Five Democratic and Republican senators from the United States presented this Thursday a bill to safeguard democracy in the Americas. All in the midst of the controversy over the exclusion of Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua from the Summit of the Americas, to be held in Los Angeles.
They named the initiative the Bill for the Defense of the Inter-American Democratic Charter. And they ask to strengthen the cooperation of the United States with the Organization of American States (OAS) to “confront the threats to democratic governance.”
Initiative of Democratic and Republican Senators
The initiative was presented by the chairman of the Senate foreign affairs committee, Democrat Bob Menéndez, along with Democratic senators Tim Kaine and Ben Cardin, and Republicans Bill Cassidy and Roger Wicker.
Approved in Lima on September 11, 2001, the Inter-American Democratic Charter proclaims the main objective of the OAS to be the defense of democracy on the continent.
“The Western Hemisphere is not immune to the current wave of democratic decline and authoritarianism facing the world. From Havana to Caracas, from Managua to San Salvador. Now is the time to reinforce the diplomatic strategy of the United States to help meet the challenges that threaten the norms and principles of the Charter,” he said. Menendez.
For this reason, his initiative urges the US government to cooperate with the OAS to improve “the integrity of the electoral processes” in the Americas.
It also calls for the creation of a working group and an OAS resolution “on the impact of disinformation” on democracy. As well as the establishment of a special rapporteur of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) on corruption.
In a statement, the senators stressed that the initiative is presented on the eve of the Summit of the Americas. The United States is the host and will bring together leaders from the continent from June 6 to 10 in Los Angeles.
The United States government has indicated that it will probably exclude Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua from this summit. This is because it considers that they do not meet the requirements of the Inter-American Democratic Charter.
However, the presidents of Mexico, Bolivia and several Caribbean countries have warned that they will not attend the meeting if all the American nations are not invited.