Mack: Insulza the wrong man to lead OAS
Congressman Connie Mack (FL-14), the Ranking Republican of the House Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, denounced the re-election of Secretary General Jos Insulza as the head of the Organization of American States (OAS) today, saying his actions have not upheld the organization’s Democratic Charter and threaten the freedom, security, and prosperity of the entire hemisphere.
Mack said:
“For the last several years, Secretary General Jos Insulza has allowed Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chavez and other Latin American thugocrats to hijack the OAS and undermine democracy the very institution that Insulza has sworn to uphold within the Inter-American Democratic Charter.
“From his refusal to criticize Hugo Chavez for his continued abuses of power; to his interference with the situation in Honduras by fighting for Honduras’ expulsion from the OAS; to his refusal to recognize the FARC as a terrorist organization; and to leading the charge to allow the Castros’ authoritarian dictatorship in Cuba back into the OAS, Insulza has proven that he is anything but a friend of freedom and democracy.
“With Insulza at the helm, the OAS has lost its effectiveness as an arbiter of freedom. The United States should withhold funding for this organization until we have an organization that has the teeth to enforce its Democratic Charter and stand up to the thugocrats of the hemisphere.”
Last year, Mack introduced legislation to withhold U.S. funding to the OAS if the organization readmitted Cuba as a member.