Venezuela, the OAS, and Hesitant Hemispheric Diplomacy

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On June 23, 2016 the member states of the Organization of American States met at the OAS headquarters in Washington, D.C. in the guise of its Permanent Council to discuss Secretary General Luis Almagro’s invocation of the OAS Democratic Charter in the case of Venezuela.  Almagro wanted to sanction the government of President Nicolás Maduro for political repression and the denial of democratic processes, namely, the obstacles he has thrown up to thwart the move by the National Assembly to hold a recall referendum sometime in 2016. He also pointed to the dangers posed by the social upheavals caused by the virtual collapse of Venezuela’s economy. Yet while a majority of member states still refuse to deploy article 20 of the Charter, most observers interpreted it as a pretty bad day for the Maduro government.

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