OAS: Special Meeting of the Permanent Council (round 1) [FULL VIDEO]

The Organization of American States holds its first of two sessions on Venezuela this week and we're streaming. Daytime drinking games always encouraged.

Last week, in the build-up to OAS Secretary General Luis Almagro’s latest push to invoke the Inter-American Democratic Charter on Venezuela, 18 countries accounting for 89% of the hemisphere’s population (Argentina, Bahamas, Barbados, Brasil, Canadá, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Estados Unidos, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, México, Panamá, Paraguay, Perú, Santa Lucía and Uruguay) called for an Extraordinary session of the Permanent Council to meet on Tuesday, March 28.

Not to be outdone, the Venezuelan delegation called for another meeting to be scheduled today, with a presentation by Foreign Minister and mentally unstable person Delcy Rodríguez at the top of the agenda. Then, our Cancillería put out this statement, calling for the cancellation of Tuesday’s session called by the 18 countries above:

There is a campaign of harassment against the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela underway, led by te United States of America through the Secretary General of the OAS, Mr. Luis Almagro, and a group of countries making up a minority faction, which has promoted a pernicious international atmosphere around Venezuela’s democracy and wit the aim of undermining Venezuela’s sovereignty and independence.

Uh huh, Delcy. A minority of 89% of the population.

Hours later, Venezuela’s Supreme Tribunal apparently got worried that perhaps not every single person at OAS could see it isn’t a real tribunal at all but rather a straight-up Maduro puppet. They set out to correct that oversight by calling for Almagro to be removed from the post of Secretary General in a statement signed by all magistrates.  Reading the statement was an honor reserved for convicted murderer Supreme Tribunal chief justice Maikel Moreno.  Así les queda claro, or do they have to draw you a diagram?

I love watching Delcy at OAS. For real, I love it! On one level, because it’s hilarious to see a straight-up crazy person ranting and raving like the lunatic she clearly is in a room full of dour, straight laced diplomats. On another, because she is so far and away our most effective spokesperson in the international sphere.

Just think of it, these diplomats, they don’t watch VTV. They don’t live here. They don’t get any exposure to the Ocean of Crazy that is Venezuelan state rhetoric in 2017. They just don’t know. Or they wouldn’t know, if Delcy wasn’t there to remind them. It’s glorious!

My only worry is that Delcy will move to take tomorrow’s session behind closed doors. Let’s hope she doesn’t get her way — where’s the fun in a private session!?

 

Emiliana Duarte

Emi is a cook, a lover of animals, politics, expletives, and Venezuela. She is the co-founder of Caracas Chronicles LLC and Managing Editor if the site until December 2017.