Journalists Confront Antony Blinken and Luis Almagro at Summit of the Americas, Call Out Hypocrisy

June 10, 2022 (OrinocoTruibune.com) On the second day of the 9th Summit of the Americas that is taking place in Los Angeles, journalists questioned officials from the United States government and the US-controlled Organization of American States (OAS), calling out their hypocritical discourses on democracy and freedom of the press.

The Tuesday, June 7 event at the Arizona State University California Center in Los Angeles, which was about media and democracy, will be remembered for a Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL) activist calling Luis Almagro “murderer.” While OAS Secretary General Almagro was giving a speech on media freedom, PSL member Walter Smolarek disrupted him, calling him out for his role in the 2019 coup in Bolivia that overthrew elected President Evo Morales and installed a military-backed dictatorship there.

A @pslweb activist disrupts OAS chief Luis Almagro at a Summit of the Americas event, calling out his role in the 2019 Bolivia coup.
The coup overturned the victory of the elected socialist president Evo Morales and inaugurated a right-wing reign of terror that left scores dead. pic.twitter.com/xiSeLP880Q
— BreakThrough News (@BTnewsroom) June 8, 2022

“Luis Almagro, you have blood on your hands!” shouted Smolarek. “Because of your lies there was a coup in Bolivia. A coup against a democratically elected government. And that dictatorship that you helped install massacred 36 people—36 innocent people who were protesting for the restoration of democracy, the restoration of the independence of their country. In the towns of Sacaba and Senkata, people were protesting peacefully, Indigenous people, workers, women, students, demanding the restoration of that democracy that you helped destroy—destroy so that the United States could plunder their resources.”

He also mentioned the murder of Argentine journalist Sebastián Moro in Bolivia at the time of the coup. “Sebastián Moro—he was a journalist, who was exposing the lies that you are telling and exposing the truth,” said Smolarek, as Almagro incoherently tried to defend himself. “And he was beaten to death in his apartment. And now you come here and dare to lecture about freedom, about democracy, about human rights. You have no shame. You’re a murderer, you’re a puppet of the United States.”

Smolarek also denounced the OAS for its support and promotion of self-proclaimed “interim president” of Venezuela, Juan Guaidó, another plot orchestrated from Washington.

The PSL activist was removed from the room by security personnel.

In another segment of the event, Eugene Puryear, host of Break Through News, asked US Secretary of State Antony Blinken what “the actual basis” of the US government is for considering a government democratic or not. “I wonder how you justify the invitation of Dr. Ariel Henry from Haiti when he is actually governing with no constitutional mandate,” remarked Puryear. “His government has been implicated in many different crimes, including potentially the murder of the past president. Countries like Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua are being excluded from the Summit of the Americas because you deem them to be not democratic. But how can you use that as your justification when you have the so-called prime minister of Haiti—who is ruling under no sort of democratic mandate—here?”

Democracy or hypocrisy?
Governments that disagree with the US like Cuba, Venezuela & Nicaragua are excluded from the Summit — while Haiti’s unelected “leader,” who may have murdered his predecessor, gets the red carpet. @EugenePuryear confronts Sec. Blinken pic.twitter.com/eDgXeRHvzU
— BreakThrough News (@BTnewsroom) June 8, 2022

Ariel Henry was imposed by the US-led Core Group as the ruler of Haiti after the assassination of former President-turned-dictator Jovenel Moïse in July last year. That murder is yet to be solved.

Blinken tried to deflect the question, claiming that the US government is attempting to find out what happened in Haiti. “We’re determined to find the facts, wherever they lead and to whoever they lead,” he said. He did not, however, explain why his government considers Cuba, Venezuela or Nicaragua to be less democratic than Haiti.

Renowned journalist Abby Martin of The Empire Files also confronted the US secretary of state, asking him to explain why there has been no accountability for Israel or Saudi Arabia for murdering journalists. “What about Shireen Abu Akleh?” asked Martin, referring to the Palestinian-American journalist killed last month while covering an Israeli raid in the Jenin refugee camp. “She was murdered by Israeli forces, right?… Your two greatest allies in the Middle East—Saudi Arabia and Israel—they have murdered American journalists and there have been absolutely no repercussions. And you’re sitting up here and you’re talking about the freedom of press and democracy.”

.@AbbyMartin calls out hypocrisy of Sec Blinken: you lecture about press freedom but do nothing when Shireen Abu Akleh and Jamal Khashoggi, two journalists and US citizens, are murdered.
Why are you buying bullets for the worst abusers of journalists like Saudi Arabia & Israel? pic.twitter.com/bP5DryhBNc
— BreakThrough News (@BTnewsroom) June 8, 2022

Blinken again tried to evade a direct response, stating that he “deplore(d) the loss of Shireen” and that the US government is looking for “an independent credible investigation” into the killing of the journalist. “When that investigation happens, we will follow the facts where they lead,” he claimed.

Abby Martin dubbed this year’s Summit of the Americas “the most hypocritical insanity ever” on an Instagram Live later that evening.

On the sidelines of the event, Mexican journalists Alejandro Páez Varela and Daniela Barragán, from the news outlet Sin Embargo, tried to interview Nestor Méndez, joint secretary of the OAS. They had four questions prepared for him, but Méndez, on hearing the first, refused to be interviewed, considering the question “political.”

“We wanted to ask his opinion on what AMLO [the president of Mexico] said recently, that the time of OAS has ended; that it is time for a different organisation, based on solidarity, that excludes no one,” noted Páez Varela, commenting on the incident. “But he replied—very politely—that he did not wish to discuss ‘political’ themes.”

Instead, the OAS joint secretary preferred to talk about only those topics mentioned in the pamphlets that had been handed out to the attendees at the Summit, such as “young people’s issues, women’s rights, climate activism, and the like,” added Barragán.

“I am sure the next question would have made him more uncomfortable,” she continued. “More and more countries of Latin America are moving to the left; the number of countries allied to the OAS is decreasing every day. We wanted to ask him about his thoughts on OAS’ future, given this scenario.”

However, the top OAS official’s refusal to get involved in such “political” issues attests to the organisation’s refusal to engage in reflection and self-criticism, the journalists noted.

Special for Orinoco Tribune by Saheli Chowdhury

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Saheli Chowdhury

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Saheli Chowdhury is from West Bengal, India, studying physics for a profession, but with a passion for writing. She is interested in history and popular movements around the world, especially in the Global South. She is a co-editor and contributor for Orinoco Tribune.