This is for the Hugo Chavez fans out there. -david
---------------------- ASSOCIATED PRESS
Thursday, 7 June 2001
Venezuela trumpets delay of ''Charter
of Democracy'' as diplomatic victory
-------------------------------------
By Fabiola Sanchez
CARACAS, Venezuela -- Venezuela on Thursday said it had won a diplomatic victory when the Organization of American States failed to set standards under which sanctions could be imposed against undemocratic governments in the Western Hemisphere.
The United States, Peru, Costa Rica, Colombia and Argentina wanted the ''Charter of Democracy'' signed Tuesday during the annual OAS meeting in Costa Rica. But the debate was postponed until September after 16 countries, led by Venezuela, objected to the definition of democracy.
President Hugo Chavez opposes imposing ''representative democracy'' as a the only acceptable model for countries in the Western Hemisphere. The former paratrooper argues that representative democracy in Venezuela became an elitist system that left the poor disenfranchised.
''The OAS avoided making an error that later would have been unforgivable,'' Foreign Minister Luis Alfonso Davila said. ''It's not that we oppose the Charter of Democracy. We just believe things should be done correctly.''
The OAS will renew the debate in a special meeting in September. OAS member countries every nation in the Western Hemisphere except Cuba already agreed to endorse the Democratic Charter in the April summit in Quebec City.
During the Quebec City summit, Chavez was the only leader to express reservations about the Charter of Democracy, unsuccessfully proposing that the term ''participative democracy'' be included. Chavez claims he has given ordinary citizens greater political participation through a new constitution that allows for national referendums on key national decisions.
His actions at the Quebec summit infuriated opposition lawmakers, who accused him of leading Venezuela toward diplomatic isolation. They argued that it's unclear what Chavez means by ''participative'' since Venezuela has a popularly elected congress.
Davila countered that the outcome of this week's OAS meeting undermined the opposition's allegations.
''Those who are seeking (Venezuela's) isolation are running into a complete failure,'' Davila said.
Copyright 2001 Associated Press