The Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), Luis Almagro, and the diplomatic representation of the United States (US) before the multilateral body suffered a resounding defeat in the Permanent Council when the Community of Caribbean States (Caricom) achieved the approval of a resolution that condemns the violence of the de facto government in Bolivia.
The Bolivian representation had proposed amendments to the Caricom project. However, the representation from Granada indicated that the accusations did not constitute amendments but a new draft Resolution, Cubadebate says.
Given the disagreement, it was proposed to put a vote to the plenary, so the changes proposed by Bolivia were rejected with eight votes in favor, 17 against, 8 abstentions and one absence.
The resolution originally presented by Caricom, entitled “Rejection of violence and call for full respect for the rights of indigenous peoples in the Plurinational State of Bolivia”, was finally passed with 18 votes in favor, four against, including the “de facto” Bolivian government , United States and Colombia, 11 abstentions and one absent.
The Caricom project also contemplates the condemnation of the violation of human rights and the use of violence against any citizen of Bolivia; it also denounces intolerance towards symbols, traditional vestiges and religious practices, as well as any aspect of indigenous civilization; it urges the Bolivian authorities to fulfill their inherent responsibility to protect the human rights of Bolivians, among other considerations.
During the defense of the votes, several delegations, including that of Colombia, gave offensive speeches against the sponsors of the Resolution and those who supported it. In addition, together with the US delegation, they took the opportunity to attack the Venezuelan government.
