Newswise — With Venezuela in turmoil and a political conflict continuing within its government, the Organization of American States may invoke the Inter-American Democratic Charter for an “alteration to the democratic order” to start diplomatic initiatives to help the country overcome its current crisis, an expert on Venezuela and former official with The Carter Center said.
Jennifer McCoy, is the Distinguished University Professor of political science at Georgia State University, and former director of the Carter Center’s Americas Program. She helped to mediate an earlier conflict between the government of the late Hugo Chávez and his political opposition in 2002-2004 that culminated in a recall referendum.
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If the 35-member organization decides on Thursday, June 23, to invoke the Charter for an “alteration to the democratic order,” the Organization would begin diplomatic initiatives to help the country overcome its triple crisis of humanitarian, economic and political elements, she said.
In the last resort, the Organization could move to its only sanction – suspension from the organization and international delegitimation of the government’s democracy credentials, McCoy said.
“The OAS meetings this week are a significant test of hemispheric resolve to speak out against democratic erosions in one of its members, while offering a path to help the country address its severe triple crisis of humanitarian, economic and political nature,” she explained.
“At the same time, international attention and pressure may help spur the government to remove the bureaucratic obstacles that have delayed the constitutional right of its citizens to petition for a recall referendum against the sitting president, and provide an escape valve for the growing frustration and anger among hungry people in an oil-rich nation,” McCoy said.
She has written extensively about Venezuela the past 30 years, and also organized in 2004 the ongoing group of Friends of the Democratic Charter at The Carter Center, a group of former political leaders and human rights experts in the hemisphere concerned with the state of democracy region-wide.
For more information about McCoy and a list of her publications, visit http://politicalscience.gsu.edu/profile/jennifer-mccoy-2-5/.
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