THE Caribbean Community (CARICOM) at the recently held 29th Meeting of the Consultation of Foreign Affairs at the Organisation of American States (OAS), held firm to its position of non-intervention into the existing affairs in Venezuela.
Venezuela has been wracked by civil strife and has issued a call to regional bodies to support that country’s president Nicholas Maduro in his push for dialogue with the opposition, to end that country’s ongoing unrests.
At that meeting, upon the instruction of the Heads of States, Bahamian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Frederick Mitchell, informed the OAS Minister of Foreign Affairs that the body has given consideration to the state of affairs of Venezuela and have all decried the rising violence and condemned the increase in the number of deaths and destruction of property there.
Mitchell noted that Venezuela is not only a sister state of the OAS but a neighbour and noted that country’s active solidarity towards CARICOM over the years in good and bad times along with its support for the OAS have been deeply appreciated.
As such, CARICOM he said is deeply affected by the challenges confronting Venezuela like all other territories. It is as a result of the seriousness of activities in the Spanish speaking country that CARICOM convened meetings of its most important councils to discuss the matter.
“We reaffirm the principles of the maintenance of the rule of law, respect for human rights and democracy as well as the fundamental principles of non-intervention and non-interference in the internal affairs of states,” said the Bahamian Minister.
“We were united in our view with respect to these values and principles improved valuable and pregnant in addressing concerns over the situation in Venezuela. Persuaded that the solution to the situation in Venezuela had to be solved internally, supported by a process of dialogue, behold the view that the deeply entrenched positions needed to be softened so that trust could be built on both sides,” he continued.
As a result, CARICOM calls on both sides to undertake gestures and action that would herald the willingness to bridge the existing division in Venezuela so that dialogue can be facilitated to come to a peaceful resolution.
“Mr Chairman, the CARICOM believes that the hemispheric organisation to which we are all members can play an important mediating role when one of our member states finds itself in difficult straits. To do so, the organisation can offer its good offices to facilitate dialogue and peaceful resolution.”
Mitchell noted that in order to so do, it is important to abide by the principles of the organisation’s fundamental documents as well as values and principles that underpin the multilateralism, respect for sovereignty and independence, non-intervention and non-interference of the internal affairs of member states.
“Our willingness as an organisation to assist must never trample on these principles. Such actions can only make a difficult situation intractable,” he added. CARICOM has recommended that the 29th Meeting of the Consultation of Minister of Foreign Affairs be a suspended session under Article 62 of the Rules of Procedure of the General Assembly, as incorporated by Article 18 of the Rules of Procedure at this 29th meeting of consultation of ministers of foreign affairs.
“Additionally, CARICOM called on the OAS to instruct the Permanent Representatives of the body to continue to engage on a declaration in respect of which this 29th Meeting of Consultation of Ministers of Foreign Affairs will reconvene, at a time to be agreed prior to the General Assembly in Cancun, Mexico.
“It should be noted that there has been much work done preceding and parallel to the meeting held on May 31, and it is the work done which indicates that “we are close to achieving consensus” said Mitchell who noted that “flexibility is required if consensus is to be achieved”.
In the weeks leading up to the OAS meeting of Foreign Ministers, the Chairman of CARICOM, Guyana under the stewardship of President David Granger convened a meeting of heads by way of video conference.
At that meeting, the CARICOM Ministers of Foreign Affairs were instructed to meet and find common ground around which the body could present its position to the OAS. Draft texts of the ambassadors in Washington were examined and pulled together and was agreed to. After consultation with the heads, the text was submitted to the OAS and at the meeting on May 31, the majority of territories present expressed concern about the occurrences in Venezuela and stated how they think the matter should be dealt with.
Through negotiations, a declaration is being worked on.
Meanwhile, Guyana’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Carl Greenidge, told Guyana Chronicle that there was no time that CARICOM was divided on its position on the matter. He explained that Jamaica was as far as he is aware, the lone CARICOM state that intervened subsequent to the Bahamian Prime Minister’s statement on behalf of CARICOM.
“Nowhere in the last two weeks has there been any discussion of the expulsion of Venezuela or intervention of any other state. Those are fabrications,” said the Foreign Affairs Minister of Guyana.
Jamaica’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Kamina Johnson- Smith, expressed her country’s full support of CARICOM’s position and noted that calls for the suspension of Venezuela from the OAS are undesirable. She noted that it is her country’s desire to see the problems facing Venezuela resolved but by the people themselves.
Johnson-Smith also offered to be part of any contact group that will be established.
“The meeting as a whole did not finish with a declaration because they are still working on it…the ambassadors weren’t finished so ministers don’t have one. I believe they spent some time working on the declaration based on what the Caribbean had prepared; whether they would stay with that or not, I can’t say,” said Greenidge who noted that CARICOM does not constitute the entire OAS and as such it can be expected that there will be amendments to the document submitted to the body.
“…it has to find consensus, which means it will be modified. The ambassadors and ministers will be charged with looking at final statement to see if they will accept it. It is unlikely that such a statement from a large group would be considered by the 24 members and passed unamended. Negotiations are in train,” noted Greenidge who said that the CARICOM text is agreeable to states outside of CARICOM.