'Avoid politics of exclusion', Antiguan diplomat warns OAS

Antigua and Barbuda’s Ambassador to the Organization of American States (OAS) has sounded a warning against meetings led by powerful nations that seek to impose their decisions on the membership as a whole.

Sir Ronald Sanders was speaking at a meeting of the OAS Permanent Council about a proposal to convene a special ministerial meeting to consider the situation in Venezuela.

Proposals included a change to the rules governing such meetings.

The veteran diplomat said: “My delegation sounds a warning about a troubling development in this organisation. It is one of the politics of exclusion – the creation of a process in which some countries exclude other member states from consultations, resulting in the formation of positions that are then introduced in this council as a fait accompli.”

“The process becomes one of achieving objectives, even at the cost of creating divisions in our membership and weakening the authority of the organisation.”

The former president of the Permanent Council cautioned against this “emerging practice”, stating that “each member state is entitled to a voice and to be consulted, not to have the self-interest of a few imposed upon them”.

‘Unexplained haste’

The statement of the Antigua and Barbuda representative was supported by several delegations from both the Caribbean and Latin America.

Sir Ronald also argued against the “unexplained haste” with which some powerful countries are trying to convene a ministerial meeting on Venezuela, which has withdrawn from the organisation.

The meeting was being proposed for 22 May but Sir Ronald said many delegations “remain unaware of the intended outcome of the meeting and its purpose”.

“Yet we are asked to blindly support its convocation and a date on which to hold it,” he said.

The Permanent Council subsequently agreed to defer taking a decision on the date for the ministerial meeting until Monday, and to establish a formal process by which all member states could work on a draft statement for consideration by ministers when the meeting is held.