MOSCOW, (Sputnik) - A group of 11 member countries of the Organization of American States (OAS) proposed to deprive the Venezuelan opposition of the right to represent the country in the OAS, since the official Caracas has not participated in its work for more than three years, this issue will be resolved by a vote of all participants of the organization, Secretary General of the organization, Luis Almagro, said on Tuesday.
"The request [to withdraw the accreditation] has been duly considered taking into account the political dynamics ... The participation of representatives of the National Assembly of Venezuela [which was under the control of the opposition] in the OAS Permanent Council and other formats has been approved by vote, and this initiative will also be put to a vote," Almagro said during a press conference.
Earlier in the day, Antigua and Barbuda, supported by the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bolivia, Dominica, Grenada, Mexico, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Trinidad and Tobago submitted to the members of the OAS a draft resolution to revoke the Venezuelan opposition's right to permanent representation in the organization. The authors of the resolution pointed out that Venezuela ceased to be a member of the OAS in April of 2019.
According to the secretary general, Venezuela's participation in the organization was not formally terminated, despite Caracas' official announcement that it stopped its participation in the organization in 2017 and the expiration of the two-year deadline for the country's withdrawal.
"It is not enough to wait two years to withdraw. During that period, a country must continue to fulfill its obligations to the organization. At the very least, it is worth acknowledging that they owe us several million dollars in contributions," Almagro added.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro announced his decision to leave the regional bloc in April 2017, after the OAS accused the authorities of unleashing violence in the country amid protests. Delcy Rodriguez Gomez, then head of the republic's foreign ministry, attributed the halt in participation to abuses that came from the secretary general and several governments that "hated Venezuela's model of development." In April 2019, the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry announced that the country was officially no longer a member of the OAS.
Following Venezuela's attempted coup in January 2019, the OAS, which includes 35 countries in the region, did not recognize Maduro's presidential credentials, nor those of the parliament elected a year later. The organization advocated a change of power in Venezuela and considered the former speaker of the parliament of the republic, Juan Guaido, as president.