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Five Democratic and Republican senators from the United States this Thursday presented a bill to “protect” democracy in America amid controversy over the exclusion of Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua from the Americas Summit to be held at The Angels.
The measure, dubbed a bill in defense of the Inter-American Democratic Charter, calls for increased US cooperation with the Organization of American States (OAS) to “counter threats to democratic governance.”
The initiative was introduced by Senate Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Democrat Bob Menéndez, along with Democratic Senators Tim Kaine and Ben Cardin, and Republicans Bill Cassidy and Roger Wicker.
The Inter-American Democratic Charter, adopted in Lima on September 11, 2001, declares 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 the world is facing. From Havana to Caracas, from Managua to San Salvador, now is the time to strengthen America’s diplomatic strategy to help meet the challenges that threaten the norms and principles of the Charter,” Menéndez said.
Therefore, his initiative calls on the US government to work with the OAS to improve “the integrity of the electoral processes” in America.
It also calls for the establishment of a working group and an OAS resolution “on the impact of disinformation” on democracy, as well as the appointment of an Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) special rapporteur on corruption.
In a statement, the senators stressed that the initiative will be presented “on the eve” of the Summit of the Americas, hosted by the United States and bringing together the continent’s leaders from June 6-10 in Los Angeles, California will ).
The United States government has indicated that it is likely to exclude Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua from this summit as they believe 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 unless all American nations are invited.