OAS org am states

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">belated 12/17</font><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">see OAS amb trujillo
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</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">evangelicals burning houses?</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><a class="fl" href="https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:pQ4OA6SwV6EJ:https://www.rapidtransition.org/stories/the-rights-of-nature-in-bolivia-and-ecuador/+&cd=6&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search%3Fq%3Dcache:pQ4OA6SwV6EJ:https://www.rapidtransition.org/stories/the-rights-of-nature-in-bolivia-and-ecuador/%2B%26cd%3D6%26hl%3Den%26ct%3Dclnk%26gl%3Dus&ved=2ahUKEwjhl5Gks9XtAhVERKwKHfAYCDgQIDAFegQIDhAH" style="text-decoration-line: none; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1); display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">=</font></a><a class="fl" href="https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:pQ4OA6SwV6EJ:https://www.rapidtransition.org/stories/the-rights-of-nature-in-bolivia-and-ecuador/+&cd=6&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search%3Fq%3Dcache:pQ4OA6SwV6EJ:https://www.rapidtransition.org/stories/the-rights-of-nature-in-bolivia-and-ecuador/%2B%26cd%3D6%26hl%3Den%26ct%3Dclnk%26gl%3Dus&ved=2ahUKEwjhl5Gks9XtAhVERKwKHfAYCDgQIDAFegQIDhAH" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1); display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">https://www.alternet.org/2020/12/trump-coup-2649595275/</font></a><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1); display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;">IMI</font><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1); display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;"><a class="fl" href="https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:pQ4OA6SwV6EJ:https://www.rapidtransition.org/stories/the-rights-of-nature-in-bolivia-and-ecuador/+&cd=6&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search%3Fq%3Dcache:pQ4OA6SwV6EJ:https://www.rapidtransition.org/stories/the-rights-of-nature-in-bolivia-and-ecuador/%2B%26cd%3D6%26hl%3Den%26ct%3Dclnk%26gl%3Dus&ved=2ahUKEwjhl5Gks9XtAhVERKwKHfAYCDgQIDAFegQIDhAH">I</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">n recent weeks, Donald Trump has been ridiculed, slathered with contempt, and repeatedly branded a "liar," as well as an existential threat to democracy in the United States, by the biggest media outlets in the country. This is in response to his attempts to reverse the results of the U.S. presidential election, and claiming—without evidence—that it was stolen. He still clings to these allegations, but he will be leaving the White House on January 20.</span></font><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">But just over a year ago, a similar effort was launched in Bolivia, and it actually prevailed. The country's democratically elected president, Evo Morales, was toppled three weeks after the October 20 vote, before his term was finished. He left the country after the military "asked" him to resign.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The similarities are remarkable. Leaders of the Bolivian opposition indicated before the votes were counted, as Trump did, that they would&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-50119655" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">not accept</a>&nbsp;the result if they lost. Like Trump, they had&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/07/world/americas/bolivia-election-evo-morales.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">no evidence</a>&nbsp;for their&nbsp;<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/02/26/bolivia-dismissed-its-october-elections-fraudulent-our-research-found-no-reason-suspect-fraud/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">allegations</a>&nbsp;of fraud when the votes were counted. And as with Trump, the falseness of their charges was obvious from&nbsp;<a href="https://cepr.net/press-release/oas-should-retract-its-press-release-on-bolivian-election-cepr-co-director-says/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">day one</a>.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Some readers may question the relevance of the comparison with a developing country whose democratic institutions have a shorter history, and are in important ways weaker than those in the U.S. government. But the Bolivian right would not have succeeded, where Trump has failed, if not for another important difference: the Bolivian right had powerful help from outside the country in pulling off their coup.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Not surprisingly some of this help came from the Trump administration, which&nbsp;<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/statement-president-donald-j-trump-regarding-resignation-bolivian-president-evo-morales/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">stated</a>&nbsp;the day after the coup that "Morales's departure preserves democracy and paves the way for the Bolivian people to have their voices heard."</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Even more important help came from the Organization of American States (OAS), which, not coincidentally, gets 60 percent of its funding from the United States. The OAS also currently has a leader, Luis Almagro, who at the time of Bolivia's election needed the support of Trump and his allied right-wing governments in the Americas in order to be reelected as the head of the organization. The OAS issued a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.oas.org/en/media_center/press_release.asp?sCodigo=E-085/19" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">statement</a>&nbsp;the day after the election, expressing "deep concern and surprise at the drastic and hard-to-explain change in the trend of the preliminary results."</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">This allegation turned out to be "false," as the New York Times would later&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/07/world/americas/bolivia-election-evo-morales.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">report</a>; but as the Times noted, this false allegation "changed the South American nation's history." It changed history because it served as the political foundation for the military coup on November 10, 2019.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Another similarity: remember when Trump and his Republican allies were&nbsp;<a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-says-he-will-win-if-legal-votes-are-counted-says-dems-are-trying-to-steal-election" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">saying</a>&nbsp;that the Democrats were "stealing" the election here because the later, mostly mail-in votes were coming in overwhelmingly from Democrats? Of course this was false; the truth was simply that more Democrats than Republicans were voting by mail.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>The OAS allegation in Bolivia was the same</b>: for various reasons—including geography—votes in the pro-Morales areas came in later than those for the opposing candidates. This was obvious from the day after the election by simply looking at the areas where the earlier and later votes were coming from; the data was all on the web. That's why 133 economists and statisticians from various countries—the majority from the United States—signed a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/dec/02/the-oas-has-to-answer-for-its-role-in-the-bolivian-coup" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">letter</a>&nbsp;demanding that the OAS retract its false statements.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">That's why four members of the U.S. Congress&nbsp;<a href="https://schakowsky.house.gov/sites/schakowsky.house.gov/files/OAS%20Boliva_Final.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">asked</a>&nbsp;the OAS if they ever considered the possibility—which amazingly was not mentioned in three more OAS reports—that the later-reporting precincts were politically different from the earlier ones.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">It's been a year, and the OAS still hasn't answered.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">In October, the de facto government, which took power after last year's coup, held elections, after postponing them twice. Luis Arce, Evo Morales's economy minister for 13 years, won by a margin of more than 26 percentage points.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">But the people killed by the post-coup government, including at least 22 people killed in two&nbsp;<a href="https://bit.ly/3p2Z9P2" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">massacres</a>&nbsp;committed by security forces, cannot be brought back to life. The<b>victims were all Indigenous.</b></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Like the effort of Trump in the United States—as seen in the recent Republican&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/18/us/politics/michigan-election-results.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">attempt</a>&nbsp;to throw out hundreds of thousands of votes from Detroit, Michigan, where nearly 80 percent of residents are Black—the assault on democracy in Bolivia is also tied to systemic racism.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Evo Morales is the first Indigenous president in a country with the largest percent of Indigenous population in the Americas, who have overwhelmingly supported him and his party; the leaders of the coup are&nbsp;<a href="https://bit.ly/38gFwfE" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">infused</a>&nbsp;with white supremacists and seek to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/15/world/americas/morales-bolivia-Indigenous-racism.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">restore</a>&nbsp;the dominance of the mostly white elite who ruled the country before Morales was first elected in 2005.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>U.S. Representatives Jan Schakowsky and Jesus "Chuy" Garcia, both of Chicago, have called for Congress to&nbsp;<a href="https://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/foreign-policy/515085-congress-should-investigate-oas-actions-in-bolivia" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">investigate</a>&nbsp;the role of the OAS in Bolivia following the 2019 election.</b></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">This is vitally important, because the coup, and the violence and political repression that followed, might never have happened without the OAS's pivotal role. Perhaps most importantly, the OAS had an enormous impact on the international and domestic media, with many journalists mistakenly believing that the OAS Electoral Observation Mission was impartial, and that therefore their allegations were true.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">But the Bolivian coup is not the first time that the OAS has abused its authority as an electoral observer, in order to support a U.S.-backed effort to topple a democratically elected government. This&nbsp;<a href="https://cepr.net/documents/publications/haiti-oas-2011-10.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">happened</a>&nbsp;in Haiti between 2000 and 2004. And also in Haiti, the OAS did something in 2011 that perhaps no election observers had ever done: they reversed the results of a first-round presidential election,&nbsp;<a href="https://cepr.net/documents/publications/haiti-oas-2011-10.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">without</a>&nbsp;even a recount or a statistical analysis.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The OAS and its leadership must be held accountable, or these crimes will keep happening.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://cepr.net/staff-member/mark-weisbrot/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Mark Weisbrot</a>&nbsp;is co-director of the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cepr.net/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Center for Economic and Policy Research</a>&nbsp;in Washington, D.C. He is the author of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cepr.net/publications/failed-what-the-experts-got-wrong-about-the-global-economy" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Failed: What the "Experts" Got Wrong About the Global Economy</a>&nbsp;(Oxford University Press, 2015).</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">This article was produced in partnership by the&nbsp;<a href="https://cepr.net/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Center for Economic and Policy Research</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://independentmediainstitute.org/economy-for-all/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Economy for All</a>, a project of the Independent Media Institute.</font></p><div class="around-the-web" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="from-your-siteheadline" style="font-weight: 700; 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-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1); display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">ref</font></a><a class="fl" href="https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:pQ4OA6SwV6EJ:https://www.rapidtransition.org/stories/the-rights-of-nature-in-bolivia-and-ecuador/+&cd=6&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search%3Fq%3Dcache:pQ4OA6SwV6EJ:https://www.rapidtransition.org/stories/the-rights-of-nature-in-bolivia-and-ecuador/%2B%26cd%3D6%26hl%3Den%26ct%3Dclnk%26gl%3Dus&ved=2ahUKEwjhl5Gks9XtAhVERKwKHfAYCDgQIDAFegQIDhAH" style="text-decoration-line: none; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1); display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;" /><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><a class="fl" href="https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:pQ4OA6SwV6EJ:https://www.rapidtransition.org/stories/the-rights-of-nature-in-bolivia-and-ecuador/+&cd=6&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search%3Fq%3Dcache:pQ4OA6SwV6EJ:https://www.rapidtransition.org/stories/the-rights-of-nature-in-bolivia-and-ecuador/%2B%26cd%3D6%26hl%3Den%26ct%3Dclnk%26gl%3Dus&ved=2ahUKEwjhl5Gks9XtAhVERKwKHfAYCDgQIDAFegQIDhAH" style="text-decoration-line: none; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1); display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://schakowsky.house.gov/sites/schakowsky.house.gov/files/OAS%20Boliva_Final.pdf">https://schakowsky.house.gov/sites/schakowsky.house.gov/files/OAS%20Boliva_Final.pdf</a></font></a></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>&nbsp;New York Times Admits Key Falsehoods That Drove Last Year’s Coup in Bolivia: Falsehoods Peddled by the U.S., Its Media, and the Times</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The U.S. government and its media once again help destroy a thriving Latin American democracy.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Glenn Greenwald</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">June 8 2020,&nbsp;</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In this Nov. 27, 2019 photo, Bolivia's former President Evo Morales pumps his fist after a press conference at the journalists club in Mexico City. Morales went into exile in Mexico after he was prodded by police and the military, forcing him to resigned on Nov. 10, after he claimed victory in an election that international observers invited in by the government said was marred by numerous irregularities. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)In this Nov. 27, 2019, photo, Bolivia’s former President Evo Morales pumps his fist after a press conference at the journalists club in Mexico City. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte) AP]</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">IN NOVEMBER 2019, Bolivia’s three-term left-wing president, Evo Morales, was forced by the country’s military and police forces to flee to Mexico after Morales, the prior month, had been officially certified as the winner of his fourth consecutive presidential election. It was unsurprising that Morales won. As the Associated Press noted in 2014, his governance was successful by almost every key metric, and he was thus “widely popular at home for a pragmatic economic stewardship that spread Bolivia’s natural gas and mineral wealth among the masses.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">While Morales’s popularity had marginally waned since his 2014 landslide victory, he was still the most popular politician in the country. On the night of the October 21, 2019, vote, Bolivia’s election board certified that Morales’s margin of victory against the second-place candidate exceeded the ten percent threshold required under Bolivian law to avoid a runoff, thus earning him a fourth term. But allegations of election fraud were quickly voiced by Morales’s right-wing opponents, leading to his expulsion from the country on November 11.</font></div><div>
</div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Once he fled, Bolivia’s first-ever president from the country’s Indigenous population was replaced by a little-known, white, far-right senator, Jeanine Áñez, from the country’s minority European-descendent, Christian, wealthy region. Her new, unelected government promptly massacred dozens of Indigenous protesters and then vested the responsible soldiers with immunity. Seven months later, Áñez predictably continues to rule Bolivia as “interim president” despite never having run for president, let alone having been democratically elected.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Bolivia's interim President Jeanine Anez addresses the nation at the presidential palace in La Paz, Bolivia, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2020. The message marked the anniversary of the naming of Bolivia as the "Plurinational State of Bolivia," by former President Evo Morales. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)Bolivia’s “interim” President Jeanine Áñez addresses the nation at the presidential palace in La Paz, Bolivia, on Jan. 22, 2020. (AP Photo/Juan Karita) AP]</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>The central tool used by both the Bolivian right and their U.S. government allies to justify the invalidation of Morales’s 10-point election victory were two election audits by the regional group Organization of American States — one a preliminary report issued on November 10, the day before Morales was forced from the country, and then its final report issued the next month — which asserted widespread, deliberate election fraud.</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Given all the irregularities observed, it is impossible to guarantee the integrity of the data and certify the accuracy of the results,” the OAS announced on November 10 as the country was in turmoil over the election. The next day, Morales, under the threat of force to him and his family, boarded a plane to Mexico, where he was granted asylum. The final OAS report in December claimed that “the audit team has detected willful manipulation” of the results based on “incontrovertible evidence of an electoral process marred by grave irregularities.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>But on Sunday, the New York Times published an article strongly suggesting that it was the OAS audit, not the Bolivian election, that was “marred by grave irregularities,” making it “impossible to guarantee the integrity of the data and certify the accuracy of the” OAS claims.</b>&nbsp;The paper of record summarized its reporting this way: “A close look at Bolivian election data suggests an initial analysis by the OAS that raised questions of vote-rigging — and helped force out a president — was flawed.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">New York Times, June 7, 2020</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">To cast serious doubt on the integrity of these critical OAS reports, the Times relies upon a new independent study from three scholars at U.S. universities which — in the words of the NYT — examined “data obtained by the New York Times from the Bolivian electoral authorities.” That study, said the NYT, “has found that the Organization of American States’ statistical analysis was itself flawed.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>That study documented that the key “irregularity” cited by OAS “was actually an artifact of the analysts’ error.” It further explained that with regard to “the patterns that the observers deemed ‘inexplicable,’” the new data analysis shows that “we can explain them without invoking fraud.”</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">While this new study focuses solely on the OAS’s data claims and does not purport to decree the Bolivian election entirely free of fraud — virtually no election, including in the U.S., is entirely free of irregularities — the NYT explains that “the authors of the new study said they were unable to replicate the OAS’s findings using its likely techniques” and that “the difference is significant” in assessing the overall validity of the OAS’s claims.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">”In sum,” the new report concludes, “we offer a different interpretation of the quantitative evidence that led the OAS and other researchers to question the integrity of the Bolivian election.“ Specifically, “we find that we do not require fraud in order to explain the quantitative patterns used to help indict Evo Morales.” The scholars’ bottom line: “we cannot replicate the OAS results.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>IT IS VIRTUALLY IMPOSSIBLE to overstate the importance of the OAS accusations in driving Morales from his own country and, with no democratic mandate, shifting power in<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">&nbsp;lithium</span>-rich Bolivia to the white, Christian, U.S.-subservient right.</b>&nbsp;While critics had also accused Morales of improperly seeking a fourth term despite constitutional term limits, Bolivia’s duly constituted court had invalidated those term limits (much the way that New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg induced the City Council to overturn a term limit referendum so he could seek a third term), leaving anti-Morales outside agitators, such as the OAS and U.S. officials, to rely instead on claims of election fraud.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>On the day the preliminary OAS report was released, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo cited it both on Twitter and on the official State Department website to demand new elections:</b></font></div><div>
</div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Pompeo, in January of this year, visited OAS’s Washington office and heaped praise on the organization for the role its audit played in forcing Morales from the country — a move which Pompeo heralded by invoking the long Orwellian U.S. tradition of depicting pro-U.S. military coups as “pro-democracy”:</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">More recently, the OAS honored the former Bolivian government’s request to conduct an audit of the disputed election results. The probe conducted uncovered proof of massive and systemic fraud. It helped end the violence that had broken out over the election dispute. It helped the Bolivian Congress unanimously establish a date and conditions for a new election. And it honored – importantly, it honored the Bolivian people’s courageous demand for a free and fair election, and for democracy.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">U.S. media outlets and foreign policy commentators dutifully echoed the U.S. State Department’s line, as they typically do, by depicting the violent military coup as an advancement of freedom and democracy for the Bolivian people (the same Bolivian people who had just voted for Morales to be their president). As a Washington Post op-ed in February by two MIT scholars noted: “The media has largely reported the allegations of fraud [from the OAS] as fact.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Two days before Morales was forced to flee Bolivia, Johns Hopkins professor Yascha Mounk, who also covers foreign policy for The Atlantic, praised the coup leaders as “bravely standing up for democracy against a wannabe dictator,” and then, the following day, cited the preliminary OAS study as proof that the election was fraudulent:</font></div><div>
</div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">On November 11, the day after Morales was forced to flee, Mounk wrote in The Atlantic that Morales got what he deserved, claiming, among other things, that he rigged the election: “The strong circumstantial evidence of vote tampering succeeded in inspiring what years of more subtle attacks on democratic institutions had failed to do: Millions of Bolivians went out into the streets to demand a fair election.” One point Mounk got right: The OAS report was decisive. “When an independent observer mission from the Organization of American States published its audit of the election yesterday, the game was finally up,” he wrote.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>(Mounk, knowing that there are never consequences for serving as a puppet for U.S foreign policy, has said not a word about the new study debunking the OAS claims)</b>.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Former Obama foreign policy official and current Stanford professor Michael McFaul also cited the OAS report to cheer Morales’s fleeing as some sort of “excellent” blow for freedom and democracy<b>, only subsequently to delete his tweet when it prompted criticism</b>, acknowledging that he lacked the necessary information to form judgments:</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The editor-in-chief of the ostensibly progressive journal Mother Jones, Clara Jeffery, had never previously evinced the slightest interest in or knowledge about Bolivia, yet somehow decided she was able to credibly snap into line behind the State Department by claiming that it was Morales — rather than the coup-plotters — who had “taken several end runs around a democratic process”:</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">It likely goes without saying that the reliably pro-western-coup magazine, The Economist, was also among those leading the way in echoing the U.S. State Department and cheering the coup as a victory for democracy. “The armed forces spoke up for democracy and the constitution against an attempt at dictatorship,” announced the magazine during the week Morales was forced into exile. The Economist also posted more than a dozen tweets during that week claiming it was Morales who posed the threat to Bolivian democracy by virtue of the OAS findings of fraud:</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">But as usual, the two news outlets most influential in disseminating and ratifying false anti-democratic claims from the U.S. government were the Washington Post and — though they neglected to mention it in their article yesterday on the debunked OAS findings — the New York Times itself. The Post, in its article the day after Morales was forced to leave, ratified the election fraud accusation in its headline: “Bolivia’s Morales resigns amid scathing election report, rising protests.” The article heralded the findings of what it called “the multilateral organization,” noting that the OAS found Morales’s victory “was marred by profound irregularities.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">A Post editorial from the same day proclaimed in its headline: “Bolivia is in danger of slipping into anarchy. It’s Evo Morales’s fault.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Post editorial decreed: “there could be little doubt who was ultimately responsible for the chaos: newly resigned president Evo Morales.” How could the victim of a coup — who had just been elected President — be at fault for the resulting chaos? Because, explained the Post’s editors, “an audit released by the Organization of American States reported massive irregularities in the vote count and called for a fresh election.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The New York Times similarly and repeatedly hyped the OAS report as proof that Morales’s victory was illegitimate and the coup therefore democratic. “An independent international audit of Bolivia’s disputed election concluded that former President Evo Morales’s officials resorted to lies, manipulation and forgery to ensure his victory,” its news article claimed, without a syllable of critical pushback until the penultimate paragraph, where it noted that “some economists and statisticians in the United States” had pointed to flaws in the OAS’s data analysis.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">But the paper’s editorial contained no such reservations, pronouncing Morales’s victory the byproduct of “a flawed election,” noting that “early suspicions of fraud by the Organization of American States helped fuel the protests and provided cover for the military to ‘suggest’ that Mr. Morales leave office.” The Times’s editorial then cited the final OAS report — which the paper yesterday called into question — as “substantiating those suspicions” by proving “‘a series of malicious operations aimed at altering the will expressed at the polls’ on Oct. 20.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In sum, when it came to the 2019 Bolivian coup, the U.S. media played its decades-old, standard role whenever the U.S. wants to depict a military coup against a government it dislikes as a victory for democracy: Namely, it blindly and dutifully adopted the State Department’s view and uncritically waved the flag.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">As documented in his great, new book on the CIA’s Cold War tactics, “The Jakarta Method,” journalist Vincent Bevins — whom I recently interviewed for SYSTEM UPDATE — recounts how, throughout the Cold War, the U.S. media served as a key propaganda arm of the U.S. government by reliably depicting overthrows of adverse regimes as a joyous advancement for democracy.&nbsp;<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">As but one example, Bevins described how the CIA prevailed on the New York Times to suppress reporting about the savagery of the agency-supported coup-plotters in Guatemala and instead glorify them as “rebels” who were nobly fighting for democracy:</span></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Vincent Bevins, “The Jakarta Method,” p. 45</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>
</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Exactly the same formula was used by the New York Times and the bulk of the U.S. media when a U.S.-supported coup attempt in Venezuela failed in 2002 to depose the democratically elected President Hugo Chávez</b>. In an extraordinary paragraph, the Times heralded the U.S.-favored coup-leaders in Caracas as the guardians and saviors of democracy, while the democratically elected president was somehow the “dictator”:</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">With yesterday’s resignation of President Hugo Chávez, Venezuelan democracy is no longer threatened by a would-be dictator. Mr. Chávez, a ruinous demagogue, stepped down after the military intervened and handed power to a respected business leader, Pedro Carmona.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Times similarly lamented the dangers posed to Bolivian democracy back in 2014 as the result of Morales’s landslide victory at the polls. To the Times and the U.S. media at large, democracy is imperiled when a candidate disliked by the U.S. wins at the polls; conversely, democracy can be saved only when such elected leaders are overthrown and replaced by force with a U.S.-backed puppet.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The NYT editors, while conceding in 2014 that “it is easy to see why many Bolivians would want to see Mr. Morales, the country’s first president with Indigenous roots, remain at the helm” — namely, “during his tenure, the economy of the country, one of the least developed in the hemisphere, grew at a healthy rate, the level of inequality shrank and the number of people living in poverty dropped significantly” — nonetheless insisted that Morales should be regarded as an enemy of democracy because “the pattern of prolonged terms in power is unhealthy for the region” [notably, the NYT would never suggest that Angela Merkel’s “prolonged term in power” as German chancellor (15 years and counting) or Benjamin Netanyahu’s 4-terms-and-counting-in-power as Israeli prime minister pose a similar threat to democracy. This is a “concern” reserved by the U.S. media only for Latin American leaders disliked by the U.S. State Department].</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">At the end of its 2014 editorial on Bolivia and Latin America, the Times inadvertently revealed the real reason it disliked these elected leaders. Concern for democracy is the pretext. The real reason it wants those elected leaders gone was revealed by this candid sentence: “This regional dynamic has been dismal for Washington’s influence in the region.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">As U.S. media coverage of last year’s coup in Bolivia demonstrates, little has changed since the Cold War when it comes to media fealty to the State Department and the CIA. Because the U.S. government preferred the right-wing coup-plotters to the left-wing Morales, the U.S. media deliberately inverted the entire narrative to describe the elected leader (Morales) as the tyrant and the violent military coup leaders as the saviors of democracy. And they peddled this false narrative only by relying heavily on an OAS report that even the NYT is now forced to admit was, at best, deeply flawed.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">THAT THE OAS REPORT WAS DUBIOUS is not, contrary to the subtext of the NYT’s new article, something that was only recently discovered. That has been clear from ample evidence from the start — evidence that the jingoistic U.S. media rarely saw fit to mention.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Shortly after the preliminary OAS report was issued, the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR), on November 8, issued its own report highlighting numerous flaws in what it called “unsubstantiated doubts cast upon the vote count by the OAS mission.” Explaining that OAS claims of election irregularities were made “without evidence,” the report detailed that “neither the OAS mission nor any other party has demonstrated that there were widespread or systematic irregularities in the elections of October 20, 2019.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In March, the CEPR issued an even more comprehensive analysis, an 82-page report that concluded: “the OAS’s observation activities in Bolivia’s 2019 general elections are the latest example of a deeply problematic observation mission whose dishonest, biased, and unprofessional conduct has caused serious damage to the country’s democracy.” It added that “while the fraud narrative that the OAS helped promote contributed to Evo Morales, the country’s democratically elected president, fleeing the country,” the OAS Report “does not provide any evidence that those irregularities altered the outcome of the election, or were part of an actual attempt to do so.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">In February — with Morales now in exile in Argentina — the Washington Post published an op-ed by two scholars from MIT. They summarized their argument this way:</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The media has largely reported the [OAS’s] allegations of fraud as fact. And many commentators have justified the coup as a response to electoral fraud by MAS-IPSP. However, as specialists in election integrity, we find that the statistical evidence does not support the claim of fraud in Bolivia’s October election.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In sum, the authors concluded, after setting forth their statistical findings in detail: “there is not any statistical evidence of fraud that we can find — the trends in the preliminary count, the lack of any big jump in support for Morales after the halt, and the size of Morales’s margin all appear legitimate. All in all, the OAS’s statistical analysis and conclusions would appear deeply flawed.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">That the OAS is a subservient tool of the U.S. State Department is something that is widely known in Latin America. Yet it is a claim that virtually never appears in mainstream accounts from U.S. news outlets, which — as they did here — treat the group as some sort of neutral, authoritative arbiter of political disputes.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Shortly after Morales was exiled from Bolivia and received asylum in Mexico, I traveled to Mexico City to interview him. I asked Morales about the OAS, and this is what he said:</font></div><div>
</div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">All along, there was ample reason to seriously doubt, if not outright reject, the OAS accusations of election irregularities and voter fraud. As CEPR’s Jake Johnston said today in response to the New York Times article:</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">For those paying close attention to the 2019 election, there was never any doubt that the OAS’ claims of fraud were bogus. Just days after the election, a high-level official inside the OAS privately acknowledged to me that there had been no “inexplicable” change in the trend, yet the organization continued to repeat its false assertions for many months with little to no pushback or accountability.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Yet those reasons for doubting the OAS accusations were barely ever even mentioned, let alone vested with credibility, by the U.S. media or its leading foreign policy commentators. Instead, as the MIT scholars wrote in the Washington Post, “the media largely reported the allegations of fraud as fact.” That’s because whenever it comes to changing a foreign country’s government that is disliked by the U.S., the U.S. media reflexively sides with the U.S. State Department and ceases to report and instead engages in pro-government propaganda.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In this case, Bolivia lost its most successful president in its modern history, and is consequently now ruled by an unelected military junta, all cheered on by the U.S. and its media, relying on an OAS report which even the New York Times is now forced to acknowledge is, at best, deeply flawed. Thus did the U.S. government and its media, yet again, help destroy a thriving Latin American democracy.</font></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2020/02/bolivia-coup-was-based-on-false-claims-of-election-fraud/"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">https://www.alternet.org/2020/02/bolivia-coup-was-based-on-false-claims-of-election-fraud/</font></a></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">no lnx</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>
</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Bolivia coup was based on false claims of election fraud</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Written by Eoin Higgins / Common Dreams February 28, 2020</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">A new study released by a pair of MIT researchers Thursday reveals that, contrary to claims from the U.S.-backed Organization of American States, there was no fraud in Bolivia’s Oct. 20, 2019 elections — an accusation used by the OAS and others as a pretext for supporting the coup in the country that deposed President Evo Morales and replaced him with an unelected right-wing government.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Good lord,” tweeted MSNBC journalist Chris Hayes. “Given the fact the entire Morales government was toppled over accusations of election fraud, the OAS has a lot to answer for.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Intercept’s Jon Schwarz took a similar approach to the findings and the OAS’ conclusions.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Jon Schwarz</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">@schwarz</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>In a surprising development, it appears that the same political forces and media that have lied about absolutely everything about Latin America for the past 100 years were lying again&nbsp;</b>https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/02/26/bolivia-dismissed-its-october-elections-fraudulent-our-research-found-no-reason-suspect-fraud/ …</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Analysis | Bolivia dismissed its October elections as fraudulent. Our research found no reason to...</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Bolivians will hold a new election in May — without ousted President Evo Morales.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">washingtonpost.com</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">593</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">9:01 AM - Feb 27, 2020</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Twitter Ads info and privacy</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">248 people are talking about this</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">MIT researchers John Curiel and Jack R. Williams reviewed the OAS report on the election for the Washington Post and found that the “election irregularities” cited by the group were based on “problematic” statistical claims. The OAS report rested its claim on the assumption that these so-called irregularities gave Morales a boost in numbers that raised his results over 10% higher than any other candidate, precluding a runoff election.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>The researchers say they requested a response from the OAS about their findings, but received no reply.</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Curiel and Williams’ study was commissioned by the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR). The group’s co-director, Mark Weisbrot, said in a statement that the OAS has a lot of explaining to do after facilitating the coup through faulty information.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“The OAS greatly misled the media and the public about what happened in Bolivia’s elections, and helped to foster a great deal of mistrust in the electoral process and the results,” said Weisbrot.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The orgnaization’s report bolstered the accusations of fraud in the Nov. 10 OAS report that precipitated the coup and the institution of hard-right legislator Jeanine Añez as president. The ensuing unrest and threats against he and his family, as Common Dreams reported at the time, forced Morales to flee the country for Mexico.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">According to Curiel and Williams, the data used by OAS doesn’t line up with the organization’s conclusion:</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Our results were straightforward. There does not seem to be a statistically significant difference in the margin before and after the halt of the preliminary vote. Instead, it is highly likely that Morales surpassed the 10-percentage-point margin in the first round. …</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>There is not any statistical evidence of fraud that we can find&nbsp;</b>— the trends in the preliminary count, the lack of any big jump in support for Morales after the halt, and the size of Morales’ margin all appear legitimate. All in all, the OAS’ statistical analysis and conclusions would appear deeply flawed.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">CEPR’s Weisbrot declared the researchers’ findings troubling and questioned the OAS’ credibility.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“This important analysis from MIT election researchers is the latest to show that the OAS’ statements were without basis, and that simple arithmetic shows that there is no evidence that fraud or irregularities affected the preliminary results, or the official results ? the ones that actually matter,” Weisbrot said. “The OAS needs to explain why it made these statements and why anyone should trust it when it comes to elections.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“So much for that Bolivian election fraud,” tweeted the Intercept’s Ryan Grim.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">The OAS is set to monitor new national elections in Bolivia set for May 3. Morales, still in exile, has effectively been barred from running.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Williams told Common Dreams that his and Curiel’s findings cast doubt on the organization’s impartiality and ability to act as a neutral arbiter.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“The OAS’s report has basic methodological and statistical errors that make it difficult to see the OAS as an impartial election observer,” said Williams. “The fact that they did not respond to researchers asking about their report on Bolivia seems to suggest they know this.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">National Nurses United director of communications Charles Idelson said on Twitter that the findings throw cold water on an attack line deployed by right-wing opponents of Sen. Bernie Sanders’ 2020 campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination, who have used his statement at Tuesday’s debate that the U.S. meddles in other countries against him.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“The fraudulent right wing military coup in Bolivia was carried out with Trump administration support,” said Idelson, “but some apparently still pretend the U.S. never overthrows governments of other countries.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Curiel and Williams also point to the role in the media for uncritically regurgitating OAS claims on face value as the coup against Morales’ Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS-IPSP) party was underway.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">“The media has largely reported the allegations of fraud as fact,” the researchers write. “And many commentators have justified the coup as a response to electoral fraud by MAS-IPSP.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">Utah-based progressive activist Tom Taylor called for accountability on the part of the media.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>“Our news outlets took what known liars like John Bolton said about Morales at face value,” said Taylor. “Zero critical thinking. The journalists were old enough to remember when we were lied into the Iraq War.”</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>“There’s no other way to put it,” Taylor added. “Our media supported a coup.”</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><a href="https://www.democracynow.org/2019/11/13/bolivia_evo_morales_coup_debate"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">https://www.democracynow.org/2019/11/13/bolivia_evo_morales_coup_debate</font></a></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In&nbsp;&nbsp;<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" letter-spacing="letter-spacing">Bolivia, right-wing Senator Jeanine Áñez declared herself president Tuesday night despite a lack of quorum in Congress, amid a deepening political crisis in the country. Evo Morales, Bolivia’s first indigenous president, left the country Monday after being granted asylum in Mexico. Morales announced his resignation Sunday shortly after the Bolivian military took to the airwaves to call for his departure. His Movement Toward Socialism party is refusing to recognize Áñez as president, calling her claim illegal and decrying Evo Morales’s resignation over the weekend as a military coup. Last month, Morales was re-elected for a fourth term in a race his opponents claimed was marred by fraud. He ran for a fourth term after contesting a referendum upholding term limits. On Tuesday, the Organization of American States held an emergency meeting in Washington<b>, where U.S. Ambassador Carlos Trujillo read a statement from President Donald Trump applauding Evo Morales’s resignation and warning it should “send a strong signal” to Venezuela and Nicaragua. </b>Mexico, Uruguay, Nicaragua and the president-elect of Argentina have all denounced Morales’s departure as a coup. Morales’s departure has sparked demonstrations and clashes across Bolivia. We host a debate on the political crisis in Bolivia with Pablo Solón, former ambassador to the United Nations under President Evo Morales until 2011, and Kevin Young, assistant professor of history at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and the author of “Blood of the Earth: Resource Nationalism, Revolution, and Empire in Bolivia.”</span></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">...</font><span style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb">Mauricio Claver-Carone, an attorney who rose to prominence in conservative foreign policy circles as a writer for the Capitol Hill Cubans blog and as the executive director of the U.S. Cuba Democracy PAC, advised Donald Trump’s presidential campaign. He then joined Trump’s transition team for the U.S. Treasury Department, where he was instrumental in U.S.&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/venezuela/article164575852.html" target="blank" style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" text-decoration-line="text-decoration-line" none="none" font-weight="font-weight" bold="bold" outline="outline" box-sizing="box-sizing" border-box="border-box" transition="transition" all="all" s="s" ease="ease">sanctions</a><span style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb">&nbsp;on Venezuela’s president, who was labeled a “dictator” by the Trump administration. ...Now the acting U.S. executive director at the International Monetary Fund, Claver-Carone will work under National Security Advisor John Bolton and coordinate White House policy with the State, Treasury and other departments. Reached by phone, Claver-Carone said he couldn’t comment.</span></div><p style="margin: 0px 344.859px 1em 0px; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Claver-Carone joins fellow Cuban-Americans promoted by Trump to execute a hardline foreign policy in which Cuba is seen as a major disruptor in Latin-American affairs: Carlos Trujillo (<a href="https://www.politico.com/states/florida/story/2017/10/26/trujillo-tapped-by-trump-as-organization-of-american-states-ambassador-115281" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.25s ease 0s;"><u style="box-sizing: border-box;">U.S. Ambassador to the Organization of American States</u></a>),&nbsp;</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Eliot Pedrosa (U.S. Alternate Executive Director of the InterAmerican Development Bank) and Tomas Regalado (</span><a href="https://www.politico.com/states/florida/story/2018/06/06/in-sign-of-tougher-policy-shift-trump-appoints-cuba-hardliner-to-lead-radio-and-tv-marti-452075" target="blank" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.25s ease 0s;"><u style="box-sizing: border-box;">head of Radio Marti</u></a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">).</span></font></p><aside class="story-related cl-l db " style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; margin-right: 344.859px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(232, 232, 232); border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(232, 232, 232); padding: 0.625em 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; overflow: hidden; clear: left;"><aside class="content-group inline-module-florida-playbook" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><section class="speedbump layout-bi" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: table; width: 658px;"><div class="speedbump-item pos-alpha" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: table-cell; width: 329px; vertical-align: middle; padding-right: 8.89063px;"><div class="spotlight spotlight--flex" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: flex; width: 320.109px; -webkit-box-align: center; align-items: center;"><div class="summary link-alt fx1" style="box-sizing: border-box; -webkit-box-flex: 1; flex: 1 1 0%; display: table-cell; vertical-align: middle;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div></div></div><div class="speedbump-item pos-beta" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: table-cell; width: 329px; vertical-align: middle; padding-left: 8.89063px; margin-top: 0px;"><div class="js-tealium-newsletter" data-subscription-module="newsletter_inline_standard_Florida Playbook - POLITICO" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="dari-frame dari-frame-loaded" name="inline-module-florida-playbook-full-0000014f-1646-d88f-a1cf-5f46b4500000--0000015a-aed8-d76f-affb-bedb97940000" data-insertion-mode="replace" data-extra-form-data="frame.path=5c388a2e37218b65f1db610df3d5c42a&frame.name=inline-module-florida-playbook-full-0000014f-1646-d88f-a1cf-5f46b4500000--0000015a-aed8-d76f-affb-bedb97940000" style="box-sizing: border-box;" /></div></div></section></aside></aside><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 344.859px 1em 0px; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">That places the president’s foreign policy in the region in the hands of top anti-Castro hard-liners in the areas of White House policy, multi-lateral policy, finance and media....</font></p><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"></font><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><a href="https://www.mintpressnews.com/the-making-of-juan-guaido-how-the-us-regime-change-laboratory-created-venezuela-coup-leader/254387/" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">https://www.mintpressnews.com/the-making-of-juan-guaido-how-the-us-regime-change-laboratory-created-venezuela-coup-leader/254387/</a></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;"><a href="https://grayzoneproject.com/2019/01/29/the-making-of-juan-guaido-how-the-us-regime-change-laboratory-created-venezuelas-coup-leader/amp/?_twitter_impression=true" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out 0s;">Project</a>&nbsp;—<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">&nbsp;</span></span><span class="amp-wp-inline-f62a86b1328cd4134bec55ddf6de989a" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Before the fateful day of January 22,&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/venanalysis/status/1087447663153500166" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out 0s;">fewer than one in five</a>&nbsp;Venezuelans had heard of Juan Guaidó. Only a few months ago, the 35-year-old was an obscure character in a politically marginal far-right group closely associated with gruesome acts of street violence. Even in his own party, Guaidó had been a mid-level figure in the opposition-dominated National Assembly, which is now held under contempt according to Venezuela’s constitution.</span></font></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><span class="amp-wp-inline-f62a86b1328cd4134bec55ddf6de989a" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">But after a single phone call from US Vice President Mike Pence, Guaidó proclaimed himself as president of Venezuela. Anointed as the leader of his country by Washington, a previously unknown political bottom dweller was vaulted onto the international stage as the US-selected leader of the nation with the world’s largest oil reserves.</font></span></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><span class="amp-wp-inline-f62a86b1328cd4134bec55ddf6de989a" style="box-sizing: border-box;">Echoing the Washington consensus, the New York Times editorial board&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/24/opinion/venezuela-guaido-maduro.html" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out 0s;">hailed&nbsp;</a><span class="amp-wp-inline-f62a86b1328cd4134bec55ddf6de989a" style="box-sizing: border-box;">Guaidó as a “credible rival” to Maduro with a “refreshing style and vision of taking the country forward.” The Bloomberg News editorial board&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2019-01-25/guaido-s-bold-stroke-for-democracy-in-venezuela" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out 0s;">applauded</a><span class="amp-wp-inline-f62a86b1328cd4134bec55ddf6de989a" style="box-sizing: border-box;">&nbsp;him for seeking “restoration of democracy” and the Wall Street Journal&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/revolt-in-venezuela-11548289111" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out 0s;">declared</a>&nbsp;him</span><span class="amp-wp-inline-f62a86b1328cd4134bec55ddf6de989a" style="box-sizing: border-box;">&nbsp;“a new democratic leader.” Meanwhile, Canada, numerous European nations, Israel, and the bloc of right-wing Latin American governments known as the Lima Group recognized Guaidó as the legitimate leader of Venezuela.</span></font></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><span class="amp-wp-inline-f62a86b1328cd4134bec55ddf6de989a" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><b>While Guaidó seemed to have materialized out of nowhere, he was, in fact, the product of more than a decade of assiduous grooming by the US government’s elite regime change factories.&nbsp;</b>Alongside a cadre of right-wing student activists, Guaidó was cultivated to undermine Venezuela’s socialist-oriented government, destabilize the country, and one day seize power. Though he has been a minor figure in Venezuelan politics, he had spent years quietly demonstrated his worthiness in Washington’s halls of power</span>.</font></span></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><span class="amp-wp-inline-f62a86b1328cd4134bec55ddf6de989a" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>“Juan Guaidó is a character that has been created for this circumstance,”&nbsp;</b>Marco Teruggi, an Argentinian sociologist and leading chronicler of Venezuelan politics, told the Grayzone. “It’s the logic of a laboratory – Guaidó is like a mixture of several elements that create a character who, in all honesty, oscillates between laughable and worrying.”</font></span></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><span class="amp-wp-inline-f62a86b1328cd4134bec55ddf6de989a" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Diego Sequera, a Venezuelan journalist and writer for the investigative outlet, Mision Verdad, agreed: “Guaidó is more popular outside Venezuela than inside, especially in the elite Ivy League and Washington circles,” Sequera remarked to the Grayzone, “He’s a known character there, is predictably right-wing, and is considered loyal to the program.”</font></span></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><span class="amp-wp-inline-f62a86b1328cd4134bec55ddf6de989a" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>While Guaidó is today sold as the face of democratic restoration, he spent his career in the most violent faction of Venezuela’s most radical opposition party, positioning himself at the forefront of one destabilization campaign after another. His party has been widely discredited inside Venezuela, and is held partly responsible for fragmenting a badly weakened opposition.</b></font></span></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="amp-wp-inline-f62a86b1328cd4134bec55ddf6de989a" style="box-sizing: border-box;">“‘These radical leaders have no more than 20 percent in opinion polls,”&nbsp;<a href="http://www.caraotadigital.net/nacionales/luis-vicente-leon-la-oposicion-politica-venezolana-vive-su-peor-momento-historico/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out 0s;">wrote</a>&nbsp;</span><span class="amp-wp-inline-f62a86b1328cd4134bec55ddf6de989a" style="box-sizing: border-box;">Luis Vicente León, Venezuela’s leading pollster. According to Leon, Guaidó’s party remains isolated because the majority of the population “does not want war. ‘What they want is a solution.’”</span></font></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><span class="amp-wp-inline-f62a86b1328cd4134bec55ddf6de989a" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">But this is precisely why he Guaidó was selected by Washington: he is not expected to lead Venezuela towards to democracy, but to collapse a country that for the past two decades has been a bulwark of resistance to US hegemony. His unlikely rise signals the culmination of a two-decades-long project to destroy a robust socialist experiment.</font></span></p><h2 style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.2; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Targeting the “troika of tyranny”</font></span></h2><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><span class="amp-wp-inline-f62a86b1328cd4134bec55ddf6de989a" style="box-sizing: border-box;">Since the 1998 election of Hugo Chavez, the United States has fought to restore control over Venezuela and is vast oil reserves. Chavez’s socialist programs may have redistributed the country’s wealth and helped lift millions out of poverty, but they also earned him a target on his back. In 2002, Venezuela’s right-wing opposition briefly ousted him with US support and recognition before the military restored his presidency following a mass popular mobilization. Throughout the administrations of US Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, Chavez survived numerous assassination plots before succumbing to cancer in 2013. His successor, Nicolas Maduro, has&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/27/maduro-assassination-plot-venezuela_n_3820765.html" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out 0s;">survived</a>&nbsp;<a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/2344973.stm" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out 0s;">three attempts</a><span class="amp-wp-inline-f62a86b1328cd4134bec55ddf6de989a" style="box-sizing: border-box;">&nbsp;on his life.</span></font></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><span class="amp-wp-inline-f62a86b1328cd4134bec55ddf6de989a" style="box-sizing: border-box;">The Trump administration immediately elevated Venezuela to the top of Washington’s regime change target list, branding it the leader of a&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-national-security-advisor-ambassador-john-r-bolton-administrations-policies-latin-america/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out 0s;">“troika of tyranny.”</a><span class="amp-wp-inline-f62a86b1328cd4134bec55ddf6de989a" style="box-sizing: border-box;">Last year, Trump’s national security team&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/08/world/americas/donald-trump-venezuela-military-coup.html" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out 0s;">attempted</a><span class="amp-wp-inline-f62a86b1328cd4134bec55ddf6de989a" style="box-sizing: border-box;">&nbsp;to recruit members of the military brass to mount a military junta, but that effort failed. According to the Venezuelan government, the US was also involved in a plot codenamed Operation Constitution to capture Maduro at the Miraflores presidential palace, and another called&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-06-27/inside-the-failed-plot-to-overthrow-venezuelan-president-nicolas-maduro" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out 0s;">Operation Armageddon</a><span class="amp-wp-inline-f62a86b1328cd4134bec55ddf6de989a" style="box-sizing: border-box;">&nbsp;to assassinate him at a military parade in July 2017. Just over a year later, exiled opposition leaders&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J71BT0stT3k" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out 0s;">tried and failed to kill Maduro</a><span class="amp-wp-inline-f62a86b1328cd4134bec55ddf6de989a" style="box-sizing: border-box;">&nbsp;with drone bombs during a military parade in Caracas.</span></font></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><span class="amp-wp-inline-f62a86b1328cd4134bec55ddf6de989a" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">More than a decade before these intrigues, a group of right-wing opposition students were hand selected and groomed by an elite, US-funded regime change training academy to topple Venezuela’s government and restore the neoliberal order.</font></span></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></p><h2 style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.2; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Training from the “‘export-a-revolution’ group that sowed the seeds for a NUMBER of color revolutions”</font></span></h2><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><span class="amp-wp-inline-f62a86b1328cd4134bec55ddf6de989a" style="box-sizing: border-box;">On October 5, 2005, with Chavez’s popularity at its peak and his government planning sweeping socialist programs, five Venezuelan “student leaders”&nbsp;</span><a href="https://worldview.stratfor.com/article/venezuela-marigold-revolution" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out 0s;">arrived</a><span class="amp-wp-inline-f62a86b1328cd4134bec55ddf6de989a" style="box-sizing: border-box;">&nbsp;in Belgrade, Serbia to begin training for an insurrection.</span></font></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="amp-wp-inline-f62a86b1328cd4134bec55ddf6de989a" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The students had arrived from Venezuela courtesy of the&nbsp;<b>Center for Applied Non-Violent Action and Strategies, or CANVAS</b></span><b>.</b>&nbsp;This group is&nbsp;</span><a href="http://www.wrongkindofgreen.org/2013/01/14/breaking-desperate-for-destabilization-in-venezuela-us-funded-otpor-rears-its-ugly-head/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out 0s;">funded</a><span class="amp-wp-inline-f62a86b1328cd4134bec55ddf6de989a" style="box-sizing: border-box;">&nbsp;largely through the&nbsp;<a href="https://grayzoneproject.com/2018/08/20/inside-americas-meddling-machine-the-us-funded-group-that-interferes-in-elections-around-the-globe/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out 0s;">National Endowment for Democracy</a>, a CIA cut-out that functions as the US government’s main arm of promoting regime change; and offshoots like the International Republican Institute and the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs.&nbsp;<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">According to leaked internal&nbsp;</span></span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><a href="https://wikileaks.org/gifiles/docs/17/1792423_information-on-canvas-.html" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out 0s;">emails</a><span class="amp-wp-inline-f62a86b1328cd4134bec55ddf6de989a" style="box-sizing: border-box;">&nbsp;from<b>&nbsp;Stratfor, an intelligence firm known as the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/12/15/stratfor-canadian-government_n_4449505.html" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out 0s;">“shadow CIA,”</a>&nbsp;</b>“[CANVAS] may have also received CIA funding and training during the 1999/2000 anti-Milosevic struggle.”</span></span></font></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="amp-wp-inline-f62a86b1328cd4134bec55ddf6de989a" style="box-sizing: border-box;">CANVAS is a spinoff of Otpor, a Serbian protest group founded by&nbsp;</span><a href="http://www.williamengdahl.com/englishNEO1Oct2017.php" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out 0s;">Srdja Popovic</a><span class="amp-wp-inline-f62a86b1328cd4134bec55ddf6de989a" style="box-sizing: border-box;">&nbsp;in 1998 at the University of Belgrade. Otpor, which means “resistance” in Serbian, was the student group that gained international fame – and Hollywood-level&nbsp;</span><a href="https://vimeo.com/143379353" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out 0s;">promotion</a><span class="amp-wp-inline-f62a86b1328cd4134bec55ddf6de989a" style="box-sizing: border-box;">&nbsp;– by mobilizing the protests that eventually toppled Slobodan Milosevic. This small cell of regime change specialists was operating according to the theories of the late Gene Sharp, the so-called “Clausewitz of non-violent struggle.” Sharp had worked with a former Defense Intelligence Agency analyst, Col.&nbsp;</span><a href="http://peacemagazine.org/archive/v24n1p12.htm" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out 0s;">Robert Helvey</a><span class="amp-wp-inline-f62a86b1328cd4134bec55ddf6de989a" style="box-sizing: border-box;">, to conceive a strategic blueprint that weaponized protest as a form of hybrid warfare, aiming it at states that resisted Washington’s unipolar domination.</span></font></p><div id="attachment_254388" class="wp-caption aligncenter" source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" width="width" style="box-sizing: border-box; max-width: 100%; margin: 0px auto 24px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font><p class="wp-caption-text" style="margin: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A fence covered with posters of Slobodan Milosevic behind bars, titled “When?” and “People’s Movement Otpor” in Belgrade, Serbia, March 30, 2001. Darko Vojinovic | AP]</font></p></div><figure id="attachment_1809" class="wp-caption alignnone amp-wp-inline-086b83d24e4412010a175ea3dba11ca3" source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 1em 40px 12px; max-width: 100%;"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="amp-wp-inline-f62a86b1328cd4134bec55ddf6de989a" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Otpor was supported by the National Endowment for Democracy, USAID and Sharp’s Albert Einstein Institute</span>. Sinisa Sikman, one of Otpor’s main trainers, once&nbsp;</span><a href="https://wikileaks.org/gifiles/docs/17/1792423_information-on-canvas-.html" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out 0s;">said</a><span class="amp-wp-inline-f62a86b1328cd4134bec55ddf6de989a" style="box-sizing: border-box;">&nbsp;the group even received direct CIA funding. According to a&nbsp;</span><a href="https://wikileaks.org/gifiles/docs/17/1713359_re-insight-venezuela-canvas-analysis-.html" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out 0s;">leaked email</a><span class="amp-wp-inline-f62a86b1328cd4134bec55ddf6de989a" style="box-sizing: border-box;">&nbsp;from a<b>&nbsp;Stratfor</b>&nbsp;staffer, after running Milosevic out of power, “the kids who ran OTPOR grew up, got suits and designed CANVAS… or in other words a ;export-a-revolution’ group that sowed the seeds for a NUMBER of color revolutions. They are still hooked into U.S. funding and basically go around the world trying to topple dictators and autocratic governments (ones that U.S. does not like ;).”</span></font></figcaption></figure><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><span class="amp-wp-inline-f62a86b1328cd4134bec55ddf6de989a" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Stratfor revealed that CANVAS “turned its attention to Venezuela” in 2005 after training opposition movements that led pro-NATO regime change operations across Eastern Europe.</font></span></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><span class="amp-wp-inline-f62a86b1328cd4134bec55ddf6de989a" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>While monitoring the CANVAS training program, Stratfor outlined its insurrectionist agenda in strikingly blunt language:</b>&nbsp;<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“Success is by no means guaranteed, and student movements are only at the beginning of what could be a years-long effort to trigger a revolution in Venezuela, but the trainers themselves are the people who cut their teeth on the ‘Butcher of the Balkans.’ They’ve got mad skills. When you see students at five Venezuelan universities hold simultaneous demonstrations, you will know that the training is over and the real work has begun.”</span></font></span></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></p><h2 style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.2; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Birthing the “Generation 2007” regime change cadre</font></span></h2><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><span class="amp-wp-inline-f62a86b1328cd4134bec55ddf6de989a" style="box-sizing: border-box;">The “real work” began two years later, in 2007, when Guaidó graduated from Andrés Bello Catholic University of Caracas. He moved to Washington DC to enroll in the Governance and Political Management&nbsp;</span><a href="http://sri.ucab.edu.ve/sites/default/files/Convenio%20UCAB-%20CAF%20George%20Washington%20University.pdf" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out 0s;">Program</a><span class="amp-wp-inline-f62a86b1328cd4134bec55ddf6de989a" style="box-sizing: border-box;">&nbsp;at George Washington University under the tutelage of Venezuelan economist Luis Enrique&nbsp;<b>Berrizbeitia</b>, one of the top Latin American neoliberal economists. Berrizbeitia is a&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.caf.com/media/3571/resumenexecutive.pdf" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out 0s;">former executive director</a><span class="amp-wp-inline-f62a86b1328cd4134bec55ddf6de989a" style="box-sizing: border-box;">&nbsp;of the International Monetary Fund who spent more than a decade working in Venezuelan energy sector under the oligarchic old regime that was ousted by Chavez.</span></font></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><span class="amp-wp-inline-f62a86b1328cd4134bec55ddf6de989a" style="box-sizing: border-box;">That year, Guaidó helped lead anti-government rallies after the Venezuelan government&nbsp;</span><a href="https://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/2424" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out 0s;">declined to</a></span><span class="amp-wp-inline-f62a86b1328cd4134bec55ddf6de989a" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">&nbsp;to renew the license of Radio Caracas Televisión (RCTV). This privately-owned station played a leading role in the 2002 coup against Hugo Chavez.</span>&nbsp;RCTV helped mobilize anti-government demonstrators, falsified information blaming government supporters for acts of violence carried out by opposition members, and banned pro-government reporting amid the coup.&nbsp;<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The role of RCTV and other oligarch-owned stations in driving the failed coup attempt was chronicled in the acclaimed documentary, The Revolution Will Not Be Televised.</span></span></font></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><span class="amp-wp-inline-f62a86b1328cd4134bec55ddf6de989a" style="box-sizing: border-box;">That same year, the students claimed credit for stymying Chavez’s constitutional referendum for a “21st century socialism” that&nbsp;</span><a href="https://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/2890" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out 0s;">promised</a></span><span class="amp-wp-inline-f62a86b1328cd4134bec55ddf6de989a" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">&nbsp;“to set the legal framework for the political and social reorganization of the country, giving direct power to organized communities as a prerequisite for the development of a new economic system.</span>”</span></font></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><span class="amp-wp-inline-f62a86b1328cd4134bec55ddf6de989a" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">From the protests around RCTV and the referendum, a specialized cadre of US-backed class of regime change activists was born. They called themselves “Generation 2007.”</font></span></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><span class="amp-wp-inline-f62a86b1328cd4134bec55ddf6de989a" style="box-sizing: border-box;">The&nbsp;<b>Stratfor</b>&nbsp;and CANVAS trainers of this cell identified Guaidó’s ally – a&nbsp;<b>street organizer named Yon Goicoechea – as a “key factor” in defeating the constitutional referendum.&nbsp;</b>The following year, Goicochea was&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.cato.org/friedman-prize/yon-goicoechea" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out 0s;">rewarded</a><span class="amp-wp-inline-f62a86b1328cd4134bec55ddf6de989a" style="box-sizing: border-box;">&nbsp;for his efforts with the Cato Institute’s Milton Friedman Prize for Advancing Liberty, along with a $500,000 prize, which he promptly invested into building his own Liberty First (Primero Justicia) political network.</span></font></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><span class="amp-wp-inline-f62a86b1328cd4134bec55ddf6de989a" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[milton prize px]</font></span></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">no lnx pix</font></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;Goicoechea receives the Milton Friedman Prize for Advancing Liberty at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York, May 15, 2008. Seth Wenig | AP</font></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Friedman, of course, was the godfather of the notorious neoliberal Chicago Boys who were imported into Chile by dictatorial junta leader Augusto Pinochet to implement policies of radical “shock doctrine”-style fiscal austerity. And the<b>&nbsp;Cato Institute is the libertarian Washington DC-based think tank founded by the Koch Brothers, two top Republican Party donors who have become aggressive supporters of the right-wing across Latin America.</b></font></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Wikileaks published a 2007 email from<b>&nbsp;American ambassador to Venezuela William Brownfield</b>&nbsp;sent to the State Department, National Security Council and Department of Defense Southern Command praising “Generation of ’07” for having “forced the Venezuelan president, accustomed to setting the political agenda, to (over)react.” Among the “emerging leaders” Brownfield identified were Freddy Guevara and Yon Goicoechea. He applauded the latter figure as “one of the students’ most articulate defenders of civil liberties.”</font></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Flush with cash from libertarian oligarchs and US government soft power outfits, the radical Venezuelan cadre took their Otpor tactics to the streets, along with a version of the group’s logo, as seen below:</font></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Otpor | Venezuela px]</font></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Galvanizing public unrest…to take advantage of the situation and spin it against Chavez”</font></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In 2009, the Generation 2007 youth activists staged their most provocative demonstration yet, dropping their pants on public roads and aping the outrageous guerrilla theater tactics outlined by Gene Sharp in his regime change manuals. The protesters had mobilized against the arrest of an ally from another newfangled youth group called JAVU. This far-right group “gathered funds from a variety of US government sources, which allowed it to gain notoriety quickly as the hardline wing of opposition street movements,” according to academic George Ciccariello-Maher’s book, “Building the Commune.”</font></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">While video of the protest is not available, many Venezuelans have identified Guaidó as one of its key participants. While the allegation is unconfirmed, it is certainly plausible; the bare-buttocks protesters were members of the Generation 2007 inner core that Guaidó belonged to, and were clad in their trademark Resistencia! Venezuela t-shirts, as seen below:</font></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Juan Guaido | Protest</font></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Is this the ass that Trump wants to install in Venezuela’s seat of power?</font></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">That year, Guaidó exposed himself to the public in another way, founding a political party to capture the anti-Chavez energy his Generation 2007 had cultivated. Called Popular Will, it was led by<b>&nbsp;Leopoldo López, a Princeton-educated right-wing firebrand heavily involved in National Endowment for Democracy&nbsp;</b>programs and elected as the mayor of a district in Caracas that was one of the wealthiest in the country. Lopez was a portrait of Venezuelan aristocracy, directly descended from his country’s first president. He was also the<b>&nbsp;first cousin of Thor Halvorssen</b>, founder of the US-based Human Rights Foundation that functions as a de facto publicity shop for US-backed anti-government activists in countries targeted by Washington for regime change.</font></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Though Lopez’s interests aligned neatly with Washington’s, US diplomatic cables published by Wikileaks highlighted the fanatical tendencies that would ultimately lead to Popular Will’s marginalization. One cable identified Lopez as “a divisive figure within the opposition… often described as arrogant, vindictive, and power-hungry.” Others highlighted his obsession with street confrontations and his “uncompromising approach” as a source of tension with other opposition leaders who prioritized unity and participation in the country’s democratic institutions.</font></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Leopoldo Lopez | Wealth</font></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Popular Will founder Leopoldo Lopez cruising with his wife, Lilian Tintori.]</font></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">By 2010, Popular Will and its foreign backers moved to exploit the worst drought to hit Venezuela in decades. Massive electricity shortages had struck the country due the dearth of water, which was needed to power hydroelectric plants. A global economic recession and declining oil prices compounded the crisis, driving public discontentment.</font></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Stratfor</span>&nbsp;and CANVAS – key advisors of Guaidó and his anti-government cadre – devised a shockingly cynical plan to drive a dagger through the heart of the Bolivarian revolution. The scheme hinged on a 70% collapse of the country’s electrical system by as early as April 2010.</b></font></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“This could be the watershed event, as there is little that Chavez can do to protect the poor from the failure of that system,” the Stratfor internal memo declared. “This would likely have the impact of galvanizing public unrest in a way that no opposition group could ever hope to generate. At that point in time, an opposition group would be best served to take advantage of the situation and spin it against Chavez and towards their needs.”</font></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">By this point, the Venezuelan opposition was receiving a staggering $40-50 million a year from US government organizations like USAID and the National Endowment for Democracy, according to a report by the Spanish think tank, the FRIDE Institute. It also had massive wealth to draw on from its own accounts, which were mostly outside the country.</font></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">While the scenario envisioned by Statfor did not come to fruition, the Popular Will party activists and their allies cast aside any pretense of non-violence and joined a radical plan to destabilize the country.</font></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Towards violent destabilization</font></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">In November, 2010, according to emails obtained by Venezuelan security services and presented by former Justice Minister Miguel Rodríguez Torres, Guaidó, Goicoechea, and several other student activists attended a secret five-day training at the Fiesta Mexicana hotel in Mexico City. The sessions were run by Otpor, the Belgrade-based regime change trainers backed by the US government. The meeting had reportedly received the blessing of<b>&nbsp;Otto Reich,</b>&nbsp;a fanatically anti-Castro Cuban exile working in George W. Bush’s Department of State, and the<b>&nbsp;right-wing former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe.</b></font></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">At the Fiesta Mexicana hotel, the emails stated, Guaidó and his fellow activists hatched a plan to overthrow President Hugo Chavez by generating chaos through protracted spasms of street violence.</font></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Three petroleum industry figureheads – Gustavo Torrar, Eligio Cedeño and Pedro Burelli – allegedly covered the $52,000 tab to hold the meeting.&nbsp;</b>Torrar is a self-described “human rights activist” and “intellectual” whose younger brother Reynaldo Tovar Arroyo is the representative in Venezuela of the private Mexican oil and gas company Petroquimica del Golfo, which holds a contract with the Venezuelan state.</font></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Cedeño, for his part, is a fugitive Venezuelan businessman who claimed asylum in the United States, and&nbsp;<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Pedro Burelli a former JP Morgan executive and the former director of Venezuela’s national oil company, Petroleum of Venezuela (PDVSA). He left PDVSA in 1998 as Hugo Chavez took power and is on the advisory committee of Georgetown University’s Latin America Leadership Program.</span></font></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Burelli insisted that the emails detailing his participation had been fabricated and even hired a private investigator to prove it. The investigator declared that Google’s records showed the emails alleged to be his were never transmitted.</font></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Yet today Burelli makes no secret of his desire to see Venezuela’s current president, Nicolás Maduro, deposed – and even dragged through the streets and sodomized with a bayonet, as Libyan leader Moammar Qaddafi was by NATO-backed militiamen.&nbsp;</font></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">View image on TwitterView image on Twitter</font></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Pedro Mario Burelli</font></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">@pburelli</font></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;.@NicolasMaduro, jamas me has hecho caso. Me has fustigado/perseguido como @chavezcandanga jamás osó. Óyeme, tienes sólo dos opciones en las próximas 24 horas:</font></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">1. Como&nbsp;<b>Noriega:&nbsp;</b>pagar pena por narcotráfico y luego a @IntlCrimCourt La Haya por DDHH.</font></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">2. O a la&nbsp;<b>Gaddafi.</b></font></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Escoge ya!</font></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">1,051</font></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">10:09 PM - Jan 16, 2019</font></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">1,252 people are talking about this</font></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The alleged Fiesta Mexicana plot flowed into another destabilization plan revealed in a series of documents produced by the Venezuelan government. In May 2014, Caracas released documents detailing an assassination plot against President Nicolás Maduro. The leaks identified the&nbsp;<b>Miami-based Maria Corina Machado as a leader of the scheme</b>. A hardliner with a penchant for extreme rhetoric, Machado has functioned as an international liaison for the opposition, visiting President George W. Bush in 2005.</font></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">maria corina machado | george bush</font></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Machado and George W. Bush, 2005.]</font></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“I think it is time to gather efforts; make the necessary calls, and obtain financing to annihilate Maduro and the rest will fall apart,” Machado wrote in an email to former Venezuelan diplomat Diego Arria in 2014.</font></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>In another email, Machado claimed that the violent plot had the blessing of US Ambassador to Colombia, Kevin Whitaker.</b>&nbsp;“I have already made up my mind and this fight will continue until this regime is overthrown and we deliver to our friends in the world. If I went to San Cristobal and exposed myself before the OAS, I fear nothing. Kevin Whitaker has already reconfirmed his support and he pointed out the new steps. We have a checkbook stronger than the regime’s to break the international security ring.”</font></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Guaidó heads to the barricades</font></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">That February, student demonstrators acting as shock troops for the exiled oligarchy erected violent barricades across the country, turning opposition-controlled quarters into violent fortresses known as guarimbas. While international media portrayed the upheaval as a spontaneous protest against Maduro’s iron-fisted rule, there was ample evidence that Popular Will was orchestrating the show.</font></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“None of the protesters at the universities wore their university t-shirts, they all wore Popular Will or Justice First t-shirts,” a guarimba participant said at the time. “They might have been student groups, but the student councils are affiliated to the political opposition parties and they are accountable to them.”</font></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Asked who the ringleaders were, the guarimba participant said, “Well if I am totally honest, those guys are legislators now.”</font></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Around 43 were killed during the 2014 guarimbas. Three years later, they erupted again, causing mass destruction of public infrastructure, the murder of government supporters, and the deaths of 126 people, many of whom were Chavistas. In several cases, supporters of the government were burned alive by armed gangs.</font></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Guaidó was directly involved in the 2014 guarimbas. In fact, he tweeted video showing himself clad in a helmet and gas mask, surrounded by masked and armed elements that had shut down a highway that were engaging in a violent clash with the police. Alluding to his participation in Generation 2007, he proclaimed, “I remember in 2007, we proclaimed, ‘Students!’ Now, we shout, ‘Resistance! Resistance!’”&nbsp;</font></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Guaidó has deleted the tweet, demonstrating apparent concern for his image as a champion of democracy.</font></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">On February 12, 2014, during the height of that year’s guarimbas, Guaidó joined Lopez on stage at a rally of Popular Will and Justice First. During a lengthy diatribe against the government,&nbsp;<b>Lopez urged the crowd to march to the office of Attorney General Luisa Ortega Diaz. Soon after, Diaz’s office came under attack by armed gangs who attempted to burn it to the ground. She denounced what she called “planned and premeditated violence.</b>”</font></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Leopoldo Lopez | Juan Guaido</font></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Guaido alongside Lopez at the fateful February 12, 2014 rally. Photo | PanAm Post]</font></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In a televised appearance in 2016, Guaidó dismissed deaths resulting from guayas – a guarimba tactic involving stretching steel wire across a roadway in order to injure or kill motorcyclists – as a “myth.” His comments whitewashed a deadly tactic that had killed unarmed civilians like Santiago Pedroza and decapitated a man named Elvis Durán, among many others.</font></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">This callous disregard for human life would define his Popular Will party in the eyes of much of the public, including many opponents of Maduro.</font></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Cracking down on Popular Will&nbsp;</b></font></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">As violence and political polarization escalated across the country, the government began to act against the Popular Will leaders who helped stoke it.</font></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Freddy Guevara, the National Assembly Vice-President and second in command of Popular Will, was a principal leader in the 2017 street riots. Facing a trial for his role in the violence, Guevara took shelter in the Chilean embassy, where he remains.</font></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Lester Toledo, a Popular Will legislator from the state of Zulia, was wanted by Venezuelan government in September 2016 on charges of financing terrorism and plotting assassinations. The plans were said to be made with former Colombian President Álavaro Uribe. Toledo escaped Venezuela and went on several speaking tours with<b>Human Rights Watch, the US government-backed Freedom House,&nbsp;</b>the Spanish Congress and European Parliament.</font></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Carlos Graffe, another Otpor-trained Generation 2007 member who led Popular Will, was arrested in July 2017. According to police, he was in possession of a bag filled with nails, C4 explosives and a detonator. He was released on December 27, 2017.</font></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Leopoldo Lopez, the longtime Popular Will leader, is today under house arrest, accused of a key role in deaths of 13 people during the guarimbas in 2014.&nbsp;<b>Amnesty International lauded Lopez as a “prisoner of conscience”</b>&nbsp;and slammed his transfer from prison to house as “not good enough.” Meanwhile, family members of guarimba victims introduced a petition for more charges against Lopez.</font></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Yon Goicoechea, the Koch Brothers posterboy and US-backed founder of Justice First, was arrested in 2016 by security forces who claimed they found a kilo of explosives in his vehicle. In a New York Times op-ed, Goicoechea protested the charges as “trumped-up” and claimed he had been imprisoned simply for his “dream of a democratic society, free of Communism.” He was freed in November 2017.</font></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">View image on Twitter</font></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">@YonGoicoechea</font></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;Hoy, en Caricuao. Llevo 15 años trabajando con @jguaido. Confío en él. Conozco la constancia y la inteligencia con la que se ha construido a sí mismo. Está haciendo las cosas con bondad, pero sin ingenuidad. Hay una posibilidad abierta hacia la libertad</font></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">5:10 PM - Jan 19, 2019</font></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">136 people are talking about this</font></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">David Smolansky, also a member of the original Otpor-trained Generation 2007, became Venezuela’s youngest-ever mayor when he was elected in 2013 in the affluent suburb of El Hatillo. But he was stripped of his position and sentenced to 15 months in prison by the Supreme Court after it found him culpable of stirring the violent guarimbas.&nbsp;&nbsp;</font></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Facing arrest, Smolansky shaved his beard, donned sunglasses and slipped into Brazil disguised as a priest with a bible in hand and rosary around his neck. He now lives in Washington, DC, where he was handpicked by<b>&nbsp;Secretary of the Organization of American States Luis Almagro</b>&nbsp;to lead the working group on the Venezuelan migrant and refugee crisis.</font></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">This July 26, Smolansky held what he called a “<b>cordial reunion” with Elliot Abrams,&nbsp;</b>the convicted Iran-Contra felon installed by Trump as special US envoy to Venezuela. Abrams is notorious for overseeing the US covert policy of arming right-wing death squads during the 1980’s in Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Guatemala. His lead role in the Venezuelan coup has stoked fears that another blood-drenched proxy war might be on the way.</font></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">David Smolansky</font></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">@dsmolansky</font></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;Cordial reunión en la ONU con Elliott Abrams, enviado especial del gobierno de EEUU para Venezuela. Reiteramos que la prioridad para el gobierno interino que preside @jguaido es la asistencia humanitaria para millones de venezolanos que sufren de la falta de comida y medicinas.</font></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">10:46 AM - Jan 26, 2019</font></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">2,619 people are talking about this</font></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Four days earlier, Machado rumbled another violent threat against Maduro, declaring that if he “wants to save his life, he should understand that his time is up.”</font></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A pawn in their game</font></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The collapse of Popular Will under the weight of the violent campaign of destabilization it ran alienated large sectors of the public and wound much of its leadership up in exile or in custody. Guaidó had remained a relatively minor figure, having spent most of his nine-year career in the National Assembly as an alternate deputy. Hailing from one of Venezuela’s least populous states, Guaidó came in second place during the 2015 parliamentary elections,<b>&nbsp;winning just 26% of votes cast in order to secure his place in the National Assembly. Indeed, his bottom may have been better known than his face.</b></font></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><b>Guaidó is known as the president of the opposition-dominated National Assembly, but he was never elected to the position.</b>&nbsp;The four opposition parties that comprised the Assembly’s Democratic Unity Table had decided to establish a rotating presidency. Popular Will’s turn was on the way, but its founder, Lopez, was under house arrest. Meanwhile, his second-in-charge, Guevara, had taken refuge in the Chilean embassy. A figure named Juan Andrés Mejía would have been next in line but reasons that are only now clear, Juan Guaido was selected.&nbsp; &nbsp;</font></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“There is a class reasoning that explains Guaidó’s rise,” Sequera, the Venezuelan analyst, observed. “Mejía is high class, studied at one of the most expensive private universities in Venezuela, and could not be easily marketed to the public the way Guaidó could. For one, Guaidó has common mestizo features like most Venezuelans do, and seems like more like a man of the people. Also, he had not been overexposed in the media, so he could be built up into pretty much anything.”</font></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><b>In December 2018, Guaidó sneaked across the border and junketed to Washington, Colombia and Brazil to coordinate the plan to hold mass demonstrations during the inauguration of President Maduro.&nbsp;The night before Maduro’s swearing-in ceremony, both Vice President Mike Pence and Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland called Guaidó to affirm their suppor</b>t.</font></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">A week later, Sen. Marco Rubio, Sen. Rick Scott and Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart – all lawmakers from the Florida base of the right-wing Cuban exile lobby – joined President Trump and Vice President Pence at the White House. At their request, Trump agreed that if Guaidó declared himself president, he would back him.</b></font></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met personally with Guaidó on January 10,</b>&nbsp;according to the Wall Street Journal. However, Pompeo could not pronounce Guaidó’s name when he mentioned him in a press briefing on January 25, referring to him as “Juan Guido.”</font></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;Embedded video</font></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Dan Cohen</font></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">@dancohen3000</font></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;Secretary of State Mike Pompeo just called the figure Washington is attempting to install as Venezuelan President "Juan Guido" - as in the racist term for Italians. America's top diplomat didn't even bother to learn how to pronounce his puppet's name.</font></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">1:58 PM - Jan 25, 2019</font></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">By January 11, Guaidó’s&nbsp;<b>Wikipedia page had been edited 37 times, highlighting the struggle to shape the image of a previously anonymous figure&nbsp;</b>who was now a tableau for Washington’s regime change ambitions. In the end, editorial oversight of his page was handed over to Wikipedia’s elite council of “librarians,” who pronounced him the “contested” president of Venezuela.</font></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><b>Guaidó might have been an obscure figure, but his combination of radicalism and opportunism satisfied Washington’s needs. “That internal piece was missing,” a Trump administration said of Guaidó. “He was the piece we needed for our strategy to be coherent and complete.”</b></font></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“For the first time,” Brownfield, the former American ambassador to Venezuela, gushed to the New York Times, “you have an opposition leader who is clearly signaling to the armed forces and to law enforcement that he wants to keep them on the side of the angels and with the good guys.”</font></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">But Guaidó’s Popular Will party formed the shock troops of the guarimbas that caused the deaths of police officers and common citizens alike. He had even boasted of his own participation in street riots. And now, to win the hearts and minds of the military and police, Guaido had to erase this blood-soaked history.</font></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">On January 21, a day before the coup began in earnest, Guaidó’s wife delivered a video address calling on the military to rise up against Maduro. Her performance was wooden and uninspiring, underscoring the her husband’s limited political prospects.</font></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>At a press conference before supporters four days later, Guaidó announced his solution to the crisis: “Authorize a humanitarian intervention!”</b></font></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">While he waits on direct assistance, Guaidó remains what he has always been – a pet project of cynical outside forces. “It doesn’t matter if he crashes and burns after all these misadventures,” Sequera said of the coup figurehead. “To the Americans, he is expendable.”</font></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Top Photo | Venezuela’s self-declared interim leader Juan Guaido, center, greets supporters after a rally at a public plaza in Las Mercedes neighborhood of Caracas, Venezuela, Jan. 26, 2019. Fernando Llano | AP]</font></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Dan Cohen is a journalist and filmmaker. He has produced widely distributed video reports and print dispatches from across Israel-Palestine. Dan is a correspondent at RT America and tweets at @DanCohen3000.</font></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Max Blumenthal is the founder and editor of GrayzoneProject.com,</b>&nbsp;the co-host of the podcast Moderate Rebels, the author of several books and producer of full-length documentaries including the recently released Killing Gaza. Follow him on Twitter at @MaxBlumenthal.</font></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="amp-wp-inline-f62a86b1328cd4134bec55ddf6de989a" style="box-sizing: border-box;" /></font></p><p source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 0px 0px 28px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Source | GrayZone Project</font></p></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"></font></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">=</font><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="https://www.politico.com/story/2018/08/31/mauricio-claver-carone-cuba-national-security-council-805571" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">https://www.politico.com/story/2018/08/31/mauricio-claver-carone-cuba-national-security-council-805571</font></a></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">caputo</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style=""><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 344.859px 1em 0px; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Trump is poised to promote an international finance official tied to Sen. Marco Rubio to lead Western Hemisphere Affairs at the National Security Council, making him the fourth member of an unofficial team of top pro-democracy Cuba hard-liners who are executing and advocating the administration’s Latin American policies.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 344.859px 1em 0px; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Mauricio Claver-Carone, an attorney who rose to prominence in conservative foreign policy circles as a writer for the Capitol Hill Cubans blog and as the executive director of the U.S. Cuba Democracy PAC, advised Donald Trump’s presidential campaign. He then joined Trump’s transition team for the U.S. Treasury Department, where he was instrumental in U.S.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/venezuela/article164575852.html" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.25s ease 0s;">sanctions</a>&nbsp;on Venezuela’s president, who was labeled a “dictator” by the Trump administration. ...Now the acting U.S. executive director at the International Monetary Fund, Claver-Carone will work under National Security Advisor John Bolton and coordinate White House policy with the State, Treasury and other departments. Reached by phone, Claver-Carone said he couldn’t comment.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 344.859px 1em 0px; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Claver-Carone joins fellow Cuban-Americans promoted by Trump to execute a hardline foreign policy in which Cuba is seen as a major disruptor in Latin-American affairs:<b> Carlos Trujillo</b> (<a href="https://www.politico.com/states/florida/story/2017/10/26/trujillo-tapped-by-trump-as-organization-of-american-states-ambassador-115281" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.25s ease 0s;"><u style="box-sizing: border-box;">U.S. Ambassador to the Organization of American States</u></a>), </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Eliot Pedrosa (U.S. Alternate Executive Director of the InterAmerican Development Bank) and Tomas Regalado (</span><a href="https://www.politico.com/states/florida/story/2018/06/06/in-sign-of-tougher-policy-shift-trump-appoints-cuba-hardliner-to-lead-radio-and-tv-marti-452075" target="blank" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.25s ease 0s;"><u style="box-sizing: border-box;">head of Radio Marti</u></a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">).</span></font></p><aside class="story-related cl-l db " style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; margin-right: 344.859px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(232, 232, 232); border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(232, 232, 232); padding: 0.625em 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; overflow: hidden; clear: left;"><aside class="content-group inline-module-florida-playbook" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><section class="speedbump layout-bi" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: table; width: 658px;"><div class="speedbump-item pos-alpha" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: table-cell; width: 329px; vertical-align: middle; padding-right: 8.89063px;"><div class="spotlight spotlight--flex" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: flex; width: 320.109px; -webkit-box-align: center; align-items: center;"><div class="summary link-alt fx1" style="box-sizing: border-box; -webkit-box-flex: 1; flex: 1 1 0%; display: table-cell; vertical-align: middle;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div></div></div><div class="speedbump-item pos-beta" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: table-cell; width: 329px; vertical-align: middle; padding-left: 8.89063px; margin-top: 0px;"><div class="js-tealium-newsletter" data-subscription-module="newsletter_inline_standard_Florida Playbook - POLITICO" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="dari-frame dari-frame-loaded" name="inline-module-florida-playbook-full-0000014f-1646-d88f-a1cf-5f46b4500000--0000015a-aed8-d76f-affb-bedb97940000" data-insertion-mode="replace" data-extra-form-data="frame.path=5c388a2e37218b65f1db610df3d5c42a&frame.name=inline-module-florida-playbook-full-0000014f-1646-d88f-a1cf-5f46b4500000--0000015a-aed8-d76f-affb-bedb97940000" style="box-sizing: border-box;" /></div></div></section></aside></aside><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 344.859px 1em 0px; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">That places the president’s foreign policy in the region in the hands of top anti-Castro hard-liners in the areas of White House policy, multi-lateral policy, finance and media.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 344.859px 1em 0px; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“We have people who understand the cause, and not just the symptoms, of the problems in Latin America — not all the problems — and that is Cuba,” said Otto Reich, who has a long foreign policy résumé under former presidents Reagan, George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 344.859px 1em 0px; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“The United States has been a fire brigade in Latin America for the last 60 years and we have ignored, to a large degree, the arsonist,” Reich said. “Look at Venezuela today. The Cubans run the military intelligence systems, strategic comms, the voter rolls, the ports, airports, counter-intelligence police. In Nicaragua, it’s practically the same thing. They’re supporting [Nicaragua President Daniel] Ortega. The Cubans are in Bolivia supporting Evo Morales, and they were supporting the violence in Colombia, in Argentina and in Brazil.”</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 344.859px 1em 0px; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Venezuela’s deteriorating economy and failed-state government are leading to the largest mass-migration in the hemisphere —&nbsp;<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/world/wp/2018/07/27/feature/as-venezuela-crumbles-its-fleeing-citizens-are-becoming-latin-americas-new-underclass/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.25s ease 0s;"><u style="box-sizing: border-box;">an estimated 2 million people</u></a>&nbsp;— and is on pace for an inflation rate of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/07/27/venezuelan-inflation-predicted-to-hit-1-million-percent-this-year.html" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.25s ease 0s;"><u style="box-sizing: border-box;">1 million percent,</u></a>&nbsp;meaning a person who had $1 million before the crisis hit now has a worth of $1.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 344.859px 1em 0px; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Reich, a former ambassador to Venezuela who’s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.politico.com/states/florida/story/2017/01/trumps-florida-lobbyist-opens-dc-shop-109221" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.25s ease 0s;"><u style="box-sizing: border-box;">now a lobbyist</u></a>, said Claver-Carone’s intelligence and background make him ideal to understanding Venezuela’s problems and the influential role of trade and finance in the region. He said his “strong personality” makes him a good fit in national security circles because “it attracts strong personalities.”</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 344.859px 1em 0px; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Trujillo, for instance, worked with Vice President Mike Pence to persuade a majority of the Organization of American States to vote to eventually&nbsp;<u style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.25s ease 0s;"><a href="https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/venezuela/article212628809.html" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.25s ease 0s;">expel</a>&nbsp;</u>Venezuela from the organization.</b></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 344.859px 1em 0px; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">All have close ties to Rubio, who’s playing a central role in setting U.S. policy in Latin America as chair of the Senate’s Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere. Rubio has a close relationship with Bolton and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who successfully pushed for tougher Venezuela sanctions Rubio had been calling for — including&nbsp;<a href="https://www.politico.com/story/2018/05/22/rubio-venezuela-trump-plot-602658" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.25s ease 0s;"><u style="box-sizing: border-box;">penalties that target a Venezuelan official</u></a>&nbsp;implicated in an assassination plot against the senator.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 344.859px 1em 0px; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Rubio and Florida GOP Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart were architects of Trump’s policy to unwind President Barack Obama’s rapprochement with Cuba, and used as a reference point the “Military Transparency Act” that Rubio had previously written with the input of Claver-Carone.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 344.859px 1em 0px; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Claver-Carone was not involved directly in the issue because he was a former registered lobbyist on Cuba-related issues and felt he shouldn’t be involved directly in Cuba policy for two years after entering the administration, according to a knowledgeable source.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 344.859px 1em 0px; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Claver-Carone’s former lobbying, blogging and political activity have made him a target of pro-Cuba engagement activists who supported Obama’s policy.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 344.859px 1em 0px; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"Claver-Carone built his career peddling campaign cash to dissuade members of Congress from revising our failed Cuban embargo policy,” said James Williams, president of a group called Engage Cuba, who also criticized Claver-Carone for elections and ethics complaints that had been filed against him years ago.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 344.859px 1em 0px; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">...</font></p></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">ref</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.politico.com/states/florida/story/2017/10/26/trujillo-tapped-by-trump-as-organization-of-american-states-ambassador-115281">https://www.politico.com/states/florida/story/2017/10/26/trujillo-tapped-by-trump-as-organization-of-american-states-ambassador-115281</a></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 344.859px 1em 0px; font-family: Georgia, Times, " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif" line-height="line-height" em="em" font-size="font-size" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Trump nominated<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);"> Florida state Rep.</span> Carlos Trujillo of Miami Thursday to be the permanent representative of the United States to the Organization of American States, with the rank of ambassador.</b></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 344.859px 1em 0px; font-family: Georgia, Times, " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif" line-height="line-height" em="em" font-size="font-size" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The bilingual Trujillo, the Florida House’s budget chairman, was first elected to his legislative seat in 2010 and has also been serving in a temporary role as a representative to the <b>United Nation’s General Assembly </b>for the past two months. POLITICO on Wednesday first&nbsp;<a href="http://www.politico.com/states/florida/story/2017/10/25/sources-trump-to-nominate-top-miami-legislator-as-us-ambassador-to-oas-115243" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.25s ease 0s; text-decoration-line: none;">reported</a>&nbsp;his appointment was imminent.</font></p><div class="story-interrupt format-s pos-alpha predetermined fixed-story-third-paragraph" style="box-sizing: border-box; clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; width: 313.5px; float: left; margin-right: 31.3438px; font-family: din-2014, " helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><div class="interrupt-item ad" aria-label="Advertisement" style="box-sizing: border-box; position: relative !important; z-index: 2 !important;"><div class="ad-slot js-lazy-load flex vertical " id="pol-05" aria-hidden="true" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-align: center;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 344.859px 1em 0px; font-family: Georgia, Times, " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif" line-height="line-height" em="em" font-size="font-size" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb">Trujillo, an early Trump supporter, said he was unsure if he’ll resign his legislative office before the state lawmaking session begins in January, and that his plans will hinge on the Senate’s confirmation schedule. Trujillo can count on the support of his fellow Miami-area Republican, Sen. Marco Rubio, a member of the Foreign Relations Committee.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 344.859px 1em 0px; font-family: Georgia, Times, " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif" line-height="line-height" em="em" font-size="font-size" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb">“I am humbled by the opportunity to serve my country,” Trujillo said. “I look forward to me Senate confirmation hearing and my new responsibilities.”</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 344.859px 1em 0px; font-family: Georgia, Times, " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif" line-height="line-height" em="em" font-size="font-size" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb">The bilingual Trujillo has built a reputation in the Florida Legislature for his serious, no-nonsense approach to policy. Though a conservative, he’s also known for working well with Democrats, who are in the minority in the Florida House.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 344.859px 1em 0px; font-family: Georgia, Times, " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif" line-height="line-height" em="em" font-size="font-size" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb">Friends of Trujillo’s told POLITICO earlier this week that his upbringing, work ethic and support for Trump made him a perfect fit for the Spanish-language legislative OAS body.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 344.859px 1em 0px; font-family: Georgia, Times, " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif" line-height="line-height" em="em" font-size="font-size" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb">“Miami is a gateway to Latin America and Carlos is bilingual, and he understands the intricacies of the politics in the region — that Argentina policy is completely different than, say, Cuba,” said Trujillo’s friend. “As budget chair [in the Florida House], Carlos already has negotiated at the highest level in the state. He has already transitioned to diplomacy at the U.N. OAS is the next logical step.”</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 344.859px 1em 0px; font-family: Georgia, Times, " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif" line-height="line-height" em="em" font-size="font-size" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb">A former Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office prosecutor, Trujillo is a founding partner of Trujillo, Vargas, Gonzalez and Hevia LLP and has been president of Carlos Trujillo, PA, since 2007. He was a board member of the Public Health Trust of Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, and he earned a B.S. from Spring Hill College in Mobile, Ala., and a J.D. from Florida State College of Law in Tallahassee.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 344.859px 1em 0px; font-family: Georgia, Times, " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif" line-height="line-height" em="em" font-size="font-size" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb">Two Republicans have already filed to run for Trujillo's House District 105 seat, which he must leave after 2018 due to term limits: Doral City Councilwoman Ana Maria Rodriguez and former state and U.S. Rep. David Rivera.</p></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">see venezuela</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><p style="margin: 30px 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; letter-spacing: -0.2px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">And then you have, you know, the whole narrative that this has something to do with human rights. So, when<b>&nbsp;Marco Rubio,</b>&nbsp;who’s basically in charge of policy here for the Trump administration, and his Florida crony, who’s the U.S. ambassador to the Organization of American States, and he’s—you know, he goes around to countries there and threatens them and tells them to vote with the U.S.&nbsp;</span>And all this is treated as though they’re trying to promote human rights in Venezuela. And again, the media accepts this narrative. And then you look at the U.S. allies in Latin America, you look at Mexico, where over a hundred journalists have been killed, and in most of those cases there’s government involvement implicated. And you don’t have a single case in Venezuela in the last 20 years of a journalist killed, where the government is implicated. And you look at Guatemala, where most—where, you know, you talk to a human rights defender there, and they don’t expect to be alive a year from now. Again, you don’t have anything near that violent in Venezuela. In Colombia, human rights defenders and activists are being killed every week, as you’ve reported on this show. And again, it’s nowhere near. So, that’s not defending the Venezuelan government; that’s just saying that anyone who states publicly that this intervention by the United States, which is constant, which includes a financial embargo that’s explicitly intended to prevent the economy from recovering—anybody who says that this has something to do with human rights has to be dishonest.</font></p><p style="margin: 30px 0px; box-sizing: border-box; letter-spacing: -0.2px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">AMY</span>&nbsp;<span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">GOODMAN</span>:</strong>&nbsp;I want to go back to National Security Adviser John Bolton speaking on Fox News Sunday, denying the U.S. was behind the drone blast in Venezuela on Saturday.</font></p><blockquote style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding-left: 30px; border-left: 3px solid rgb(241, 242, 243); letter-spacing: -0.2px;"><p style="margin: 30px 0px; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">JOHN</span>&nbsp;<span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">BOLTON</span>:</strong>&nbsp;These are things he’s said before, and you have to take them for what they’re worth. If the government of Venezuela has hard information that they want to present to us that would show a potential violation of U.S. criminal law, we’ll take a serious look at it. But in the meantime, I think what we really should focus on is the<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">corruption and the oppression of the Maduro regime in Venezuela.</span></font></p></blockquote><p style="margin: 30px 0px; box-sizing: border-box; letter-spacing: -0.2px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">AMY</span>&nbsp;<span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">GOODMAN</span>:</strong>&nbsp;Alejandro Velasco, can you respond to what he said? Not only talk about the U.S., but also President Maduro talking about the outgoing president of Colombia being behind this, Santos, who will leave office tomorrow. Tomorrow is Inauguration Day in Colombia.</font></p><p style="margin: 30px 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; letter-spacing: -0.2px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">ALEJANDRO</span>&nbsp;<span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">VELASCO</span>:</strong>&nbsp;Yeah, I mean, interestingly,<b>&nbsp;Colombia</b>, even as the rest of Latin America over the last 20 years, during the so-called left turn or pink tide, most countries in Latin America were electing left-wing governments,<b>&nbsp;Colombia sort of bucked that trend. And so, first with the presidency of Álvaro Uribe, who was Santos’s mentor, and then with Santos to some extent continuing that policy</b>, Colombia really positioned itself as very much against not only Venezuela’s Bolivarian government, but, more broadly, sort of the left in the region. Of course, that relationship has become even more soured of late, since many Venezuelans have flocked to Colombia over the last year, year and a half, as economic conditions have deteriorated there. And not only that, but I think, importantly, it’s worth mentioning that&nbsp;<b>many opposition leaders, including a group that fashions itself the national “Supreme Court in Exile,” actually conducts its business in Colombia, with the support of the Colombian government.&nbsp;</b>And so, there’s sort of a parallel government that’s housed in Colombia. And so, all of this sort of suggests that Colombia really is positioning itself as very much against the Venezuelan government.</font></p></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">wiki</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">L<b style="">uis Leonardo Almagro Lemes</b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">&nbsp;</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">(</span><small style="">Spanish pronunciation:&nbsp;</small><span title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)" class="IPA" style=""><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/Spanish" title="Help:IPA/Spanish" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none !important;">[ˈlwis alˈmaɣɾo]</a></span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">; born June 1, 1963) is a Uruguayan lawyer, diplomat, and politician, currently serving as the 10th Secretary General of the</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">&nbsp;</span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organization_of_American_States" title="Organization of American States" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">Organization of American States</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">&nbsp;</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">(OAS). He also served as Minister of Foreign Affairs between 2010 and 2015, during the Presidency of</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">&nbsp;</span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_Mujica" title="José Mujica" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">José Mujica</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">.</span></font></div><div id="toc" class="toc" style="border: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); background-color: rgb(248, 249, 250); padding: 7px; display: table; zoom: 1;"><input type="checkbox" role="button" id="toctogglecheckbox" class="toctogglecheckbox" style="direction: ltr; position: absolute; opacity: 0; display: none;" /><div class="toctitle" lang="en" dir="ltr" style="direction: ltr; text-align: center;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><ul style="list-style-type: none; margin: 0.3em 0px; padding: 0px; list-style-image: none;"><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-1" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_Almagro#Background_and_earlier_life" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0.5em;">1</span><span class="toctext" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit;">Background and earlier life</span></font></a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-2" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_Almagro#Foreign_Minister_of_Uruguay" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0.5em;">2</span><span class="toctext" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit;">Foreign Minister of Uruguay</span></font></a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-3" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_Almagro#Secretary_General_of_the_OAS" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0.5em;">3</span><span class="toctext" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit;">Secretary General of the OAS</span></font></a><ul style="list-style-type: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 2em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: none;"><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-4" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_Almagro#Election" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0.5em;">3.1</span><span class="toctext" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit;">Election</span></font></a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-5" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_Almagro#Haiti" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0.5em;">3.2</span><span class="toctext" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit;">Haiti</span></font></a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-6" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_Almagro#MACCIH" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0.5em;">3.3</span><span class="toctext" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit;">MACCIH</span></font></a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-7" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_Almagro#Venezuela" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0.5em;">3.4</span><span class="toctext" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit;">Venezuela</span></font></a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-8" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_Almagro#Inter-religious_Dialogue" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0.5em;">3.5</span><span class="toctext" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit;">Inter-religious Dialogue</span></font></a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-9" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_Almagro#Nicaragua" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0.5em;">3.6</span><span class="toctext" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit;">Nicaragua</span></font></a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-10" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_Almagro#Cuba" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0.5em;">3.7</span><span class="toctext" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit;">Cuba</span></font></a></li></ul></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-11" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_Almagro#Academic_activities" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0.5em;">4</span><span class="toctext" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit;">Academic activities</span></font></a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-12" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_Almagro#Awards" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0.5em;">5</span><span class="toctext" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit;">Awards</span></font></a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-13" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_Almagro#References" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0.5em;">6</span><span class="toctext" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit;">References</span></font></a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-14" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_Almagro#External_links" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0.5em;">7</span><span class="toctext" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit;">External links</span></font></a></li></ul></div><h2 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); line-height: 1.3;"><span class="mw-headline"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></span></h2><h2 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); line-height: 1.3;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-headline" id="Background_and_earlier_life">Background and earlier life</span><span class="mw-editsection" style="user-select: none; margin-left: 1em; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1em; white-space: nowrap; unicode-bidi: isolate;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="margin-right: 0.25em;">[</span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Luis_Almagro&action=edit&section=1&editintro=Template:BLP_editintro" title="Edit section: Background and earlier life" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="margin-left: 0.25em;">]</span></span></font></h2><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Luis Almagro was born June 1, 1963, in Cerro Chato/Paysandu, Uruguay. Almagro studied at the University of the Republic in Montevideo, where he earned his law degree. During his 23 year career with the Uruguayan Foreign Ministry, Almagro represented Uruguay in the&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran" title="Iran" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Islamic Republic of Iran</a>&nbsp;(1991–1996), in&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germany" title="Germany" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Germany</a>&nbsp;(1998–2003), as well as serving as&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uruguayan_Ambassador_to_China" class="mw-redirect" title="Uruguayan Ambassador to China" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Ambassador to China</a>&nbsp;(2007–2010). He is fluent in Spanish, English, and French.</font></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uruguayan_general_election,2014" class="mw-redirect" title="Uruguayan general election, 2014" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">the 2014 general election</a>, Almagro was elected to the Senate of Uruguay. He later resigned to take the position of OAS Secretary General.</font></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Almagro is married and has seven children.</font></p><h2 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); line-height: 1.3;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-headline" id="Foreign_Minister_of_Uruguay">Foreign Minister of Uruguay</span><span class="mw-editsection" style="user-select: none; margin-left: 1em; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1em; white-space: nowrap; unicode-bidi: isolate;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="margin-right: 0.25em;">[</span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Luis_Almagro&action=edit&section=2&editintro=Template:BLP_editintro" title="Edit section: Foreign Minister of Uruguay" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="margin-left: 0.25em;">]</span></span></font></h2><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">During Almagro's time as Foreign Minister (2010–2015), Uruguay drew global recognition for a small South American country as they were the largest per capita contributor to UN peacekeeping forces&nbsp;<sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_Almagro#cite_note-1" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[1]</a></sup>&nbsp;as well as secured Uruguay's successful election seat to the UN Security Council.<sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_Almagro#cite_note-2" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[2]</a></sup>&nbsp;Almagro also supported efforts on the restoration of relations between Cuba and the US.</font></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Almagro's commitment to human rights extended to domestic affairs as demonstrated by the active role in the repeal of the&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_on_the_Expiration_of_the_Punitive_Claims_of_the_State" title="Law on the Expiration of the Punitive Claims of the State" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">1986 Expiry Law</a>, which granted amnesty for crimes and human rights abuses committed during the civic-military dictatorship between 1973 and 1985, and actively supported prosecutions for these crimes.</font></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">A lawyer, Almagro was a member of the Executive Committee that drafted the groundbreaking legislation regulating the possession, growth, and distribution of marijuana in Uruguay in 2013. Uruguay is the first country in the world to introduce legislation of its kind.<sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_Almagro#cite_note-3" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[3]</a></sup>&nbsp;He also represented Uruguay at the&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Centre_for_Settlement_of_Investment_Disputes" title="International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes</a>&nbsp;(ICSID), in the suit brought by&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Morris_International" title="Philip Morris International" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Philip Morris International</a>&nbsp;against Uruguay for its anti-tobacco policies. After six years, ICSID ruled in favor of Uruguay.</font></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Also responsible for trade, Almagro also played a key role in expanding and diversifying Uruguay market access, growing exports each year of his term. A key focus was opening up non-traditional markets to Uruguayan exporters, including as securing access to key US markets for Uruguay's citrus fruit.</font></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">A strong advocate for refugees, Almagro played an integral role in negotiating the transfer of a group of&nbsp;<i>ex-detenidos</i>&nbsp;(former detainees) from&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guantanamo_Bay_detention_camp" title="Guantanamo Bay detention camp" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Guantanamo Bay detention camp</a>&nbsp;to Uruguay. Almagro also led the process to welcome dozens of Syrian refugees to Uruguay, along with former President Mujica. For this they were listed among&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FP_Top_100_Global_Thinkers" title="FP Top 100 Global Thinkers" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><i>Foreign Policy</i>&nbsp;magazine's top Global Thinkers</a>&nbsp;for 2014.<sup id="cite_ref-4" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_Almagro#cite_note-4" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[4]</a></sup>&nbsp;Almagro is one of only 10 decision-makers in the region to be awarded this international distinction.<sup id="cite_ref-5" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_Almagro#cite_note-5" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[5]</a></sup>&nbsp;In 2018, Almagro was listed 4<sup style="line-height: 1;">th</sup>&nbsp;in the ranking of top 100 leaders from multilateral organizations<sup id="cite_ref-6" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_Almagro#cite_note-6" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[6]</a></sup>.</font></p><h2 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); line-height: 1.3;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-headline" id="Secretary_General_of_the_OAS">Secretary General of the OAS</span><span class="mw-editsection" style="user-select: none; margin-left: 1em; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1em; white-space: nowrap; unicode-bidi: isolate;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="margin-right: 0.25em;">[</span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Luis_Almagro&action=edit&section=3&editintro=Template:BLP_editintro" title="Edit section: Secretary General of the OAS" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="margin-left: 0.25em;">]</span></span></font></h2><h3 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.6;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-headline" id="Election">Election</span><span class="mw-editsection" style="user-select: none; font-weight: normal; margin-left: 1em; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1em; white-space: nowrap; unicode-bidi: isolate;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="margin-right: 0.25em;">[</span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Luis_Almagro&action=edit&section=4&editintro=Template:BLP_editintro" title="Edit section: Election" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="margin-left: 0.25em;">]</span></span></font></h3><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Almagro was elected Secretary General of the&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organization_of_American_States" title="Organization of American States" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Organization of American States</a>&nbsp;on March 18, 2015, earning the support of 33 of the 34 Members States, including one abstention. He officially took office on May 26, 2015.</font></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Almagro's first year in office was marked by his outspoken stance on democracy and human rights. His leadership has widely been seen as reinvigorating an Organization.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_Almagro#cite_note-7" title="Luis Almagro" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><sup style="line-height: 1;">[7]</sup></a></font></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">His election campaign centered on the idea of "More Rights for More People". In addition to four programmatic pillars of democracy, human rights, security and development, he announced a set of new strategic initiatives to achieve this goal including</font></p><ul style="margin: 0.3em 0px 0px 1.6em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" csvg="Csvg" width="%225%22" height="%2213%22%3E" ccircle="Ccircle" cx="%222.5%22" cy="%229.5%22" r="%222.5%22" fill="%22%2300528c%22/%3E" c="C" e="E" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The OAS&nbsp;<i>School of Governance</i>&nbsp;to train civil servants and civil society with the tools for transparent and accountable government</font></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The&nbsp;<i>Inter-American Education System</i>&nbsp;to ensure quality, inclusive, and equitable education</font></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">The&nbsp;<i>Regional System for the Prevention of Social Conflicts</i>&nbsp;to facilitate dialogue between investors, states and communities in key productive sectors.<sup id="cite_ref-:0_7-0" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_Almagro#cite_note-:0-7" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[7]</a></sup></font></li></ul><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Under the renewed vision, Almagro continues to champion key OAS initiatives including the Inter-American Human Rights System, the Inter-American Judicial Facilitators Program, the MACCIH, and the&nbsp;<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.mapp-oea.org/" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) right center no-repeat, url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" csvg="Csvg" width="%2212%22" height="%2212%22%3E" cpath="Cpath" fill="%22%23fff%22" stroke="%22%2336c%22" d="%22M9.995" h5.982v10.5h1.5z="h5.982V10.5H1.5z" e="E" h11v5.39l9.427="H11v5.39L9.427" l-1.31-1.31l5.393="l-1.31-1.31L5.393" l-2.69-2.688="l-2.69-2.688" l4.2="L4.2" z="z" l.022="l.022" l8.2="L8.2" l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z="l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z" c="C" padding-right="padding-right" px="px" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data">Mission to Support the Peace Process in Colombia (MAPP)</a>, along with electoral cooperation and observation missions as priorities for the organization.</font></p><h3 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.6;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-headline" id="Haiti">Haiti</span><span class="mw-editsection" style="user-select: none; font-weight: normal; margin-left: 1em; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1em; white-space: nowrap; unicode-bidi: isolate;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="margin-right: 0.25em;">[</span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Luis_Almagro&action=edit&section=5&editintro=Template:BLP_editintro" title="Edit section: Haiti" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="margin-left: 0.25em;">]</span></span></font></h3><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Following the suspension of the second round of presidential elections on January 24, 2016, President&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michel_Martelly" title="Michel Martelly" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Michel Martelly</a>&nbsp;requested assistance from OAS Secretary General Almagro to facilitate a discussion on finding a way forward. On January 29, an OAS Special Mission travelled to Haiti to assess the situation and help reach an understanding "agreed by Haitians."<sup id="cite_ref-8" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_Almagro#cite_note-8" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[8]</a></sup>&nbsp;The Mission engaged in dialogue with key political and civil society stakeholders facilitating a consensus formula for next steps. On February 6, 2016, former President Martelly announced a transitional agreement electing an interim President and confirming a consensus Prime Minister.</font></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">After the completion of the Mission, the Representative of Haiti to the OAS, Jean Josué Pierre, applauded the OAS, stating that "the Mission not only supported and accompanied the negotiations, but has reestablished the image of the Organization."<sup id="cite_ref-9" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_Almagro#cite_note-9" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[9]</a></sup></font></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Almagro has been critical of the slow progress to resolve the political impasse; "It is imperative for Haitian political stakeholders, including Parliamentarians and those provisionally governing the country, to fully assume their responsibilities towards the nation. The interests of the Haitian people must supersede partisan interests."<sup id="cite_ref-10" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_Almagro#cite_note-10" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[10]</a></sup></font></p><h3 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.6;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-headline" id="MACCIH">MACCIH</span><span class="mw-editsection" style="user-select: none; font-weight: normal; margin-left: 1em; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1em; white-space: nowrap; unicode-bidi: isolate;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="margin-right: 0.25em;">[</span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Luis_Almagro&action=edit&section=6&editintro=Template:BLP_editintro" title="Edit section: MACCIH" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="margin-left: 0.25em;">]</span></span></font></h3><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Anticorruption has been a focus from the outset of Secretary Almagro's term. In the spring of 2015, widespread protests erupted when a multi-million corruption scandal involving the Honduran social security system was uncovered by the local media. In August 2015, Honduran President&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Orlando_Hern%C3%A1ndez" title="Juan Orlando Hernández" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Juan Orlando Hernández</a>&nbsp;invited Secretary General Almagro to Honduras to facilitate a dialogue and response to the protests. Almagro met with government representatives, political parties and civil society on how to end impunity and repair trust between the country's government and its citizens.</font></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">On January 19, 2016, Secretary General Almagro and the Government of Honduras signed an agreement creating the OAS Mission to Support the Fight against Corruption and Impunity in Honduras (MACCIH). The MACCIH created an international anti-corruption team of investigators and judges to work with Honduran judges, prosecutors and police officers to better investigate and prosecute complex public corruption cases. While the Mission's focus is to investigate cases involving networks of public and private corruption, it will also support reform in four key areas: preventing and fighting corruption, criminal justice reform, political and electoral reform and public security.<sup id="cite_ref-11" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_Almagro#cite_note-11" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[11]</a></sup>&nbsp;The first members of the MACCIH arrived in Honduras in April 2016.<sup id="cite_ref-:0_7-1" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_Almagro#cite_note-:0-7" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[7]</a></sup></font></p><h3 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.6;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-headline" id="Venezuela">Venezuela</span><span class="mw-editsection" style="user-select: none; font-weight: normal; margin-left: 1em; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1em; white-space: nowrap; unicode-bidi: isolate;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="margin-right: 0.25em;">[</span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Luis_Almagro&action=edit&section=7&editintro=Template:BLP_editintro" title="Edit section: Venezuela" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="margin-left: 0.25em;">]</span></span></font></h3><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">In the lead up to the December&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015_Venezuelan_parliamentary_election" title="2015 Venezuelan parliamentary election" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">2015 parliamentary elections</a>&nbsp;in Venezuela, Secretary General Almagro sent an 18-page open letter to the president of that country's&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Electoral_Council(Venezuela)" title="National Electoral Council (Venezuela)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">National Electoral Council (CNE)</a>&nbsp;in which he publicly denounced “the Government's violations of human rights and efforts to undermine the December 2015 elections through the monopolization of the media, interference in the election process, oppression of free assembly and the detention of political prisoners″. The letter represented the first open criticism of the Venezuelan government by a senior diplomat from the region.<sup id="cite_ref-12" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_Almagro#cite_note-12" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[12]</a></sup>&nbsp;The former president of&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uruguay" title="Uruguay" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Uruguay</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_Mujica" title="José Mujica" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">José Mujica</a>, declares about him&nbsp;: “I regret the direction that you chose to follow and I know it is irreversible, so now, I tell you goodbye”.<sup id="cite_ref-13" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_Almagro#cite_note-13" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[13]</a></sup></font></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">As the situation in Venezuela deteriorated dramatically after the December elections, in June 2016, Secretary General Almagro released a 114 page report&nbsp;<sup id="cite_ref-auto_14-0" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_Almagro#cite_note-auto-14" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[14]</a></sup>&nbsp;detailing the deteriorating economic situation and humanitarian crisis. Under article 20, the Secretary General invoked the&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inter-American_Democratic_Charter" title="Inter-American Democratic Charter" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Inter-American Democratic Charter</a>&nbsp;on the grounds that Venezuela has experienced "an alteration of the constitutional order".<sup id="cite_ref-15" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_Almagro#cite_note-15" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[15]</a></sup>&nbsp;Key recommendations from the report include the immediate release of all political prisoners; implementation of the constitutionally mandated recall referendum before the end of 2016; a return to the balance of powers between the Judicial, Executive, and Legislative branches of government; a bi-partisan review of judicial appointments; and, the establishment of an independent body to combat corruption.<sup id="cite_ref-auto_14-1" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_Almagro#cite_note-auto-14" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[14]</a></sup></font></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">The Secretary General continues to lead the international community in advocating publicly on behalf of political prisoners<sup id="cite_ref-16" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_Almagro#cite_note-16" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[16]</a></sup>&nbsp;and for a return to the constitutional order in Venezuela. On September 23, Almagro expressed dismay at the rules and timetable published by the CNE that further delayed the recall process into 2016, guaranteeing that the ruling party remains in power until the end of the term in 2019. "The recall referendum belongs to the people, and it is up to the CNE to ensure the guarantees for the free expression of the people, instead of curtailing and trying to annul their rights."<sup id="cite_ref-17" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_Almagro#cite_note-17" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[17]</a></sup></font></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">As the situation in Venezuela worsened, on March 14, 2017, the Secretary General presented an&nbsp;<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.oas.org/documents/spa/press/Informe-VZ-Spanish-signed-final.pdf" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: url(" upload.wikimedia.org="upload.wikimedia.org" wikipedia="wikipedia" commons="commons" icons-mini-file_acrobat.gif="Icons-mini-file_acrobat.gif" right="right" center="center" no-repeat="no-repeat" padding-right="padding-right" px="px">Updated Report on the Situation in Venezuela</a><sup id="cite_ref-18" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_Almagro#cite_note-18" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[18]</a></sup>&nbsp;outlining the further deterioration of the conditions in the country, stating that there had been a complete rupture of the democratic order.</font></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In the wake of the violent protests during the summer of 2017, the Secretary General published a&nbsp;<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.oas.org/documents/spa/press/TERCER-INFORME-VENEZUELA-SPANISH-Final-signed.pdf" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: url(" upload.wikimedia.org="upload.wikimedia.org" wikipedia="wikipedia" commons="commons" icons-mini-file_acrobat.gif="Icons-mini-file_acrobat.gif" right="right" center="center" no-repeat="no-repeat" padding-right="padding-right" px="px">Third Report on the Situation in Venezuela</a>. In this Report, the Secretary General stated that there was “evidence that pointed to the systematic, tactical and strategic use of murder, imprisonment, torture, rape and other forms of sexual violence” are part of a targeted campaign and systemic policy against those who opposed the government.&nbsp;The OAS General Secretariat was tasked with monitoring further developments in Venezuela and to “specifically look at the individuals and institutions that directly or indirectly enable the use of these repressive tactics and tools” to determine whether crimes against humanity have taken place.</font></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A&nbsp;<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://scm.oas.org/pdfs/2017/CP38157INFORME.pdf" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: url(" upload.wikimedia.org="upload.wikimedia.org" wikipedia="wikipedia" commons="commons" icons-mini-file_acrobat.gif="Icons-mini-file_acrobat.gif" right="right" center="center" no-repeat="no-repeat" padding-right="padding-right" px="px">Fourth Report</a>&nbsp;was published detailing the complete elimination of democracy following the establishment of the unconstitutional “National Constituents Assembly” in September of 2017.</font></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In July 2017, Secretary General Luis Almagro appointed former&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Criminal_Court" title="International Criminal Court" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">International Criminal Court</a>&nbsp;(ICC) Prosecutor,&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_Moreno_Ocampo" title="Luis Moreno Ocampo" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Luis Moreno Ocampo</a>&nbsp;as a Special Advisor on Crimes Against Humanity. In this position, Ocampo helped to define and launch an independent and impartial process to assess whether crimes against humanit have taken place in Venezuela.&nbsp;In September 2017, a Panel of Independent International Experts was established to oversee the process including a series of public hearings that were held at OAS Headquarters in Washington, DC in September, October, and November of that year.</font></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">In May 2018, the Panel of Independent Experts released their report indicating that there are reasonable grounds that satisfy the burden of proof required by Article 52 of the&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rome_Statute_of_the_International_Criminal_Court" title="Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Rome Statue</a>, to believe that against humanity had taken place in Venezuela.&nbsp;Shortly after, Secretary General Almagro formally submitted the Report to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Fatou Bensouda, requesting that the Prosecutor open a full investigation into the situation on an urgent basis.<sup id="cite_ref-19" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_Almagro#cite_note-19" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[19]</a></sup></font></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">During subsequent months, the Secretary General worked diligently to identify a coalition of countries to take the historic step of invoking Article 14 of the Rome Statute and refer the situation in Venezuela to the ICC.&nbsp;On September 26, 2018, Argentina, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Paraguay and Peru formally submitted the Article 14 referral to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court.<sup id="cite_ref-20" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_Almagro#cite_note-20" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[20]</a></sup></font></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">The Secretary General has called upon the international community to consider using all mechanisms available in international law to protect the rights of Venezuelans. This includes, but is not limited to, Responsibility to Protect and International Humanitarian Law.<sup id="cite_ref-21" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_Almagro#cite_note-21" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[21]</a></sup></font></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">On October 12, 2017, the newly-elected&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supreme_Tribunal_of_Justice_of_Venezuela_in_exile" title="Supreme Tribunal of Justice of Venezuela in exile" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Supreme Tribunal of Justice</a>,&nbsp;were sworn in the OAS Headquarters. The 33 magistrates, elected by the National Assembly in July 2017, were forced to take office in exile due to political persecution, intimidation and threats of being detained by the Maduro dictatorship.<sup id="cite_ref-22" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_Almagro#cite_note-22" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[22]</a></sup></font></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">As the number of Venezuelans fleeing their country reached precedent-setting numbers, in September 2018, Secretary General Almagro established the&nbsp;<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.oas.org/en/media_center/press_release.asp?sCodigo=S-047/18" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) right center no-repeat, url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" csvg="Csvg" width="%2212%22" height="%2212%22%3E" cpath="Cpath" fill="%22%23fff%22" stroke="%22%2336c%22" d="%22M9.995" h5.982v10.5h1.5z="h5.982V10.5H1.5z" e="E" h11v5.39l9.427="H11v5.39L9.427" l-1.31-1.31l5.393="l-1.31-1.31L5.393" l-2.69-2.688="l-2.69-2.688" l4.2="L4.2" z="z" l.022="l.022" l8.2="L8.2" l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z="l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z" c="C" padding-right="padding-right" px="px" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data">Working Group on Crisis of Venezuelan Migrants and Refugees of the OAS</a>, chaired by David Smolansky, to provide “solutions to he exodus of the Venezuelan people – the most visible face of the humanitarian crisis in Venezuela – who can today be found walking through the cities and towns of the Americas looking for the bread they cannot get in their own homeland."<sup id="cite_ref-23" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_Almagro#cite_note-23" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[23]</a></sup></font></p><h3 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.6;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-headline" id="Inter-religious_Dialogue">Inter-religious Dialogue</span><span class="mw-editsection" style="user-select: none; font-weight: normal; margin-left: 1em; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1em; white-space: nowrap; unicode-bidi: isolate;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="margin-right: 0.25em;">[</span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Luis_Almagro&action=edit&section=8&editintro=Template:BLP_editintro" title="Edit section: Inter-religious Dialogue" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="margin-left: 0.25em;">]</span></span></font></h3><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">The initiative "Protecting our Home Common Home: Ensuring more rights for more people in the Americas"<sup id="cite_ref-24" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_Almagro#cite_note-24" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[24]</a></sup>&nbsp;is organized through the cooperation of the OAS, the&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_See" title="Holy See" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Vatican</a>&nbsp;and the&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Institute_for_Interreligious_Dialogue" title="Institute for Interreligious Dialogue" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Inter-religious Institute for Dialogue</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-25" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_Almagro#cite_note-25" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[25]</a></sup>The inaugural meeting on September 7–8, 2016, established a Hemispheric Network of Dialogue for the Common Home which creates platform for dialogue between countries of OAS Member States and religious leaders to support reconciliation and the search for solutions to promote peace and stability, in line with Article 2 of the&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charter_of_the_Organization_of_American_States" title="Charter of the Organization of American States" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">OAS Charter</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-26" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_Almagro#cite_note-26" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[26]</a></sup></font></p><h3 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.6;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-headline" id="Nicaragua">Nicaragua</span><span class="mw-editsection" style="user-select: none; font-weight: normal; margin-left: 1em; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1em; white-space: nowrap; unicode-bidi: isolate;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="margin-right: 0.25em;">[</span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Luis_Almagro&action=edit&section=9&editintro=Template:BLP_editintro" title="Edit section: Nicaragua" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="margin-left: 0.25em;">]</span></span></font></h3><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In his role as Secretary General, Almagro has been one of the strongest voices defending the principles of democracy and rule of law in the context of the political and human rights crisis in Nicaragua, which has worsened exponentially since April 2018. Led by Almagro, the General Secretariat of the OAS activated different diplomatic and denouncing mechanisms to expose the serious situation that the Central American country faces. A project of electoral reforms was agreed between the General Secretariat of the OAS and the government early in 2017 with the objective of strengthening democratic institutions. While the agreement is currently on hold given the ongoing crisis, Secretary Almagro remains a staunch supporter of mechanisms that would allow for redemocratization, and to achieve justice for the hundreds of Nicaraguan victims. In this context, his good offices made possible the first visit on-site visit of the Inter American Human Rights Commission (CIDH, by its initials in Spanish) in many years, and he approved the creation of the Interdisciplinary Group of Independent Experts (GIEI, by its initials in Spanish) to seek truth and help investigate the crimes committed. Facing an attitude of denial from the government, in December 2018 he announced the activation of article 20 of the Inter American Democratic Charter for Nicaragua.</font></p><h3 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.6;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-headline" id="Cuba">Cuba</span><span class="mw-editsection" style="user-select: none; font-weight: normal; margin-left: 1em; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1em; white-space: nowrap; unicode-bidi: isolate;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="margin-right: 0.25em;">[</span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Luis_Almagro&action=edit&section=10&editintro=Template:BLP_editintro" title="Edit section: Cuba" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="margin-left: 0.25em;">]</span></span></font></h3><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">On December 7, 2018, under the leadership of Secretary General Almagro, the OAS hosted the first Conference on the Situation of Human Rights in Cuba since the 2009 Resolution lifting Cuba’s suspension from the Organization.&nbsp;The conference included dialogue on the criminality of freedom of Expression in Cuba, as well as the situation of political prisoners and accountability for repressors in the country.<sup id="cite_ref-27" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_Almagro#cite_note-27" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[27]</a></sup></font></p><h2 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); line-height: 1.3;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-headline" id="Academic_activities">Academic activities</span><span class="mw-editsection" style="user-select: none; margin-left: 1em; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1em; white-space: nowrap; unicode-bidi: isolate;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="margin-right: 0.25em;">[</span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Luis_Almagro&action=edit&section=11&editintro=Template:BLP_editintro" title="Edit section: Academic activities" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="margin-left: 0.25em;">]</span></span></font></h2><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Almagro has given special lectures and classes at prestigious academic centers including University of Oxford, Georgetown University, Harvard University, Syracuse University, UNAM of Mexico, University of Pennsylvania, and University of the Republic of Uruguay, among others.</font></p><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organization_of_American_States"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organization_of_American_States</font></a></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>Organization of American States</b>&nbsp;(<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_language" title="Spanish language" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Spanish</a>:&nbsp;<i><span lang="es">Organización de los Estados Americanos</span></i>,&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portuguese_language" title="Portuguese language" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Portuguese</a>:&nbsp;<i><span lang="pt">Organização dos Estados Americanos</span></i>,&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_language" title="French language" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">French</a>:&nbsp;<i><span lang="fr">Organisation des États américains</span></i>), or the&nbsp;<b>OAS</b>&nbsp;or&nbsp;<b>OEA</b>, is a continental&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organization" title="Organization" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">organization</a>&nbsp;that was founded on 30 April 1948, for the purposes of regional solidarity and cooperation among its member states. Headquartered in the&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States" title="United States" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">United States</a>&nbsp;capital&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington,D.C." title="Washington, D.C." style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Washington, D.C.</a>,<sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organization_of_American_States#cite_note-1" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[1]</a></sup>&nbsp;the OAS's members are the 35 independent states of the&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Americas" title="Americas" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Americas</a>.</font></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">As of 26 May 2015, the&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secretary_General_of_the_Organization_of_American_States" title="Secretary General of the Organization of American States" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Secretary General of OAS</a>&nbsp;is&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_Almagro" title="Luis Almagro" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Luis Almagro</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-Miami_Herald_2-0" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organization_of_American_States#cite_note-Miami_Herald-2" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[2]</a></sup></font></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><div id="toc" class="toc" style="border: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); background-color: rgb(248, 249, 250); padding: 7px; display: table; zoom: 1;"><input type="checkbox" role="button" id="toctogglecheckbox" class="toctogglecheckbox" style="direction: ltr; position: absolute; opacity: 0; display: none;" /><div class="toctitle" lang="en" dir="ltr" style="direction: ltr; text-align: center;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><ul style="list-style-type: none; margin: 0.3em 0px; padding: 0px; list-style-image: none;"><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-1" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organization_of_American_States#History" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0.5em;">1</span><span class="toctext" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit;">History</span></font></a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-2" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organization_of_American_States#Goals_and_purpose" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0.5em;">2</span><span class="toctext" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit;">Goals and purpose</span></font></a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-3" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organization_of_American_States#Organizational_structure" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0.5em;">3</span><span class="toctext" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit;">Organizational structure</span></font></a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-4" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organization_of_American_States#General_Assembly" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0.5em;">4</span><span class="toctext" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit;">General Assembly</span></font></a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-5" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organization_of_American_States#Membership_and_adhesions" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0.5em;">5</span><span class="toctext" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit;">Membership and adhesions</span></font></a><ul style="list-style-type: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 2em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: none;"><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-6" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organization_of_American_States#Notes" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0.5em;">5.1</span><span class="toctext" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit;">Notes</span></font></a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-7" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organization_of_American_States#Canada_and_the_OAS" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0.5em;">5.2</span><span class="toctext" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit;">Canada and the OAS</span></font></a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-8" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organization_of_American_States#Sanctions_against_the_Dominican_Republic" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0.5em;">5.3</span><span class="toctext" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit;">Sanctions against the Dominican Republic</span></font></a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-9" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organization_of_American_States#Status_of_Cuba" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0.5em;">5.4</span><span class="toctext" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit;">Status of Cuba</span></font></a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-10" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organization_of_American_States#Suspension_of_Honduras(2009%E2%80%932011)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0.5em;">5.5</span><span class="toctext" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit;">Suspension of Honduras (2009–2011)</span></font></a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-11" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organization_of_American_States#Status_of_Venezuela" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0.5em;">5.6</span><span class="toctext" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit;">Status of Venezuela</span></font></a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-12" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organization_of_American_States#Permanent_observers" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0.5em;">5.7</span><span class="toctext" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit;">Permanent observers</span></font></a></li></ul></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-13" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organization_of_American_States#Official_languages" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0.5em;">6</span><span class="toctext" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit;">Official languages</span></font></a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-14" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organization_of_American_States#See_also" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0.5em;">7</span><span class="toctext" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit;">See also</span></font></a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-15" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organization_of_American_States#References" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0.5em;">8</span><span class="toctext" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit;">References</span></font></a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-16" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organization_of_American_States#External_links" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0.5em;">9</span><span class="toctext" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit;">External links</span></font></a></li></ul></div><h2 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); line-height: 1.3;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-headline" id="History">History</span><span class="mw-editsection" style="user-select: none; margin-left: 1em; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1em; white-space: nowrap; unicode-bidi: isolate;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="margin-right: 0.25em;">[</span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Organization_of_American_States&action=edit&section=1" title="Edit section: History" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="margin-left: 0.25em;">]</span></span></font></h2><table class="plainlinks metadata ambox ambox-content ambox-Refimprove" role="presentation" style="margin: 0px 135.797px; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 10px; border-style: solid; border-color: rgb(162, 169, 177) rgb(162, 169, 177) rgb(162, 169, 177) rgb(242, 133, 0); border-image: initial; background-color: rgb(251, 251, 251); box-sizing: border-box;"><tbody><tr><td class="mbox-image" style="border: none; padding: 2px 0px 2px 0.5em; text-align: center;"><div style="width: 52px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Question_book-new.svg" class="image" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/99/Question_book-new.svg/50px-Question_book-new.svg.png" width="50" height="39" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/99/Question_book-new.svg/75px-Question_book-new.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/99/Question_book-new.svg/100px-Question_book-new.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="512" data-file-height="399" style="border: 0px; vertical-align: middle;" /></font></a></div></td><td class="mbox-text" style="border: none; padding: 0.25em 0.5em; width: 826px;"><div class="mbox-text-span"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">This section&nbsp;<b>needs additional citations for&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Verifiability" title="Wikipedia:Verifiability" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">verification</a></b>.<span class="hide-when-compact">&nbsp;Please help&nbsp;<a class="external text" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Organization_of_American_States&action=edit" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none !important; padding: 0px !important;">improve this article</a>&nbsp;by&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:Introduction_to_referencing_with_Wiki_Markup/1" title="Help:Introduction to referencing with Wiki Markup/1" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">adding citations to reliable sources</a>. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.</span>&nbsp;<small style=""><i>(April 2018)</i></small><small class="hide-when-compact" style=""><i>&nbsp;(<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:Maintenance_template_removal" title="Help:Maintenance template removal" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Learn how and when to remove this template message</a>)</i></small></font></div></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="thumb tleft" style="float: left; clear: left; margin: 0.5em 1.4em 1.3em 0px; width: auto; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="thumbinner" style="min-width: 100px; border: 1px solid rgb(200, 204, 209); padding: 3px; background-color: rgb(248, 249, 250); text-align: center; overflow: hidden; width: 222px;"><div class="thumbcaption" style="border: 0px; line-height: 1.4em; padding: 3px; text-align: left;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font><div class="magnify" style="float: right; margin-left: 3px; margin-right: 0px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Pan_american_1900.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent), url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" csvg="Csvg" viewbox="%220" width="width" height="height" cg="Cg" id="%22smallbox%22" fill="%22%23fff%22" stroke="%22%23000%22%3E" cpath="Cpath" d="%22M-1.499" h10.99v7.919h-10.99z="h10.99v7.919h-10.99z" e="E" h5.943v4.904h-5.943z="h5.943v4.904h-5.943z" c="C" g="g" display="display" block="block" text-indent="text-indent" px="px" white-space="white-space" nowrap="nowrap" overflow="overflow" hidden="hidden" user-select="user-select" none="none" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data" /></div><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Pan_american_1900.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent), url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" csvg="Csvg" viewbox="%220" width="width" height="height" cg="Cg" id="%22smallbox%22" fill="%22%23fff%22" stroke="%22%23000%22%3E" cpath="Cpath" d="%22M-1.499" h10.99v7.919h-10.99z="h10.99v7.919h-10.99z" e="E" h5.943v4.904h-5.943z="h5.943v4.904h-5.943z" c="C" g="g" display="display" block="block" text-indent="text-indent" px="px" white-space="white-space" nowrap="nowrap" overflow="overflow" hidden="hidden" user-select="user-select" none="none" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Pan American Union shortly after its construction in 1910</font></a></div></div></div><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Pan_american_1900.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent), url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" csvg="Csvg" viewbox="%220" width="width" height="height" cg="Cg" id="%22smallbox%22" fill="%22%23fff%22" stroke="%22%23000%22%3E" cpath="Cpath" d="%22M-1.499" h10.99v7.919h-10.99z="h10.99v7.919h-10.99z" e="E" h5.943v4.904h-5.943z="h5.943v4.904h-5.943z" c="C" g="g" display="display" block="block" text-indent="text-indent" px="px" white-space="white-space" nowrap="nowrap" overflow="overflow" hidden="hidden" user-select="user-select" none="none" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The notion of an international union in the&nbsp;</font></a><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_World" title="New World" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">New World</a>&nbsp;was first put forward by&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sim%C3%B3n_Bol%C3%ADvar" title="Simón Bolívar" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Simón Bolívar</a><sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organization_of_American_States#cite_note-3" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[3]</a></sup>&nbsp;who, at the 1826&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congress_of_Panama" title="Congress of Panama" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Congress of Panama</a>&nbsp;(still being part of Colombia), proposed creating a league of American republics, with a common military, a mutual defense pact, and a supranational parliamentary assembly. This meeting was attended by representatives of&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gran_Colombia" title="Gran Colombia" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Gran Colombia</a>(comprising the modern-day countries of&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colombia" title="Colombia" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Colombia</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecuador" title="Ecuador" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Ecuador</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panama" title="Panama" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Panama</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venezuela" title="Venezuela" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Venezuela</a>),&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peru" title="Peru" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Peru</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolivia" title="Bolivia" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Bolivia</a>, The&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Provinces_of_Central_America" class="mw-redirect" title="United Provinces of Central America" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">United Provinces of Central America</a>, and&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexico" title="Mexico" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Mexico</a>&nbsp;but the grandly titled "Treaty of Union, League, and Perpetual Confederation" was ultimately ratified only by Gran Colombia. Bolívar's dream soon floundered with civil war in Gran Colombia, the disintegration of Central America, and the emergence of&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nationalism" title="Nationalism" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">national</a>&nbsp;rather than New World outlooks in the newly independent American republics. Bolívar's dream of American unity was meant to unify Hispanic American nations against external powers.</font></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The pursuit of regional solidarity and cooperation again came to the forefront in 1889–1890, at the First&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Conference_of_American_States" class="mw-redirect" title="International Conference of American States" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">International Conference of American States</a>. Gathered together in Washington, D.C., 18 nations resolved to found the International Union of American Republics, served by a permanent secretariat called the Commercial Bureau of the American Republics (renamed the International Commercial Bureau at the Second International Conference in 1901–1902). These two bodies, in existence as of 14 April 1890, represent the point of inception to which the OAS and its General Secretariat trace their origins.</font></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">At the Fourth&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Conference_of_American_States" class="mw-redirect" title="International Conference of American States" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">International Conference of American States</a>&nbsp;(<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buenos_Aires" title="Buenos Aires" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Buenos Aires</a>, 1910), the name of the organization was changed to the Union of American Republics and the Bureau became the Pan American Union. The&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pan_American_Union_Building" title="Pan American Union Building" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Pan American Union Building</a>&nbsp;was constructed in 1910, on&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_Avenue" title="Constitution Avenue" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Constitution Avenue</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northwest,Washington,D.C." title="Northwest, Washington, D.C." style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Northwest, Washington, D.C.</a></font></p><div class="thumb tleft" style="float: left; clear: left; margin: 0.5em 1.4em 1.3em 0px; width: auto; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="thumbinner" style="min-width: 100px; border: 1px solid rgb(200, 204, 209); padding: 3px; background-color: rgb(248, 249, 250); text-align: center; overflow: hidden; width: 222px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font><div class="thumbcaption" style="border: 0px; line-height: 1.4em; padding: 3px; text-align: left;"><div class="magnify" style="float: right; margin-left: 3px; margin-right: 0px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Pan_American_Union,Washington,DC_in_1943.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent), url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" csvg="Csvg" viewbox="%220" width="width" height="height" cg="Cg" id="%22smallbox%22" fill="%22%23fff%22" stroke="%22%23000%22%3E" cpath="Cpath" d="%22M-1.499" h10.99v7.919h-10.99z="h10.99v7.919h-10.99z" e="E" h5.943v4.904h-5.943z="h5.943v4.904h-5.943z" c="C" g="g" display="display" block="block" text-indent="text-indent" px="px" white-space="white-space" nowrap="nowrap" overflow="overflow" hidden="hidden" user-select="user-select" none="none" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data" /></div><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Pan_American_Union,Washington,DC_in_1943.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent), url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" csvg="Csvg" viewbox="%220" width="width" height="height" cg="Cg" id="%22smallbox%22" fill="%22%23fff%22" stroke="%22%23000%22%3E" cpath="Cpath" d="%22M-1.499" h10.99v7.919h-10.99z="h10.99v7.919h-10.99z" e="E" h5.943v4.904h-5.943z="h5.943v4.904h-5.943z" c="C" g="g" display="display" block="block" text-indent="text-indent" px="px" white-space="white-space" nowrap="nowrap" overflow="overflow" hidden="hidden" user-select="user-select" none="none" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /></a><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pan_American_Union_Building" title="Pan American Union Building" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Pan American Union headquarters building</a>&nbsp;in Washington, D.C., 1943.</font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></div></div></div><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman"><font face="Times New Roman"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">In the mid-1930s, U.S. President&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin_Delano_Roosevelt" class="mw-redirect" title="Franklin Delano Roosevelt" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Franklin Delano Roosevelt</a>&nbsp;organized an inter-American conference in Buenos Aires. One of the items at the conference was a "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/League_of_Nations" title="League of Nations" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">League of Nations</a>&nbsp;of the Americas", an idea proposed by Colombia, Guatemala, and the Dominican Republic.<sup id="cite_ref-4" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organization_of_American_States#cite_note-4" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[4]</a></sup>&nbsp;At the subsequent Inter-American Conference for the Maintenance of Peace, 21 nations pledged to remain neutral in the event of a conflict between any two members.<sup id="cite_ref-5" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organization_of_American_States#cite_note-5" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[5]</a></sup>&nbsp;The experience of&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II" title="World War II" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">World War II</a>&nbsp;convinced hemispheric governments that unilateral action could not ensure the territorial integrity of the American nations in the event of external aggression. To meet the challenges of global conflict in the postwar world and to contain conflicts within the hemisphere, they adopted a system of&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collective_security" title="Collective security" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">collective security</a>, the&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inter-American_Treaty_of_Reciprocal_Assistance" title="Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance</a>&nbsp;(Rio Treaty) signed in 1947 in&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rio_de_Janeiro" title="Rio de Janeiro" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Rio de Janeiro</a>.</font></font></font></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Ninth&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Conference_of_American_States" class="mw-redirect" title="International Conference of American States" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">International Conference of American States</a>&nbsp;was held in&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bogot%C3%A1" title="Bogotá" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Bogotá</a>&nbsp;between March and May 1948 and led by&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Secretary_of_State" title="United States Secretary of State" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">United States Secretary of State</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Marshall" title="George Marshall" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">George Marshall</a>, a meeting which led to a pledge by members to fight communism in the&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_hemisphere" class="mw-redirect" title="Western hemisphere" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">western hemisphere</a>. This was the event that saw the birth of the OAS as it stands today, with the signature by 21 American countries of the&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charter_of_the_Organization_of_American_States" title="Charter of the Organization of American States" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Charter of the Organization of American States</a>&nbsp;on 30 April 1948 (in effect since December 1951). The meeting also adopted the&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Declaration_of_the_Rights_and_Duties_of_Man" title="American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man</a>, the world's first general human rights instrument.</font></font></font></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The transition from the Pan American Union to OAS would have been smooth if it had not been for the assassination of Colombian leader&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jorge_Eli%C3%A9cer_Gait%C3%A1n" title="Jorge Eliécer Gaitán" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Jorge Eliécer Gaitán</a>. The Director General of the former,&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alberto_Lleras_Camargo" title="Alberto Lleras Camargo" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Alberto Lleras Camargo</a>, became the Organization's first&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secretary_General_of_the_Organization_of_American_States" title="Secretary General of the Organization of American States" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Secretary General</a>. The current Secretary General is former Uruguayan minister of foreign affairs&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_Almagro" title="Luis Almagro" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Luis Almagro</a>.</font></font></font></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Significant milestones in the history of the OAS since the signing of the Charter have included the following:</font></font></font></p><ul style="margin: 0.3em 0px 0px 1.6em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" csvg="Csvg" width="%225%22" height="%2213%22%3E" ccircle="Ccircle" cx="%222.5%22" cy="%229.5%22" r="%222.5%22" fill="%22%2300528c%22/%3E" c="C" e="E" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data"><li style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">1959:&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inter-American_Commission_on_Human_Rights" title="Inter-American Commission on Human Rights" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Inter-American Commission on Human Rights</a>&nbsp;created.</font></font></font></li><li style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">1959:&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inter-American_Development_Bank" title="Inter-American Development Bank" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Inter-American Development Bank</a>&nbsp;created.</font></font></font></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">1960: First application of the&nbsp;</span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inter-American_Treaty_of_Reciprocal_Assistance" title="Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">&nbsp;against the regimen of&nbsp;</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rafael_Trujillo" title="Rafael Trujillo" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Rafael Trujillo</a>&nbsp;in&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominican_Republic" title="Dominican Republic" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Dominican Republic</a></span></font></font></font></li><li style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">1961: Charter of Punta del Este signed, launching the&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alliance_for_Progress" title="Alliance for Progress" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Alliance for Progress</a>.</font></font></font></li><li style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">1962: OAS suspends&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuba" title="Cuba" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Cuba</a>.</font></font></font></li><li style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">1969:&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Convention_on_Human_Rights" title="American Convention on Human Rights" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">American Convention on Human Rights</a>&nbsp;signed (in force since 1978).</font></font></font></li><li style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">1970:&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Assembly_of_the_Organization_of_American_States" title="General Assembly of the Organization of American States" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">OAS General Assembly</a>&nbsp;established as the Organization's supreme decision-making body.</font></font></font></li><li style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">1979:&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inter-American_Court_of_Human_Rights" title="Inter-American Court of Human Rights" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Inter-American Court of Human Rights</a>&nbsp;created.</font></font></font></li><li style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">1991: Adoption of Resolution 1080, which requires the Secretary General to convene the&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permanent_Council_of_the_Organization_of_American_States" title="Permanent Council of the Organization of American States" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Permanent Council</a>&nbsp;within ten days of a&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coup_d%27%C3%A9tat" title="Coup d'état" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">coup d'état</a>&nbsp;in any member country.</font></font></font></li><li style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">1994: First&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summit_of_the_Americas" class="mw-redirect" title="Summit of the Americas" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Summit of the Americas</a>&nbsp;(<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miami" title="Miami" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Miami</a>), which resolved to establish a&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_Trade_Area_of_the_Americas" title="Free Trade Area of the Americas" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Free Trade Area of the Americas</a>&nbsp;by 2005.</font></font></font></li><li style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">2001:&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inter-American_Democratic_Charter" title="Inter-American Democratic Charter" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Inter-American Democratic Charter</a>&nbsp;adopted.</font></font></font></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">2009: OAS revokes 1962 suspension of&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuba" title="Cuba" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Cuba</a>.</font></font></font></li><li style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">2009: OAS suspends Honduras due to the&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Honduran_coup_d%27%C3%A9tat" title="2009 Honduran coup d'état" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">coup</a>&nbsp;which ousted president&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya" title="Manuel Zelaya" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Manuel Zelaya</a>.</font></font></font></li><li style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">2011: <b>OAS lifts the suspension of Honduras </b>with the return of Manuel Zelaya from exile.</font></font></font></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">2017:&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venezuela" title="Venezuela" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Venezuela</a>&nbsp;announces it will begin the process to leave the OAS in response to what it alleged was OAS interference in&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crisis_in_Bolivarian_Venezuela" class="mw-redirect" title="Crisis in Bolivarian Venezuela" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Venezuela's political crisis</a>.</font></font></font></li></ul><h2 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); line-height: 1.3;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-headline" id="Goals_and_purpose"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Goals and purpose</font></span></font></font></h2></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-headline"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">...</font></span></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Ambassador_to_the_Organization_of_American_States"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Ambassador_to_the_Organization_of_American_States</font></a></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">c<b style="">arlos Trujillo</b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">&nbsp;</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">(born February 25, 1983) is an American politician serving as</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">&nbsp;</span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Ambassador_to_the_Organization_of_American_States" title="United States Ambassador to the Organization of American States" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">United States Ambassador to the Organization of American States</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">&nbsp;</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">since 2018. A member of the</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">&nbsp;</span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republican_Party(United_States)" title="Republican Party (United States)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">Republican Party</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">, he previously served four terms in the</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">&nbsp;</span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida_House_of_Representatives" title="Florida House of Representatives" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">Florida House of Representatives</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">&nbsp;</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">from 2010 until his appointment as ambassador.</span></font></font></font></div><div id="toc" class="toc" style="border: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); background-color: rgb(248, 249, 250); padding: 7px; display: table; zoom: 1;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><input type="checkbox" role="button" id="toctogglecheckbox" class="toctogglecheckbox" style="direction: ltr; position: absolute; opacity: 0; display: none;" /></font><div class="toctitle" lang="en" dir="ltr" style="direction: ltr; text-align: center;">
</div><ul style="list-style-type: none; margin: 0.3em 0px; padding: 0px; list-style-image: none;"><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-1" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos_Trujillo#History" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font color="#000000" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="tocnumber" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0.5em;">1</span><span class="toctext" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit;">History</span></font></a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-2" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos_Trujillo#Florida_House_of_Representatives" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font color="#000000" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="tocnumber" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0.5em;">2</span><span class="toctext" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit;">Florida House of Representatives</span></font></a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-3" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos_Trujillo#U.S.Ambassador_to_the_OAS" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font color="#000000" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="tocnumber" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0.5em;">3</span><span class="toctext" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit;">U.S. Ambassador to the OAS</span></font></a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-4" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos_Trujillo#References" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font color="#000000" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="tocnumber" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0.5em;">4</span><span class="toctext" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit;">References</span></font></a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-5" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos_Trujillo#External_links" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font color="#000000" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="tocnumber" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0.5em;">5</span><span class="toctext" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit;">External links</span></font></a></li></ul></div><h2 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); font-family: " linux="Linux" libertine="Libertine" georgia="Georgia" times="Times" serif="serif" line-height="line-height"><span class="mw-headline" id="History"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">History</font></span></h2><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Trujillo was born on&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_Island" title="Long Island" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Long Island</a>&nbsp;in&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York(state)" title="New York (state)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">New York</a>&nbsp;and moved to the state of&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida" title="Florida" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Florida</a>&nbsp;in 1988. He attended&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spring_Hill_College" title="Spring Hill College" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Spring Hill College</a>, graduating with a degree in business administration in 2004, and then the&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida_State_University_College_of_Law" title="Florida State University College of Law" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Florida State University College of Law</a>, receiving his&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juris_Doctor" title="Juris Doctor" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Juris Doctor</a>&nbsp;in 2007. Following graduation, he served as an assistant state attorney for th</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">e&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eleventh_Judicial_Circuit_Court_of_Florida" title="Eleventh Judicial Circuit Court of Florida" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Eleventh Judicial Circuit Court of Florida</a>, primarily dealing with felony prosecutions. He then started his own legal practice, Trujillo Vargas LLC which has now evolved to Trujillo Vargas Gonzalez Hevia LLP.</span><sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos_Trujillo#cite_note-1" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[1]</a></sup></font></p><h2 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); font-family: " linux="Linux" libertine="Libertine" georgia="Georgia" times="Times" serif="serif" line-height="line-height"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-headline" id="Florida_House_of_Representatives">Florida House of Representatives</span></font></h2><div class="thumb tleft" style="float: left; clear: left; margin: 0.5em 1.4em 1.3em 0px; width: auto; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="thumbinner" style="min-width: 100px; border: 1px solid rgb(200, 204, 209); padding: 3px; background-color: rgb(248, 249, 250); text-align: center; overflow: hidden; width: 152px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:State_Representative_Carlos_Trujillo.jpg" class="image" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b7/State_Representative_Carlos_Trujillo.jpg" width="150" height="200" class="thumbimage" data-file-width="150" data-file-height="200" style="border: 1px solid rgb(200, 204, 209); vertical-align: middle; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /></font></a><div class="thumbcaption" style="border: 0px; line-height: 1.4em; padding: 3px; text-align: left;"><div class="magnify" style="float: right; margin-left: 3px; margin-right: 0px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:State_Representative_Carlos_Trujillo.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent), url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" csvg="Csvg" viewbox="%220" width="width" height="height" cg="Cg" id="%22smallbox%22" fill="%22%23fff%22" stroke="%22%23000%22%3E" cpath="Cpath" d="%22M-1.499" h10.99v7.919h-10.99z="h10.99v7.919h-10.99z" e="E" h5.943v4.904h-5.943z="h5.943v4.904h-5.943z" c="C" g="g" display="display" block="block" text-indent="text-indent" px="px" white-space="white-space" nowrap="nowrap" overflow="overflow" hidden="hidden" user-select="user-select" none="none" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data" /></div><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:State_Representative_Carlos_Trujillo.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent), url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" csvg="Csvg" viewbox="%220" width="width" height="height" cg="Cg" id="%22smallbox%22" fill="%22%23fff%22" stroke="%22%23000%22%3E" cpath="Cpath" d="%22M-1.499" h10.99v7.919h-10.99z="h10.99v7.919h-10.99z" e="E" h5.943v4.904h-5.943z="h5.943v4.904h-5.943z" c="C" g="g" display="display" block="block" text-indent="text-indent" px="px" white-space="white-space" nowrap="nowrap" overflow="overflow" hidden="hidden" user-select="user-select" none="none" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data">State Rep. photo</a></div></div></div><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:State_Representative_Carlos_Trujillo.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent), url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" csvg="Csvg" viewbox="%220" width="width" height="height" cg="Cg" id="%22smallbox%22" fill="%22%23fff%22" stroke="%22%23000%22%3E" cpath="Cpath" d="%22M-1.499" h10.99v7.919h-10.99z="h10.99v7.919h-10.99z" e="E" h5.943v4.904h-5.943z="h5.943v4.904h-5.943z" c="C" g="g" display="display" block="block" text-indent="text-indent" px="px" white-space="white-space" nowrap="nowrap" overflow="overflow" hidden="hidden" user-select="user-select" none="none" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data">When incumbent&nbsp;</a><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida_House_of_Representatives" title="Florida House of Representatives" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">State Representative</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcelo_Llorente" title="Marcelo Llorente" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Marcelo Llorente</a>&nbsp;was unable to seek re-election in 2010 due to term limits, Trujillo ran to succeed him in the 116th District, which included&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hammocks,Florida" title="The Hammocks, Florida" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">The Hammocks</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kendale_Lakes,Florida" title="Kendale Lakes, Florida" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Kendale Lakes</a>, suburbs of&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miami,Florida" class="mw-redirect" title="Miami, Florida" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Miami</a>&nbsp;in central&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miami-Dade_County,Florida" title="Miami-Dade County, Florida" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Miami-Dade County</a>. He faced former&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida_House_of_Representatives" title="Florida House of Representatives" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">State Representative</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos_A.Manrique" title="Carlos A. Manrique" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Carlos A. Manrique</a>, Francisco Amador, and Whilly Bermudez in the&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republican_Party(United_States)" title="Republican Party (United States)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Republican</a>&nbsp;primary, and he emerged narrowly victorious with 34% of the vote. Trujillo advanced to the general election, where he encountered only write-in opposition, winning with 97% of the vote.</font></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">In 2012, following the reconfiguration of state legislative districts, Trujillo ran for re-election in the 105th District, which contained territory that was radically different from what he had previously represented in the 116th District. Trujillo kept some of the precincts that he had represented in the&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miami,Florida" class="mw-redirect" title="Miami, Florida" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Miami</a>&nbsp;suburbs, and expanded to include vast amounts of rural&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collier_County,Florida" title="Collier County, Florida" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Collier County</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miami-Dade_County,Florida" title="Miami-Dade County, Florida" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Miami-Dade County</a>, stretching from&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doral,Florida" title="Doral, Florida" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Doral</a>&nbsp;to&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naples,Florida" title="Naples, Florida" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Naples</a>. He was challenged in the&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republican_Party(United_States)" title="Republican Party (United States)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Republican</a>&nbsp;primary by Paul Crespo, who presented a serious challenge. Trujillo racked up the endorsements of former Governor&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeb_Bush" title="Jeb Bush" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Jeb Bush</a>&nbsp;and the Florida Chamber of Commerce,<sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos_Trujillo#cite_note-2" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[2]</a></sup>&nbsp;and ended up defeating Crespo with 56% of the vote. He advanced to the general election, where he once again encountered only write-in opposition, and won his second term with nearly 100% of the vote.</font></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">In February 2018, he voted against a motion to consider an assault weapon ban</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">.<sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos_Trujillo#cite_note-3" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[3]</a></sup></span></font></p><h2 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); font-family: " linux="Linux" libertine="Libertine" georgia="Georgia" times="Times" serif="serif" line-height="line-height"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-headline" id="U.S.Ambassador_to_the_OAS">U.S. Ambassador to the OAS</span></font></h2><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">In October 2017, Trujillo was chosen by President&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Trump" title="Donald Trump" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Donald Trump</a>&nbsp;to serve as&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Ambassador_to_the_Organization_of_American_States" title="United States Ambassador to the Organization of American States" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">U.S. Ambassador to the Organization of American States</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-4" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos_Trujillo#cite_note-4" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[4]</a></sup>&nbsp;Trujillo was confirmed by the&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Senate" title="United States Senate" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Senate</a>&nbsp;by a voice vote on March 22, 2018, and resigned from the Florida House the following day. He presented his credentials to&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secretary_General_of_the_Organization_of_American_States" title="Secretary General of the Organization of American States" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">OAS Secretary General</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_Almagro" title="Luis Almagro" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Luis Almagro</a>&nbsp;on April 5.<sup id="cite_ref-5" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos_Trujillo#cite_note-5" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[5]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-6" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos_Trujillo#cite_note-6" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[6]</a></sup></font></p><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">=</font><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/right-wing/trump-endorses-criminal-conspiracy-crush-honduras-vote" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">https://www.alternet.org/right-wing/trump-endorses-criminal-conspiracy-crush-honduras-vote</a></font></div><div style=""><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</font><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Honduras is bleeding now, and Honduran blood runs from the hands of President Trump and </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Gen. John Kelly, long a vicar of American violence enforcing the imperial will.</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> In their vicariously murderous way, Trump and Kelly are carrying on with a century-old, bipartisan American tradition of&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.state.gov/documents/organization/265808.pdf" target="blank" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">oppression and human disregard</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">&nbsp;in the classic “banana republic” that the US Marines once kept safe for United Fruit.&nbsp;</span><b style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Trump and Kelly now are merely defending the corrupt&nbsp;<a href="https://www.democracynow.org/2017/12/8/no_democracy_here_ousted_honduran_pres" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none;">military coup of 2009</a>, sanctioned by President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (<a href="https://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/277-75/35818-why-is-hillary-ok-with-honduran-death-squads" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none;">who was OK with death squads</a>)</b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">. Obama and Clinton are the godparents of the&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/02/honduras-the-thugocracy-ext-door-103883" target="blank" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">present Honduran thugocracy</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">&nbsp;and its unchecked death squads that together provoked the massive emigration of Hondurans seeking safety here, thereby helping to elect Trump in 2016.</span></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Reliable reporting on the current outpouring of protest in Honduras is hard to come by, but it’s rooted in the Honduran presidential election in November. The incumbent Honduran president,&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Orlando_Hern%C3%A1ndez" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">Juan Orlando Hernandez</a>, 49, of the National Party, is a direct beneficiary of the 2009 coup, which elevated him to the leadership of the National Congress. He is a businessman (coffee, hotels, media) with a master’s degree in public administration from the State University of New York. He was first elected president in 2013 (with 34% of the vote) in a corrupt process during which at least 18 opposition-party candidates and supporters were murdered. Additionally, charges of fraudulent voting and corrupt campaign contributions were ignored by authorities,&nbsp;</span>to the benefit of Hernandez. Once he was president, he was barred by the Honduran constitution from running for a second term. This obstacle was removed by the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, which is controlled by the president. Hernandez has a long personal relationship with Gen. John Kelly. Going into the election, Hernandez was considered the favorite.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><b>Opposing Hernandez was democratic socialist&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvador_Nasralla" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none;">Salvador Nasralla</a>, 64, of the&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberty_and_Refoundation" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none;">Libre-PINU</a>&nbsp;Party (the Opposition Alliance against Dictatorship</b>), the party of the coup-deposed President&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">Manuel Zelaya</a>. Nasralla graduated with honors from the Catholic University of Chile as a civil engineer and later earned an NBA. He was CEO of Pepsi Honduras before starting a television career in 1981. Since then, he has been harshly critical of chronic corruption in Honduras, founding the Anti-Corruption Party in 2013, when he won 13% of the vote for president. He was not expected to win the 2017 election.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">As it stands now, the winner may never be known, but more than likely Nasralla won the popular vote. Among election monitors, the&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organization_of_American_States" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">Organization of American States</a>&nbsp;(OAS) and the European Union (EU) have rejected the results, while the US Embassy has said everything is hunky-dory. Meanwhile, the US and other anti-democratic forces are on the verge of installing their puppet Hernandez as the re-elected president of Honduras. The timeline of this stolen election illustrates just how secure the dictatorship and its allies in the US feel in their brazen criminality:</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong>November 26.</strong>&nbsp;Apparently, something like 57% of Hondurans vote for a field of nine candidates. The Supreme Electoral Council, controlled by Hernandez, closes the polls an hour earlier than in the past, likely suppressing the vote. At first the Electoral Council releases vote totals as they come in, as is customary. Then, with Nasralla surprisingly leading, the Electoral Council suspends the count for seven hours....</font></p></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">==</font></div></div></div></div></div>