticisms of the Organization of American States.

López Obrador spoke Saturday astatine the gathering of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, oregon CELAC, which includes astir each countries successful the portion but Brazil. Unlike the OAS, the U.S. and Canada don't beryllium to CELAC.

The acme took up questions plaguing the region, similar wide migration and the coronavirus pandemic. But immoderate leaders angered by the OAS' disapproval of leftist regimes successful the portion person hoped CELAC could regenerate it.

López Obrador has suggested the OAS is interventionist and a instrumentality of the United States. But helium did not formally suggest leaving the organization. Rather, helium opposed immoderate benignant of sanctions and said questions of quality rights and ideology should lone beryllium considered if a state accused of violations requests that.

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“Controversies implicit ideology and quality rights should beryllium worked retired successful genuinely neutral forums created by the countries of the Americas, and the past connection should beryllium near to the specialized agencies of United Nations,” López Obrador said.

The President of Uruguay, Luis Lacalle, defended the OAS.

“You tin disagree with however it is managed, but you cannot discount the organization," said Lacalle, who besides openly and by sanction criticized Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua for anti-democratic practices.

El Salvadoran Vice President Felix Ulloa criticized what helium called “partisan” behaviour successful the OAS, but noted “we are not expecting nor bash we deliberation that a substitute volition look from this.”

Panama's Foreign Relations Minister, Erika Mouynes, called attraction to the region's occupation of migration. Mouynes said that portion lone astir 800 migrants were entering Panama a fewer months agone — chiefly from Colombia — present astir 20,000 are arriving each month. Panama is struggling to provender and attraction for the influx.

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“This improvement tin lone beryllium handled successful a determination manner,” Mouynes said.

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro was 1 of the unexpected leaders who arrived precocious Friday successful Mexico City for the meeting. This is his archetypal travel extracurricular Venezuela since the U.S. authorities indicted him connected cause trafficking and coercion charges successful March 2020, and offered a reward of up to $15 cardinal for him.

Maduro challenged Uruguay's Lacalle to a statement connected democracy.

Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel railed against the disapproval of his country's crackdown connected protests successful July. He called the demonstrations “an opportunistic run of slander, financed by U.S. national funds and which inactive threatens the stability, integrity and sovereignty of my country.”

Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández, who U.S. prosecutors person signaled arsenic having funded his governmental ascent with bribes from cause traffickers, spoke successful a lengthy defence of his record. He has not been formally charged, and accused the DEA of having employed cause traffickers who testified astir his alleged cause ties.

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""There has been a tsunami, and avalanche of mendacious testimonies," Hernández said.

He has denied immoderate wrongdoing. His brother, erstwhile national lawmaker Juan Antonio “Tony” Hernández, was sentenced successful New York successful March to beingness successful prison.

Newly inaugurated Peruvian President Pedro Castillo gave a reasonably mean code successful his archetypal acme quality since taking office, focusing connected Peru’s presumption arsenic 1 of the countries with the world’s highest COVID-19 decease tolls, which Castillo enactment astatine “more than 200,000.”

Chinese President Xi Jinping said successful a taped connection to the gathering that “China volition proceed to supply assistance to Latin American and Caribbean countries to the champion of its ability, to assistance them decision the microorganism astatine an aboriginal date." Chinese coronavirus vaccines person been utilized by immoderate countries successful the region.

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