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Weekly Report - 07 June 2012 (WR-12-22)

Syria, Bolivia and Alba’s ambivalence to human rights

If he were alive today, US President Lyndon Johnson would probably be amazed by the concerted efforts by some Latin American countries to reduce the powers of an entity which he always deemed powerless, famously arguing that “it couldn’t pour piss out of a boot if the instructions were written on the heel”. Johnson was, of course, referring to the Organization of American States (OAS). His pejorative remark followed what he saw as OAS dithering when the US needed to move decisively to protect its interests. As the OAS General Assembly took place in Cochabamba between 3 and 5 June, members of the left-wing grouping Alianza Bolivariana para los Pueblos de Nuestra América (Alba), led by the host Bolivia, sought to reform or dismantle component parts of the OAS, with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) firmly in their sights. Given that no Alba members have condemned the abuses carried out by government forces in Syria, this raises concerns; they too seem keen to “move decisively to protect their interests” by emasculating one of the few bodies in the hemisphere capable of holding nations to account.

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