OAS stuff

Secretary Rice gave an excellent interview to the Miami Herald on the OAS and issues within the hemisphere. If in the past four years we had been as measured in our rhetoric as she was in this interview, we would have more credibility and fewer problems in the hemisphere. Of course, we need to actually act on what we say, but it's still encouraging to read. Bush speaks at the OAS tomorrow. Everyone is expecting a whole bunch of "democracy" and "free trade", but it's what he says beyond those words that will be judged.

Oppenheimer today predicted nothing great or awful will be decided at this meeting and we should be happy just to keep the issue of democracy promotion on the table.

I don't want to be as pessimistic as Oppenheimer, but I haven't seen any significant actions come out of this meeting yet. If the OAS wants to be relevant, it needs to be more than an organization for talking. It actually needs some teeth to back up its policies. I understand why so many Latin American nations are hesitant to give power to an organization once dominated by the US. However, Latin American governments need to realize that without some sort mechanism for action, either through the OAS or elsewhere, the region will never be able to take care of its own problems.

Update: From Democracy Arsenal:

Its worrisome that the U.S. can come off as tone-deaf relative to its backyard of South America as it can in the Middle East. The state of democracy in the hemisphere is a legitimate concern. An American foreign policy focused on democracy promotion needs to address democracies that have stagnated or are sliding backwards as a result of economic and social pressures. But when it comes to working with a group of democracies on how to fortify democracy within their own ranks, the U.S. may have to be a little more democratic in its own methods.

That was pretty much my point in the last paragraph of this post:

Make this debate public, put our idea on the table, and invite every country in the region to put forward their own proposal. Instead of ramming through the US backed bill, let's debate multiple proposals and come to a consensus. Don't make this debate about Venezuela, make this debate about how we handle democracies that have broken down. Our only goal should be to keep the agenda of democracy reform on the table to make sure some sort of reform is passed. Long term, a proposal written by Chile or Brazil or Mexico that passes with the backing of nearly every country in the region will have greater legitimacy and effectiveness than a proposal the US begs, bribes and coerces its way through the system.