U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio organized the rump caucus of so-called “Shield of the Americas” countries to issue a statement of condemnation of the premises cited by President Donald Trump in his July 16 national address for his charges of election fraud in the U.S. 2020 elections. The “Joint Statement by Members of the Shield of the Americas” released by the State Department on July 10 and signed by the Governments of the United States of America, Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guyana, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay, and Trinidad and Tobago, is categorical:
“In every constitutional democracy, the sovereign will of the citizens—freely expressed at the ballot box and formalized by the competent electoral authorities—constitutes the sole foundation of the legitimacy of public power. Disregarding the results officially proclaimed by said authorities constitutes a serious disregard for the popular will and for the principles that underpin the Rule of Law.
