Compromise

As predicted by some, the OAS came to a compromise that allowed everyone to claim victory but nothing to actually be done. What's surprising about the resolution, which was sponsored by Chile, is that it grants Secretary-General Insulza a surprising increase in power (surprising increase for the OAS, that is). It apparently allows him personally to bring issues to the attention of the OAS if he feels democracies are in danger. There's still nothing the OAS can do about the issue, but it's a step forward that the Sec-Gen can act without unanimous approval. The draft also encourages participation of civil-society groups, but I didn't read how it intends to do that.

Watching the OAS meet for a week and fail to do anything substantive to help Bolivia was a case study in why the rules need to be changed. They passed a very nicely worded resolution encouraging people to dialogue, but could not go any further than that. As it stands now, the OAS leadership can't even call Bolivia to talk without unanimous consent and Bolivia's invitation (ok, that's not quite true, but almost).

Slightly off topic, but Robert Steinbeck also has an op-ed on economic justice in the Western Hemisphere.