[News] The “Lima Group” Pretence to Be an International Body Is Irresponsible and Dangerous - Venezuelans have chosen their president democratically

Anti-Imperialist News news at freedomarchives.org
Thu Jan 10 12:48:12 EST 2019


venezuelanalysis.com <https://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/14214>


  The “Lima Group” Pretence to Be an International Body Is Irresponsible
  and Dangerous

By Nino Pagliccia - Venezuelanalysis.com - January 10, 2019
------------------------------------------------------------------------

/*Sixty years ago Canada did not break diplomatic relations with Cuba 
while the OAS expelled Cuba from the organization after the triumph of 
the Cuban Revolution. Today the OAS remains firm with its mandate of no 
interference while Canada is leading an illegitimate splinter of OAS 
countries, self-anointed as Lima Group, to push for regime change in 
Venezuela. That is irresponsible and dangerous.*/

At this time sixty years ago Cuba had just won its revolution through a 
popular uprising that overthrew a dictator. Two years later in 1961 the 
US masterminded a false flag invasion of Cuba that failed. Later, in 
1962 the Organization of American States (OAS) turned against Cuba and 
expelled it from the organization isolating the country until 2009 when 
the OAS invited Cuba to join again. Cuba declined. The US has maintained 
a progressively squeezing unilateral trade and financial blockade on the 
island since 1960.

Since that January 1, 1959 Canada has taken mostly an independent stance 
on Cuba and has maintained diplomatic and commercial relationships with 
the country. Even today when the US government places Cuba as a member 
of the "troika of tyranny" together with Nicaragua and Venezuela, the 
Canadian government is practicing a formal association with the Cuban 
government still overtly declared socialist. It may well be in order to 
protect the extensive interests built over time without the competition 
of US businesses. But that is a different topic.

Today in a different socialist revolution in Venezuela we have a 
reversed situation.

Hugo Chavez has won the presidency of Venezuela through democratic 
ballots in 1999, as current president Nicolas Maduro did in 2013. All 25 
elections at different levels in the last twenty years have been 
democratic and constitutional with participation of opposition parties. 
This is an undeniable truth despite misinformation from the compromised 
media and governments.

Unlike its past position towards Cuba, the OAS has repeatedly refused to 
condemn Venezuela even under the strongest pressure from Washington. The 
organization has seen fit to abide by the OAS Charter of 1948 that in 
Article 19, Chapter IV states: "/No State or group of States has the 
right to intervene, directly or indirectly, for any reason whatever, in 
the internal or external affairs of any other State. The foregoing 
principle prohibits not only armed force but also any other form of 
interference or attempted threat against the personality of the State or 
against its political, economic, and cultural elements/."

Breaking that explicit mandate and contrary to its independent position 
with respect to Cuba sixty years ago, Ottawa has been instrumental in 
the creation of the so-called Lima Group with the sole mission of regime 
change in Venezuela.

For the record it has to be emphasized that the "Lima Group" is not an 
international organization. It's just an /ad hoc/ group of governments 
with no other purpose than to promotes the overthrow of the legitimate 
Maduro government.

In that context its latest declaration that calls to not recognize 
Maduro’s presidency beginning with the inauguration ceremony on January 
10, and to impose various other forms of “punishment”, cannot to be 
taken as a formal resolution issued by an established international body 
like the OAS or the UN. Unfortunately, the Venezuelan opposition 
conveniently chooses to take it that way. For example, the self 
appointed members of the “Supreme Court of Justice” in exile issued 
their own call to “recognize the Lima Group resolution.” That is 
extremely misleading, irresponsible and dangerous.

The “Lima Group” of 13 governments (out of 33 OAS member States), 
signatories of the declaration (Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, 
Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay, 
Peru y Saint Lucia), is totally illegitimate in its pretension to be an 
international body. The group wants to achieve outside the OAS what it 
could not achieve within the OAS. Ultimately, it will have to be held 
accountable as the foreign ideological instigator of any violence that 
might occur in Venezuela.

Despite the above necessary explanation of a clear international illegal 
act that tramples on the sovereignty of another country, it is important 
to broaden the perspective of the situation by highlighting two points. 
First of all, the Mexican government, although member of the “Lima 
Group”, has not endorsed its document. More sensibly, it justified its 
abstention by requesting that an open dialogue be established with the 
government of Venezuela instead of imposing isolation and threats. 
Mexico was another country that maintained diplomatic relations with 
Cuba 60 years ago. It seems to be more consistent than Canada.

Secondly, by a reported count, it appears that the majority of countries 
in the world will accept the legitimacy of Nicolas Maduro’s presidency 
and will recognize his government for the next six years. In fact, a few 
heads of State may even attend the inauguration ceremony on January 10 
in Caracas.

In concluding however, not for one second anybody should expect that the 
elected president of Venezuela, or of any other country for that matter, 
must be declared legitimate by any foreign State. That privilege belongs 
only to the six million 244 thousand Venezuelans, representing 32% of 
the total number of people with the right to vote, with more than 4 
million votes ahead of the candidate who came in second, and with a 
voter participation of 48%. By all accounts Venezuelans have chosen 
their president democratically for the next six years. That is the 
meaning of self-determination.

/The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not 
necessarily reflect those of the Venezuelanalysis editorial staff./

-- 
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