At the 55th annual General Assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS), held in Antigua and Barbuda over June 25-27, State Department representatives engaged in a disgusting display of imperial arrogance. They in effect declared that the Western Hemisphere is “ours” and member countries of the regional organization had better fall in line, or else. Threats, insults and China-bashing were all the U.S. had to offer. Chinese Ambassador to the U.S. Xie Feng, a Permanent Observer to the OAS, countered these attacks, and usefully reminded the audience that the Latin American-Caribbean (LAC) countries are all part of the “Global South family,” which seeks development and prosperity without foreign interference (see separate slug).
Haiti was a major focus of the gathering, as the U.S. demanded a commitment from the OAS that it will start aggressively supporting the Kenyan-led Multinational Security Support mission (MSS) in Haiti, which has so far failed to curb that impoverished country’s horrific gang violence. It lacks money, weapons, personnel and training. Notably, due to a “lack of consensus,” consideration of a draft U.S.-Haitian resolution which calls for members to take more “concrete action” and “contribute more actively” to bolstering the MSS, had to be postponed. Earlier this year, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio demanded that the OAS put together a military force to intervene in Haiti, which got no support.
In an egregious speech, Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau, representing Rubio, threatened to withdraw U.S. funding from the OAS, on which this organization relies, unless it shapes up and takes responsibility, specifically for Haiti, but also acts against Venezuela. If the OAS isn’t willing to act on both these issues, he raved, “then we must ask what’s the point of the organization?” The U.S. can’t continue to shoulder the great financial burden of supporting Haiti, he said, but “if the OAS is unwilling or unable to play a constructive role in Haiti, then we must seriously ask ourselves why the OAS exists.” The OAS is one of those international organizations currently under State Department review, he warned, and President Trump will ultimately decide to withdraw funding, if he finds the OAS isn’t acting in the interest of the U.S.
