It was galling to see Venezuelan dissident voices effectively muzzled at OAS today, as the organization voted by 22 countries to 11 to hold a closed-doors session, far reducing the impact of the speech María Corina Machado had planned to give. But it’s easy to overstate the extent of the Venezuelan opposition’s isolation, too.
Nearly twice as many people live in the eleven countries that voted against the Maduro regime than in countries that voted with it. Out of the 17 Spanish speaking countries in OAS, 9 voted against the Maduro regime, just 8 for it.
In fact, all we saw today was the payoff from a long-running strategy by the Chávez regime to buy off small, weak Caribbean island states with oil subsidies. The thirteen smallest countries in OAS voted as a block to support the government, including every Caribbean statelet and every non-Spanish speaking country except for the U.S. and Canada.
All today’s vote really shows is that the government went on a shopping spree in the Caribbean, buying off weak states on the cheap. But it’s a funny kind of Bolivarian alliance, isn’t it, where 14 out of 22 countries supporting you don’t speak Bolívar’s language.
I would say almost twice, not more than twice. But yeah, it’s a very good point
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whoopsie…fixed.
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A first rate post! Thanks.
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I wonder how Dilma Rousseff sleeps at night. Having been victim of torture by the Brazilian Junta in the 70s she sells out to the economic interest of her country. You have to give it to Bachelete, but then again, she doesn’t have the same amount of money in the game as Brazil.
Ultimately, the Economist took Dilma to task this week: http://www.economist.com/news/americas/21599386-brazils-next-government-will-need-new-foreign-policy-bets-failed
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Why are you deleting my comment below? What is wrong with it?
She sleeps very well at night given that she was not fighting for democracy in Brazil, but to remove a right-wing dictatorship and replace it with a left-wing dictatorship. Her own “brothers in arms” have admitted that. Well, it’s more than natural that she is not too worried about Venezuela becoming a new Cuba, and I tell you: if she could (she currently can’t), she would do the same thing in Brazil.
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I hope people in Venezuela will stop asking Dilma and her fucked-up Itamaraty for help on blog posts, tweets, etc. Mejor tarde que nunca. It’s not like we Brazilians haven’t warned everybody for years.
When they were young, Dilma and Lula fought for a communist dictatorship, not for democracy or freedom. The same goes for the rest of leftists sons of bitches across Latin America.
You’re welcome.
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This, and nothing else!
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agree, Ricardo. The trouble with the interpretation that Dilma, Lula, Pepe, Evo were for democracy in their youth, is the epitome of comeflorismo, or gentle delusions, that alter Vz perceptions to fit current needs.
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Commies stick together no matter what. Their ideology is more important to them than mere human lives. There was plenty of praise for the Kmer Rouge from the left in spite of the ongoing massacre back in the 70’s and the problems were all blamed on guess who just like now?
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Countries have interests. not friends. Sigh…
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Remove Brazil from the equation (the country will be liberated next October, thus its stance on Venezuela will change), and you have a proportion of 6 to 1.
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Marc, I really wish that your (and mine) wish becomes reality. However, day after day, survey after survey, it looks like the Lady and her friends will ride again. Let us see.. in politics anything is possible, even “miracles”…
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Charlie, I don’t know if you can read Portuguese, but if you can, you might become a little bit more optimistic after reading this: http://veja.abril.com.br/blog/reinaldo/geral/ibope-dilma-venceria-no-1o-turno-se-eleicao-fosse-hoje-so-que-nao-e-ou-sinal-amarelo-para-a-petista/
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Thanks Marc. Indeed I can read portuguese and I had seen this article by Veja after Ibope published the last survey. Consistency of her performance throughout last surveys has been kind of solid while unfortunately Aecio and Campos have not advanced to levels that can represent a real threat to PT and its “friends”. But, as it happened before in Brazil, things can change in the weeks before the election. Let us hope things turn out for the better.
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Trying to find once again the pictogram of the 22 votes by country, at the OAS, according to the $ amounts of petroleum subsidies they receive from Venezuela. Will keep looking. Thanks to Pedro Penzini who first clarified the population differences between the “privates and abstainers” and the “publics”.
Retweeted by Nelson Bocaranda S.
pedro penzini @ppenzini · 2h
11 países votaron a favor: Pob: 587.878.686 hab
24 países votaron en contra o abstuvieron: Pob: 335.863.688 hab
las minorías que dominaron.
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couldn’t find again the map of the OAS countries receiving oil subsidies from Venezuela, but rather, this list, as per the link in twitter:
Esteban Gerbasi @estebangerbasi
La razón del bozal de petróleo en la OEA a Venezuela!
pic.twitter.com/4op8VmmJL4
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Venezuela is using pretty much the same scheme that Josep Blatter uses as FIFA`s president. Blackmailing has proved to work well when small countries` votes have the same weight as medium-big ones.
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Yes, but didn’t 9 of them abstain for the vote that allowed María Corina to address the session? (And still 22 against of it).
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It reminds me to the Asamblea elections, we won by number of votes but we got screwed.
“Jugamos como nunca pero perdimos como siempre”
At the end, I don’t really think the Carta Democratica will really be a good thing for the opposition but we insist in looking for a big brother to help us in something, I insist, must be solve by us.
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Who said we won by number of votes?
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Did you miss the trick at the time? They would add MUD votes with the then non-aligned PPT, and claim as higher than GPP.
The straight forward way to look at it is that both blocks got around 5.000.000 votes, both in the 40%+ neighborhood, yet GPP comanded almost three fifths of the seats through gerrymandering
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I know the results: PSUV: 48.2% – MUD 47.2% – PPT: 3.1%; I have a document with the results that I made myself. I just thought that myth had been dispelled, though it seems it wasn’t; we lost like Romney.
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No. Romney lost in a fair and free election in an advanced democracy.
MUD lost in an unfair but largely free election.
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Pan pa hoy… Hambre pa mañana!!!
That’s my interpretation for today’s voting at oea regarding Caricom countries plus El Salvador and Dominican Republic. Just hope they know what they are doing. Men, Chavez was so vivacious with that!!! now I tiny island such as Dominica or Saint Kitts and Nevis have the same power of decision as Canada, USA or Mexico. This is like asking your 4 years kid where to invest your money, of course he will tell you to buy chocolate and toys… what do they know??? what they do know is if you stay loyal and quiet, the petrodolars check will keep coming. Meanwhile, fu*k venezuelans!!!
Today we won a battle, the battle of who is who… the venezuelan affair is not close to be over, watch out OEA, watch out Caricom countries, El Salvador, Dominican Republic plus the other latam pimps.
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Seven of the 11 members of Unasur (leaving aside Venezuela) voted to gag MCM. And guess who’s coming to dinner next Tuesday? Forgive me for deriving no consolation whatsoever from your OAS population figures.
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FT the eteranl optimist and wishful thinker and I thought he was coming aroundDF
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AND the following ex british colonies, namely Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Jamaica and the rest to follow no doubt, are currently seeking financial compensation from the UK for the descendants of those enslaved by the Atlantic Slave Trade.
But ongoing murder, torture, kidnapping and unjustified imprisonment is ok in Venezuela !
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Op-Ed on Venezuela by Roger Noriega, former US representive to the OAS: http://i.imgur.com/fdJuZ6H.jpg
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This is amusing. The opposition seems to be losing everywhere. And Chavez is smiling in heaven.
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When you control every part of the system is pretty easy to claim you always win.
Also, the wax doll seems to be happily rotting elsewhere, a bit lower than heaven.
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Yes, everything is going great, isn’t it. As long as you don’t need to eat, or work, or go to school, or go out at night, or get medicines. But. Wow! The oppo is losing, let’s celebrate!
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The ones that are smiling, Jeff, are the worms. And they ain’t in heaven, let me tell you.
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As heard on the HMS Titanic:
“It’s your fault for not seeing that iceberg sooner!”
“No! You fool! It is your fault for taking us into perilous waters!”
“Silence you twit! Had you seen the iceberg, we’d never have hit it!”
“Or had you not gone so far north, it would never have been a hazard!”
Meanwhile….
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If that latino piece of sheit is anywhere, he´s in hell burning for little over a year and still has 999 years to look forward to. Hopefully the castro brothers and maduro will give him company soon.
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Audio – entrevista de MCM (NT24): http://www.lapatilla.com/site/2014/03/21/machado-la-actitud-de-este-regimen-deja-en-evidencia-el-mensaje-que-transmitimos/
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I wonder why Trinidad & Tobago support the Venezuelan regime. They surely don’t get oil from Venezuela.
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There are a number of oil and gas deposits that straddle the maritime border – they have very good reason to stay out of the cancillería’s shit list.
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but there are joint ventures between the two: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/09/11/us-venezuela-trinidad-gas-idUSBRE98A16620130911
In sum, mercantilism at play, even for future prospects.
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‘… on the cheap..’? That’s got to be one of the most EXPENSIVE foreign policy agendas in the history of South America. Really, this is the first and only ‘result’ it has given the country (or, more precisely, its party-state).
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And the countries on the other list aren’t largely bought and paid for by the U.S.??
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Right, the Canadians sure sold out cheap
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Petrocaribe is the equivalent to the Cadivi cupo viajero of these countries.
The thing is that with oil falling, when are they going to hear “no hay dólares para viajar”?
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Sale la mugre. Brazil’s comment, in addition to its vote at the OAS has a cynical underbelly — click link:
Esteban Gerbasi @estebangerbasi · 15m
El Voto de Brasil pic.twitter.com/0QhRzkaHY4
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Why does the OAS have closed sessions?
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Quico, you and I live in Canada and Canada voted in favor of MCM. However, have you heard ANYTHING about what happened today in the OEA? Niente….I don’t understand what is happening to the press.
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Bruni, it’s terribly sad, but most people in North America or Europe don’t even know what is currently happening in Venezuela. I’ve visited the US recently, and I was shocked to find out that not even one single TV program was reporting about the civilians protesting against the food shortages, rampant crime and human rights abuses in Venezuela. The American version of CNN (not the international one) or Fox News could not care less! I think they see it as something irrelevant happening very far away from them, and not having any direct impact on their lives. It’s just unbelievable.
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[the North American media ignorance or avoidance is] “just unbelievable.
It’s unbelievable because of mercantilist interests, because of paid foreign agents who promote a media spin so that the dictatorship is viewed in a positive light, and because most populations far from the scene are naïve.
It’s unbelievable because, unlike in Venezuela, where there’s a severely restricted press that must tread on glass before ever stepping on government corns, countries in North America enjoy an infinitely freer press, which even invites paid framers of chavista opinion to flaunt their spin. Witness the opinion that appears, today, in the Boston Globe, written by none other than foreign agent duo, Oliver Stone and Mark Weisbrot, never mind the deaths from protests, never mind the shootings of civilians by national guards and collaborating goons, never mind the abhorrent homicide rate in the country, never mind the food shortages, never mind the rampant inflation — none of these exist when Stone and Weisbrot use their imaginary wand to paint a verbal canvas favourable to the regime.
http://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2014/03/21/obama-wrong-isolate-venezuela/XCiOn7e7R4M7pSq93J5LeI/story.html
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That’s one of the fundamental criticisms of democracy… only landowners should be allowed to vote. By that account number of votes should be based on land area. Hello Canada!
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You write “Venezuelan dissident voices effectively muzzled at OAS today”
And I do not agree. As I see it the 22 made Maria Corina’s day at the OAS.
Below some of my tweets of the day
#SOSVzla MariaCorina lo logró en OEA: El insulto Brasil, el voto 22 “privado” y el “con transparencia total”, lo dijo todo por Venezuela
@CNNEE Ciudadanos argentinos, sepan que con el voto “privado” de sus representantes en OEA, más que a Venezuela los insultaron a ustedes
@CNNEE Dilma Rousseff, ¿Está Ud. de acuerdo con su representante en OEA calificando de “circo” el sufrimiento de los venezolanos?
#Venezuela #OEA Ciudadanos del continente qué equipo elegiría para sus hijos… ¿los 11 del “público” o los 22 del “privado”?
Hay que ver lo idiota de Roy Chaderton y de Maduro… ni soñado le podría haber salido mejor a Maria Corina Machado en la OEA. ¡Viva Venezuela!
#OAS To control 98% of a country’s exports, like Maduro does in Venezuela, would be the wet dream of a fascist like Benito Mussolini
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MCM es candelita que NO se apaga.
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These countries did not vote for or against Venezuela. They voted for or against the meeting being private.
The real vote on Venezuela was a couple weeks ago, and yes you ARE that isolated. The only Latin American country that voted against Venezuela was Panama.
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Just so you know. Belize didn’t vote for a closed session but abstained instead. Better to be clear than sorry.
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Alex, Belize voted for a closed session, the one that abstained their vote was Barbados.
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Indeed it might not be a question of countries being paid in oil but of ambassadors being paid in cash
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Anybody that had make any study about foreign relations do know that countries do follow their own interest at the time and this is is exactly what it was demonstrated at the voting. From the discussion (which we saw how the representatives of Venezuela tried several times to cut it calling for the vote) we can rescue the comments made by the Peruvian ambassador which pinpointed a couple of remarks, first that an open discussion was healthy, second that the exchange of ideas is the main principle on a democracy (and unless I am wrong I do recall this is the main characteristic of this type of political system) and to close with great elegance, supported his vote indicating that this goes along with the historical position of the Peruvian posture.
I do recall on my college years that Itamaraty was the best foreign service in the world with the best professionals and respect for the professional career of its members. When I saw the excuse for the vote of its representative (which I can only define as sad), either this perception was wrong or this ambassador do not clearly represent this high institution. The Peruvian ambassador, despite the fact that its current government is defined as pro Chavez or at least look with good eye the Chavez – Maduro regime, voted in consistency with its principles that been defending for years and allowed them to have an UN secretary. I would have had expect the same from Itamaraty, guess political pressure had more weight that history of principles there.
In another point I see this as a serious defeat not to Venezuela opposition members, but to the OAS itself, as I believe this is mayor setback for the institution. I believe the OAS is there to have exchange of ideas, discussions and so for, today we saw how interest from some countries killed this principle and hurt on its core the institution that shall represent the whole region.
I do agree with one comment that even though Mr. Chardenton and the Maduro regime think this was a victory, have had actually put the issue on the public opinion and many question why the debate was not public, what they are trying to hide ?, if you are so sure that this is an attack from the right wing sector to over power the so great XXI century socialism, why you want to hide or avoid open discussion of what is going on ?, why you do not allow all social media to report what is going on in Venezuela and only leave those media that show the government side of the story or at least soft report what is going on there ?, why not let the people decide for themselves to chose what to see as it shall be in a democracy ?.
History (and hopefully good memory) will be in charge to judge what is happening today.
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