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As Brazil’s political elite completed their plot to remove President Dilma Rousseff, the Organization of American States remained silent on the ouster while at the same time issuing a lengthy statement on the protests in Venezuela that struck a tone in favor of the opposition and against the government of another elected president, Nicolas Maduro.
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“We congratulate the peaceful protest carried out by the Venezuelan people today in Caracas, which confirms their will to reach a democratic resolution with a recall referendum,” the OAS said in a press release Thursday.
This followed a lengthy press release on the Sept. 1 protests released by the OAS on Tuesday that accused the government of Venezuela of “intimidating” the opposition, calling on Caracas to “respect” human rights and allow the protests by the opposition and right-wing parties, who control the national assembly.
However, despite the OAS's implications, there were no reports of violence nor was there a police crackdown on the thousands who took to the streets of Venezuela on Thursday both in favor and against the government.
In May, OAS Secretary-General Luis Almagro invoked the body’s Democratic Charter against Venezuela, which could lead to the suspension of the South American nation from the body. Yet Almagro remained silent as Brazil moved ahead with a dubious impeachment process, led by senators implicated in a corruption probe that leaked conversations reveal they had sought to block by way of removing the elected head of state.
With Roussoff formally impeached on Wednesday, Almagro and his organization are again turning a blind eye to the developments in Brazil. No statement have been issued yet on parliamentary coup in Brazil, but at least two press releases echoing an anti-government stance on Venezuela have been released over the past three days.
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Almagro did not always take the side of the corrupt Brazilian lawmakers who pushed for the ouster of the leftist president. Earlier this year, he met with Rousseff and admitted that the impeachment process she faced was counter to international norms.
Almagro, for instance, said that a detailed analysis of the impeachment process revealed there was no criminal accusation against her but rather a political accusation about the handling of government finances.
While Almagro argues that Venezuela has violated some of the articles of his organization's Democratic Charter, he has ignored the fact that Brazil’s current government has violated several articles of that charter.
Article 19 states that “unconstitutional interruption of the democratic order or an unconstitutional alteration of the constitutional regime that seriously impairs the democratic order in a member state” could lead the secretary-general to invoke the the Democratic Charter and call for an emergency meeting to assess the situation.
The coup in Brazil also violates articles 1,2,3 and 4, which call for the protection of democracy in member states and the protection of the legitimate exercise of power while protecting the population’s right to choose their government.
Rousseff's Senate-imposed replacement, Michel Temer, is legally barred from standing in an election.
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