The Organization of American States, the OAS, voted in favor of a resolution condemning Venezuela. The resolution passed with 19 member countries voting in favor, 4 against, and 11 abstaining. It decided that the
May 20 presidential elections in Venezuela could be deemed illegitimate
Also, it calls on member states to take unspecified political, economic, and financial measures to assist in the restoration of
democratic order in Venezuela. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo argued in favor of the resolution. Let’s listen.
MIKE POMPEO: In addition to suspension, I call on fellow member states to apply additional pressure on the Maduro regime, including sanctions and further diplomatic isolation, until such time as it undertakes the actions necessary to return
genuine democracy.
SHARMINI PERIES: Venezuela’s foreign minister Jorge Arreaza responded as follows.
JORGE ARREAZA:
The aggression against Venezuela is brutal. It’s economic, it’s financial, it’s commercial, it’s political, it’s in the media. And we’re going to keep moving forward. It is up to our people to elect their president, not other governments, not the United States, not any international institution that elects the president of Venezuela. The president of Venezuela is called Nicolas Maduro Moros, and he was elected with 68 percent of popular support in the elections on May 20. And we demand recognition only from our own people.
*Ummm no, you bow to the "elite"
MARK WEISBROT: Yeah, this is really an extreme example, though there have been many in the past. And it really shows-. I mean, the, you know, it really is a colonial organization. I mean, so’s the IMF and the World Bank.
But this one is so blatant, where the U.S. ambassador there just spends two hours on the floor going around telling people, you know, we’re going, we’re watching your vote. And they have all kinds of threats they can use.