|

International

Haiti - CELAC: U.S. and Canada, Personae non gratae

Sunday, 04 December 2011 12:29

Written by Defend Haiti

Pres. Michel Martelly, VZ Pres. Hugo Chavez

CARACAS, Venezuela (defend.ht) - 33 countries in the western hemisphere came to a summit on Friday to form a new regional bloc in the western hemisphere that excludes the United States and Canada.

The order of the summit was to inaugurate the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), a new regional organization welcomed by a large delegation of Haitian officials.

President Michel Martelly attended the inaugural summit in Caracas and in his speech spoke of education and food security hopes in Haiti and reiterated calls for direct foreign investment.

Most member states of CELAC are part of the Ibero-American and/or UNASUR organization. These two regional bodies are comprised of Latin and Central American countries but CELAC is nearly hemispheric giving Haiti and other Caribbean countries a multilateral a multilateral relationship with these states, somewhat like the Organization of American States.

U.S. and Canada not invited.

CELAC is looked at by analysts as a very pointed snub of western powerhouses, the United States and Canada. It could possibly be said that this new regional organization is an alternative to the Organization of American States (OAS), a Washington D.C. based body which is believed by some to lean towards US interests.

“As the years go by, CELAC is going to leave behind the old and worn-out OAS,” said the president of the host country, Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, at the inauguration of the bloc on Friday.

“No more interference. Enough is enough! We have to take shape as a center of the world power and demand respect for all of us as community and for each one of our countries,” Chavez continued.

Nicaragua's President Daniel Ortega said for the OAS, “it's the death sentence for the Monroe Doctrine .”

Washington seems unperturbed, U.S. Department of State Spokesman Mark Toner said the US will continue “to work through the OAS as the pre-eminent multilateral organization, speaking for the hemisphere.”

Coup Protection for Member States.

CELAC is of particular interest to Michel Martelly providing protection from coup d'etats. In the event of such a happening in a CELAC member state, the organization will take over and take steps to restore order.

Essentially, this protection is a copy of the Ibero-american coup d'etat protection order. Here is a translated summary:

... when the constitutional government of a Member State considers a threat of interruption or alteration of the democratic order, the state may notify the Secretariat Pro Tempore of the organization to make who will make the situation known to all Member States so that they can decide to adopt concrete measures of cooperation and concerted pronouncement of the community to defend and preserve their democratic institutions.

In case of breakdown of constitutional order or the rule of law, the Secretariat Pro Tempore will call an Extraordinary Meeting of Foreign Ministers of Member States, to:

1. Takes steps in the State concerned in order to contribute to the restoration of the democratic political institutional process and the rule of law as soon as possible;

2. Suspend the State in which the rupture had materialized in the order of the constitution or the rule of law, the right to participate in the various organs and instances, and the enjoyment of the rights and benefits to be derived, until constitutional order is restored;

These measures taken in relation to matters covered by this Declaration, shall be consistent with international law and the domestic law of the State concerned.

3. Ending the above measures when determined, based on been fully overcome.

Haiti has experienced two coups of a democratically elected president in recent history.