Tag Archives: OAS

OAS to Attend Summit in Honduras

PRESS RELEASE: OAS Delegation to Attend Summit of African Descent in Honduras

The first World Summit of African Descent will be held August 18 – 21 in La Ceiba, Honduras, with the participation of the President of that country, Porfirio Lobo, the President of Nicaragua, Daniel Ortega, the President of El Salvador, Mauricio Funes, the Vice President of Guatemala, Jose Rafael Espada, and a delegation of senior representatives from the Organization of American States (OAS). Said delegation will be conformed by the Executive Secretary of the Summits of the Americas Secretariat and representative of the Secretary General, Sherry Tross; the Head of International Law, Dante Negro; and the OAS Representative in Honduras, Jorge Miranda.

Topics such as combating racism and discrimination, respect for Afro-descendants’ rights to education, housing and employment, justice, health, land ownership and human rights will discussed at the meeting, which will bring together more than 700 representatives from 70 countries. OAS authorities will contribute to the debate on law and development, specifically, on the issue of promoting affirmative action and differentiated public policies, as well as issues involving donors and prospects for development, economic growth, entrepreneurship and social investment.

The event is organized by the Organization for Ethnic Community Development (ODECO), and is sponsored by public and private institutions, international aid agencies and diplomatic missions, among others.

For more information, please visit the OAS Website at www.oas.org.

United States Backs Out of OAS

Honduras’ President Lobo has bent over backwards since his inauguration to bring Honduras back into the arms of the OAS, tackling each requirement head on and with a vengeance. His belief was that this would set well with the United States. Unfortunately, he should have checked with the powers that be before selling out…

“…the House Committee on Foreign Relations voted 22 to 20, in a party-line vote, on Wednesday to cancel the payment of this year’s $48.5 million dues to the year-old Organization of American States.

The attack on the OAS was instigated by Republican members of Congress, led by Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Florida), the current Chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Florida Republican representative David Rivera even characterized the OAS as an “enemy” of the United States. The GOP politicians portrayed the OAS as an organization controlled by left-wing states such as Cuba and Venezuela. They also denounced the OAS for opposing the June 2009 military coup d’état against leftist President Manuel Zelaya of Honduras…” continue news story here.

In Honduras, An Untruthful Truth Commission

Council on Foreign Relations Fellow and Latin American expert Joel Hirst explains how the Honduras Truth Commission concluded that the removal of President Manuel Zelaya was a coup while at the same time concluding that Zelaya was breaking the law when he disregarded a Supreme Court ruling ordering him to cancel the referendum.

By Joel Hirst

On the 28th of June, 2009, then-President of Honduras Manuel “Mel” Zelaya was awakened from his slumber and unceremoniously sent into exile in San Jose, Costa Rica. His crime: attempting to change the country’s constitution to allow for a Presidential re-election. Come to find out – for those with the discipline to read the actual Honduran constitution of 1982 – this is indeed an offense, in fact a wrongdoing that is tantamount to treason.

This simple, clear fact has – for the last two years – been resolutely overlooked. In the immediate aftermath of the Honduran situation, the State Department, the Organization of American States (OAS), and the Bolivarian Alliance of the Americas (ALBA) all joined forces to condemn what they considered a “coup d’état” in Honduras. Even the much respected Oscar Arias – then President of Costa Rica – joined in the international symphony. Seldom have Hugo Chavez, Fidel Castro and an American President taken their cues from the same song-sheet…continue article from the Latin American Herald here.