Arcadia Foundation

Last week, the Organization of American States (OAS) issued a scathing report in response to the maltreatment of the Venezuelan government of its citizens. This week, the very same report became the subject for further criticism against Venezuela and its president, Hugo Chavez. This time, however, criticism came directly from members of the American government, simultaneously renewing America’s objections to Venezuela, as well as formally polarizing our two governments on issues relating to human rights.

American Senators Dodd and Lugar are in agreement of the report’s findings, reiterating Venezuela’s failures in generalized terms stating evidence of “constraining free expression, hindering the rights of civilians to protest, and handicapping the ability of opposition politicians to function.” Issuing their formal reactions to the report, both Senators articulated how “disturbed” they are of the Venezuelan government’s affliction. (Transcripts from both of their formal reactions can be found here). Senator Dodd attests to the report’s findings which succinctly simplifies Venezuela’s criminalization of human rights defenders, among many other human rights violations exercised by the regime, as the result of a “lack of independence that has allowed the use of the State’s punitive power in Venezuela.”

A Congressional Resolution, introduced three years ago, shed light to virtually the exact same findings of the OAS report just one week earlier. The Resolution, which was passed, was also co-sponsored by then Senators Clinton and Obama. Senator Dodd is a senior Democrat on the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations and chairman of its Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere, Peace Corps, and Narcotics Affairs. Senator Lugar is the Ranking Member on the same Committee.

The OAS, based in Washington, drew criticism from President Chavez, stating the organization’s duties and missions are at the behest of US interests, therefore rendering its opinion erroneous due to bias. However, “it (Venezuela) can’t easily dismiss a report that came from an independent intergovernmental commission as the work of political rivals,” the Wall Street Journal reports. Detail by detail, the report itemizes the ways in which democracy is jeopardized in Venezuela. The report’s conclusion blames the government of President Hugo Chavez, further mired from a recession and energy shortages and its inability to cope as well as being responsible for such shortfalls to begin with. Roy Chaderton, Venezuela’s ambassador to the OAS, called it “superficial” and “a defamation,” accusing the commission of lending too much credibility to charges made by the government’s political rivals, says the Wall Street Journal.

Senator Dodd sees Venezuela as a “critical testing ground of OAS support for democracy and human rights, where basic civil liberties are under threat.” Dodd seems confident in such assertions, referencing he’s not alone in the fight for Latin American democracy; that he is in fact joined by many Latin American countries and their efforts to protect human rights for over 3 decades alongside the U.S.

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