Congressmen expect support from Lula against OAS chief – 05/04/2023 – Mônica Bergamo

A group of eight US congressmen will send to the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, a request for support in investigations into alleged irregularities practiced by the Secretary General of the OAS (Organization of American States), the Uruguayan Luis Almagro.

The initiative, which will take place this Wednesday (5), is the first of a series of actions that intend to sensitize the governments that make up the international body — including that of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT).

The letter, which is also addressed to OAS Ambassador Francisco Mora, describes alleged ethical violations and irregularities allegedly committed by the Secretary General. One of the cases cited involves Brazilian Paulo Abrão, former executive secretary of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR).

Last year, an administrative court of the organization concluded that Almagro caused moral, personal and professional damage to Abrão when he decided not to renew the Brazilian’s term as head of the collegiate.

Abrão took over as executive secretary in August 2016. In 2020, his stay was not approved by the secretary general, who accused him of being the subject of serious complaints. The decision went against the direction of the committee, which had expressed itself in favor of keeping the Brazilian in his post.

That year, Brazil was presided over by Jair Bolsonaro (PL), whose management pressed for his departure and accused the Brazilian of being aligned to the left for having worked in the government of Dilma Rousseff (PT).

“Almagro’s decision was denounced by human rights leaders and characterized as an attack on the ‘independence and autonomy’ of the commission by the members of the IACHR. US congressmen, in the document sent to Antony Blinken.

The letter, obtained by the column, is signed by Democratic Representative Henry C. “Hank” Johnson,
Susan Wild, Cori Bush, Ilhan Omar, Jan Schakowsky, Ayanna Pressley, Rashida Tlaib and Eleanor Holmes Norton.

In addition to Paulo Abrão, congressmen cite a case that occurred in 2018, when a high-ranking official of an OAS-sponsored mission in Honduras accused Almagro of interfering in work in the country and of having an “impunity pact” with the former president. Honduran Juan Orlando Hernández. They also recall the controversy involving the audit carried out by the organization during the counting of votes in the Bolivian election.

In 2019, Almagro called for the annulment of the elections in Bolivia and urged the government of Evo Morales to call new elections. The following year, researchers from MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), in the USA, questioned the audit and stated that there was no “statistical evidence of fraud”. The OAS, for its part, rejected the challenge and said the article was “not honest, fact-based, or exhaustive.”

“Several other highly credible allegations involving much more egregious and harmful wrongdoing have come to our attention. We believe it is imperative that the government [dos EUA] immediately support investigations into these allegations,” the congressmen’s letter reads.

Contacted by the column to comment on the statements, the OAS and Luis Almagro did not respond until the publication of this text.

The expectation of the organizers of the letter is that Lula and other representatives signal with a vote of no confidence against Almagro’s presence at the head of the OAS. According to an interlocutor heard by the column, a manifestation by the Brazilian president is eagerly awaited.

“We believe that multilateral organizations play a crucial role in international diplomacy, providing a constructive platform for dialogue and cooperation to help promote common goals, such as the defense of democratic institutions and human rights”, say the parliamentarians, in the letter.

“To effectively fulfill their mission, the leadership of these organizations must abide by basic ethical standards and be held accountable,” they further state.

_{with CLEO GUIMARÃES (interim)BIANKA VIEIRA, KARINA MATIAS It is MANOELLA SMITH}

PRESENT LINK: Did you like this text? Subscriber can release five free hits of any link per day. Just click the blue F below.